Louise O’Neill

#WaitingOnWednesday – Nothing Tastes As Good by Claire Hennessy

This week’s Waiting On Wednesday book is Nothing Tastes As Good by Claire Hennessy!

28101625

UK Publisher: Hot Key Books

UK Release Date: 14th July 2016

Nothing Tastes As Good is the story of Annabel, a recently deceased teen who suffered from anorexia in life, who is assigned to help another teenager with a difficult relationship with food, Annabel.

I’ve been absolutely loving Irish YA at the moment (and so is everyone else, if they deluge of awards for the likes of Sarah Crossan and Louise O’Neill is anything to go by) and I’m SO excited for this July release.

There’s a pandemic in YA of important issues that affect teenagers which tend to go ignored because they’re difficult to write. I’m talking things like body image and body dysphoria, discovering your sexuality or coming to terms with a disability or illness.

Finally, we have a book that tackles anorexia, obesity and eating disorders, and it has some brilliant reviews (GoodReads average 4.5 at time of writing), and I can’t wait to read and review. If you know of any books which tackles similar issues, please let me know!

Annalise x

YALC Reading List: Part 3!

It’s the third week of the YALC reading list and I have nine more authors to share with you…

Again, the YALC reading list will be updated every Sunday evening – you can read the first two parts here and here.

Let’s get started…

derek-landy51lld4wn48l-_sx325_bo1204203200_

19. Derek Landy

Book to read: Demon Road/Desolation

Derek Landy is perhaps best known for his Skullduggery Pleasant series, and if I remember correctly, he was a very popular author at last year’s YALC. I have a copy of Demon Road that I won from Maximum Pop! Books, so I’ll be getting this one signed. Landy’s most recent release is the sequel, Desolation.

louise-oneillasking-for-it-by-louise-oneill1

20. Louise O’Neill

Book to read: Asking For It

Both of Louise’s novels, Only Ever Yours (review here) and Asking For It (review here), are feminist must-reads – if there’s one book you have to read this year, it has to be Asking For It. Both tackling difficult issues (body image and gang rape, respectively), these aren’t easy reads – but you will feel better for having read them. After getting my copy of Only Ever Yours signed last year, I’ll be bringing my hardback copy of Asking For It to YALC this year.

annabel-pitcherannabel-pitcher-cover

21. Annabel Pitcher

Book to read: Silence is Goldfish

Annabel’s first novel My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece won the 2012 Branford Boase award, and her second novel Ketchup Clouds won the 2013 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. Her fourth novel, Silence is Goldfish, came out in March 2015, and is about a girl who, upon discovering a family secret, decides to stop talking. I haven’t picked up any of Annabel’s novels, but I will look into her work, if not only because the titles are quite cool.

phillip-reevetumblr_inline_mqtpdhupbw1qz4rgp

22. Philip Reeve

Book to read: Mortal Engines

The Mortal Engines quartet won the Nestle Childrens’ Book Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award, and the Guardian Childrens Book Award – the books focus on a steampunk version of London, which has become a giant machine struggling to run on limited resources. I haven’t read these books but they sound really cool. Reeve’s latest novel, Railhead, looks equally intriguing, and was released in October last year.

chris-riddell18393324

23. Chris Riddell

Book to read: Goth Girl series

Chris Riddell is the current Children’s Laureate, and winner of numerous awards for his books. He’s also a renowned political cartoonist! He’s written and/or illustrated a truly awe-inspiring number of books – but the ones I am most interested in are the Goth Girl series (the first book in the series being Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse).

ve-schwaba-darker-shade-of-magic-ve-schwab

24. V.E./Victoria Schwab

Book to read: A Darker Shade of Magic

This year, the hype surrounding the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, was unbearable. I read A Darker Shade of Magic (review here) and while I wasn’t blown away, I did enjoy it, and the blurb of AGOS is making me want to read on. The third book in the trilogy, A Conjuring of Light, releases next year. I’ll be bringing A Darker Shade of Magic to YALC, and I’m sure there’ll be a long queue to see Victoria. (This Savage Song, a YA novel, is out in July, and also looks to be a bestseller).

darren-shan61plk2bwnial-_uy250_

25. Darren Shan

Book to read: Cirque du Freak

I haven’t read any Darren Shan – mostly because of the gendering of books and this always seemed like a ‘boy’ series to me. There are 12 books in the Cirque du Freak series (made up of four trilogys), focusing on vampires. Darren’s most recent series, Zom-B, is also made up of 12 books, with the final book released in April 2016. These are both series I should probably pick up at some point, but I’m not sure if that’ll be before July.

samantha_shannonbone-season-samantha-shannon-bloomsbury-cover

26. Samantha Shannon

Book to read: The Bone Season

I saw Samantha Shannon at YALC last year, presenting (I think) one of the panels. I’ve debated all year with buying The Bone Season, and I’ve seen TBS, and the sequel, The Mime Order, for £2 each on The Works website. I’d definitely pick these up in person, but unfortunately my local copy of The Works has closed down! This is definitely a book I’ve been debating about purchasing, and (probably) will end up picking up at some point.

holly-smale13621089

27. Holly Smale

Book to read: Geek Girl

Geek Girl is probably the book I’m most likely to pick up before July on this list – with the aim of catching up to the fifth and penultimate book (Head Over Heels) before the final book comes out. Some of the books are on 3 for £10 paperbacks, so I’ll probably pick this one up in July once I’ve moved out of university (I have a lot of books here that will need carrying!). All these books have incredible reviews, so I’m looking forward to picking this series up.

That’s it for this week’s installment of the YALC reading list! What did you think? Which authors do you want to see? Which books will you be picking up or getting signed?

Comment below or tweet me at @annalisebooks!

Annalise x

#ThisIsWhoIAm Time Capsule

To celebrate the release of The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood (review here), I’m going to be making a virtual time capsule, just like Thomas and Gottie do in the book (except theirs isn’t virtual).

First though, let’s appreciate the cover a little more…

9781509808281


My Time Capsule

Favourite Photographs

So, it hasn’t happened yet, but in less than 3 months, I’ll be graduating! With some picturesque background, I’ll be all dolled up in my academic dress, this time with a big poofy gown (like a black cape rather than a ballgown) and a mortarboard – that will probably make for an interesting photo, so I’ll put it in here.

IMG_0440

I’d also put in a photo of my bookshelf, mostly because the book:shelf ratio is massively off, and I am struggling to fit all the books in my university room. (Pic above a little out of date – many books acquired since then). I’d also throw in a photograph of my collage wall (each room in uni comes with a huge noticeboard, and mine is covered in fashion advertisements and movie posters, as well as cinema tickets and Game of Thrones art prints). The photo below is my collage at the beginning of the year – it’s expanded a bit more now.

IMG_2289

Favourite Songs

This is a difficult one, so I’d probably put a copy of the ‘My Songs’ playlist from my Spotify account – it’s full of loads of random choices from pretty much every decade, and probably sums up my music taste quite well. (Think a lot of cheesy 90s stuff with power ballads, 00s R&B, and a bit of dance music thrown in).

If I had to pick three songs of the moment which I really like, it would be:

  1. Cheap Thrills by Sia; Sean Paul
  2. Me, Myself and I by G-Eazy, Bebe Rexha
  3. PILLOWTALK by ZAYN

Favourite Books

I mean, how am I meant to choose? My favourite books of 2016 so far have been:

  1. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
  2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
  3. How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne – review here
  4. Asking For It by Louise O’Neill – review here
  5. Radio Silence by Alice Oseman – review here

However, the book that reminds me the most of SUMMER 2016 so far has to be The Square Root of Summer!

Favourite Films

My favourite film of all time is Confessions of a Shopaholic, weirdly enough.

ubfr9dfs9vc40

This year I’ve seen Deadpool (great), Captain America: Civil War (amazing) and Allegiant (a bit meh). I’ve posted about my most anticipated movies this summer here and here. I am looking forward to seeing Me Before You (but I need to read the book first!), Suicide Squad and Bridget Jones’ Baby.


If my time capsule has piqued your interest in The Square Root of Summer, the book will be available from all good bookshops, and online from Thursday 5th May – although I’ve seen some branches of Waterstones have them in early (and they have the most gorgeous sprayed pink pages!)


I’m so looking forward to meeting Harriet at YALC this year, although I may have to reread The Square Root of Summer first…

What would you put in your time capsule? Have you read The Square Root of Summer? What did you think? Tweet me at @annalisebooks or comment below 🙂

Annalise x

YALC Reading List: Part 2!

If you missed Part 1 – find it here.

I’ve actually bought my tickets for YALC – I’ll (hopefully) be there for all FOUR days. On Friday, there was a HUGE announcement of authors, and I am so excited – again, the only problem is bring all the books!

Some updates this week: I’ll be posting each section of the YALC reading list every Sunday evening, and I’ve added a #YALC section to my blog – it contains these posts as well as my reviews of YALC books.

Let’s get started, shall we?

ben-aaronovitch-headshotben-aaronovitch-rivers-of-london

10. Ben Aaronivitch

Book to read: Rivers of London series

I’ve only read the first book in this series, Rivers of London (review here) but I really enjoyed it – I love London-set books, especially when they’re mixed with magic. This series is really original and interesting, with the main character a black policeman assigned to the supernatural division of the Metropolitan Police. I had my copy of Rivers of London signed last year at YALC, but if I pick up Moon Over Soho before July, I’ll be sure to bring it with me.

holly-bourne-headshot51rof09we3l-_sx326_bo1204203200_

11. Holly Bourne

Book to read: Am I Normal Yet?

If you haven’t picked up this book yet, what are you doing? The first in the Spinster Club Trilogy, Am I Normal Yet? (review here) has been shortlisted for the YA book prize, given out as part of World Book Night, and has to be one of the most acclaimed books on Twitter. Each of the books focus on a different Spinster Club member, with How Hard Can Love Be? out February 2016, and What’s A Girl Gotta Do? out August 1st, 2016. I had my copy of How Hard Can Love Be? (review here) signed at Oxford Literary Festival, but I may indulge in a copy of Holly’s debut, Soulmates, before YALC. (I’m also hoping that there will be copies of What’s A Girl Gotta Do? at YALC!)

sarah-crossan81cd79jfqol

12. Sarah Crossan

Book to read: One

One is a really interesting book: it’s written entirely in free verse, and it’s about two girls who are conjoined, and what happens when their medical debt forces them to go to a regular high school. Also nominated for the YA Book Prize 2016, and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, definitely check this one out – it’s deceptively short, but powerful. My copy was signed by Sarah at the Oxford Literary festival, so I won’t be hauling this one around at YALC, but I’m sure plenty of fans will. Read my review here.

jenny-downham25582543

13. Jenny Downham

Book to read: Unbecoming

I’m pretty sure I’ve read Jenny’s debut, Before I Die, which became the film Now Is Good, starring Jeremy Irvine and Dakota Fanning. Unbecoming is her latest novel, nominated for the YA Book Prize 2016. I’m not sure if i’ll have time for this one before YALC, but it looks to be a tale of family life which is ‘funny, sad, honest and wise’.

michael-grantfront_lines_book_cover_by_michael_grant_isbn_9781405273824

14. Michael Grant

Book to read: Front Lines

I’ve heard of Michael Grant before, as the author of the bestselling Gone series. Researching this blog post, I can’t believe I haven’t picked up Front Lines yet – I love World War II alternate history stories (I’m currently reading Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin) but for some reason, I though this was a WWI story, and wasn’t going to be my cup of tea. This is the story of if girls had been called up to fight with the boys in WWII, and it has amazing reviews – I think I’m going to have to pick this one up! I’m sure there will be plenty of fans of the Gone series at YALC.

rosalind-janarosalind-jana-notes-on-being-teenage

15. Rosalind Jana

Book to read: Notes On Being Teenage

Rosalind Jana is a blogger, writer and feminist, and Notes On Being Teenage is her first book, covering all things teenage, with advice and guidance on navigating those teenage years. Filled with real interviews with teenagers, as well as Louise O’Neill, Juno Dawson and Rosianne Halse-Rojas, this looks really interesting – I haven’t read it yet but imagine it to be similar to Mind Your Head by Juno Dawson (review here) and think this could be a quick read to pick up before July. Out June 9th, 2016.

dr-christian-jessendr-christian-jessen-cover

16. Dr Christian Jessen

Book to read: Dr Christian’s Guide To You

I think most people know Dr Christian from Embarrassing Bodies, and this guide is a practical, medical guide to being a teenager, including puberty, physical and mental heath, and body confidence. I’m a huge supporter of more transparent discussion of a lot of these issues, especially from a medical perspective (what is expected, what you should go to the doctors for, etc.) but I’ll probably give this one a miss, seeing as I’m a bit older than the target audience.

sophie-kinsella71vaathqu-l

17. Sophie Kinsella

Book to read: Finding Audrey/Confessions of a Shopaholic

Finding Audrey is Sophie Kinsella’s first YA novel, a sweet romance about Audrey, a 14-year-old with anxiety. I’ll be bringing the first book in her most popular adult series, Confessions of a Shopaholic, which I really do love – I’ve read the first six, as well as a few of Sophie’s standalone novels, which are really fun, too.

tanya-landmantanya-landman-cover

18. Tanya Landman

Book to read: Buffalo Soldier

I haven’t read any Tanya Landman before, to be honest – but Buffalo Soldier, the story of a girl who pretends to be a man and runs off to join the army, won the Carnegie Medal 2015. Her most recent novel, Hell and High Water, came out last September. Both of these novels are historical, and so fans of historical children’s fiction surely can’t go wrong with Tanya’s novels.

Which authors are you dying to see? Which authors do you wish will be announced for YALC?

Comment below or tweet me at @annalisebooks

Til’ next Sunday (for part 3),

Annalise x

Review: Asking For It by Louise O’Neill

147045My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

It’s the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O’Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there’s a party. Everyone is there. All eyes 51h00dvazol-_sx324_bo1204203200_are on Emma.

The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can’t remember what happened, she doesn’t know how she got there. She doesn’t know why she’s in pain. But everyone else does.

Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don’t want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town’s heroes…

I bought Asking For It in September, in a beautiful hardback edition. It sat on my shelf for a good six months, despite the rave reviews and recommendations. Why? Because Asking For It isn’t an easy read – but it is a necessary one.

I finally picked up Asking For It after a Twitter poll, and devoured it within two days. I didn’t want to put it down.

Asking For It follows the story of a Irish girl called Emma, who is pretty and she knows it. She’s genuinely difficult to like. She’s mean to her friends, self-obsessed with her image, and knows she can have any boy she wants (even if that means destroying her friendships). She dresses provocatively, she drinks, she does drugs… and then she gets raped. She doesn’t remember it, but suddenly it’s all over social media, and her friends don’t want to know her anymore. She feels guilty.

Asking For It is a difficult book to read, because it touches on so many important issues. It tackles slut-shaming and victim-shaming, consent and sexual assault. These issues are hugely important in our society today, where 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence. 11 rapes take place every hour in England and Wales. Emma is wholeheartedly a victim, but one who feels so ashamed that she pretends she isn’t one. The media, her friends and her family don’t know what to believe.

Asking For It also excels in touching upon other important issues briefly – bulimia/eating disorders, masturbation shaming, and the lack of access to abortion services in Ireland (“I’d be on the first boat to England, like”). The pressure on girls to grow up quickly, to dress like adults as teenagers, is also briefly featured.

On a lighter note, I really enjoyed how Asking For It was set in Ireland. Many YA books are set either in America, or an anonymous English town, and I loved the details that made this book so obviously Irish.

If you pick up one book this year, make it Asking For It. Each Louise O’Neill novel I’ve read (and will read in the future) has been so poignant, making pointed arguments and really changing the way I think on serious issues. These are not books that leave you as soon as you put them down – they are thought-provoking and cleverly written.

I also really enjoyed this article by Louise on the aftermath of publishing Asking For It – https://www.the-pool.com/arts-culture….

To summarise, this is a young adult novel with a serious point, and necessary reading for all.

View all my reviews

Annalise x

TBR 2016 : Personal Challenge Edition!

Updated: 24th April 2016 with books I have since read.

Hello!
It’s been a long time since my last post, mostly due to a lack of reading during university time. Reading just isn’t appealing to me at the moment, so I though I’d set myself some challenges over the next year to reduce my TBR pile and invigorate my reading.

Challenge 1: Kindle TBR

Using a Kindle really slowed down my reading, and I’m slowly making my way back to favouring a old-fashioned paper book. It’s so easy to stop reading a book on Kindle and forget about it – and I’ve abandoned quite a few books mid-read and left them there for a few months… ok, a few years.

This challenge is to read all the books that have been abandoned unread in the cloud.

  1. Bright Young Things – Anna Godbersen
  2. Superconductivity: A Very Short Introduction – Stephen Blundell
  3. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
  4. Bad Pharma – Ben Goldacre
  5. Pushing The Limits – Katie McGarry
  6. The Fiery Heart – Richelle Mead
  7. Hard Bitten – Chloe Neill

Challenge 2: Finish ALL the series!

As well as abandoning books mid-read, I abandon series mid-series. I want to finish some series which have ended already, to achieve a sense of completeness (and so I can start some new series, naturally).

This challenge is to finish series that are worth finishing, and have already finished/will finish by the end of this year.

8. Night Huntress Series by Jeaniene Frost – One Grave at a Time, Up From the Grave

9. Bloodlines by Richelle Mead – The Fiery Heart, Silver Shadows, The Ruby Circle

10. Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill – Hard Bitten, Drink Deep, Biting Cold, House Rules, Biting Bad, Wild Things, Blood Games, Dark Debt, Midnight Marked, Untitled… (This is definitely a challenge!)

11. Anna and the French Kiss series by Stephenie Perkins – Isla and the Happily Ever After

Challenge 3: Up To Date

There are a few series which have serious hype every time a new book comes out (Sarah J Mass, am I right?!) but I’m just not caught up with the latest book.

This challenge is to get up to date with series I’m seriously behind on, by the end of the year or the next release (whichever comes first).

12. Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas – Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows

13. Illuminae Series by Amie Kaufman – Gemina (released 2016)

14. Normal Series by Holly Bourne – How Hard Can Love Be? (released Feb 1st, 2016)

15. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin – Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons…

Challenge 4: You’ve Bought ’em so You Might As Well Read ’em.

I’ve got loads of books which are looking very very pretty on my bookshelf. I should probably read them.

This challenge is to read all the books on my shelf currently, that haven’t been read.

16. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

17. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

18. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

19. Asking for It – Louise O’Neill

20. The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss

21. The Kingdom of Little Wounds – Susann Cokal

22. The Finisher – David Baldacci

23. The Way of Kings – Brandon Sanderson

24. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier

This post only really covers series I’ve already started or books I already own – there are loads of new books and series coming in 2016 that I’m looking forward to which will be covered in later posts.

Happy Holidays!

Annalise x

 

 

MOST ANTICIPATED: TBR September 2015

There’s tons of exciting new books coming out this September, it’s difficult to choose what to read first! Here’s a selection of my most anticipated.

  1. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (1st September)

The adventures of Celaena Sardothien continue in the fourth installment in the Throne of Glass series. I’ve only read the first novel so far (review here), but I can’t wait to get stuck into the second and third books (which are apparently even better!).

Synopsis: Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

2. Asking For It by Louise O’Neill (3rd September)

This stand-alone novel has some amazing pre-release reviews and is sure to be a great read, after O’Neill’s debut Only Ever Yours (review here).

Synopsis: It’s the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O’Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there’s a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma.

The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can’t remember what happened, she doesn’t know how she got there. She doesn’t know why she’s in pain. But everyone else does.

Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don’t want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town’s heroes…

3. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (29 September)

With a pre-release score of 4.34 and some very excited reviewers, this new series from the author of The Grisha series is set to be a sure-fire hit.

Synopsis: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

4. Menagerie by Rachel Vincent (29th September)

As a huge fan of Rachel Vincent’s Werecats series, I always look forward to her new releases, even if I don’t always read them. Menagerie is looking to be a must-read for me.

Synopsis: When Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger’s Menagerie, she is an ordinary woman in a not-quite-ordinary world. But under the macabre circus black-top, she discovers a fierce, sharp-clawed creature lurking just beneath her human veneer. Captured and put on exhibition, Delilah in her black swan burlesque costume is stripped of her worldly possessions, including her own name, as she’s forced to “perform” in town after town.

But there is breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival. Gallagher, her handler, is as kind as he is cryptic and strong. The other “attractions”—mermaids, minotaurs, gryphons and kelpies—are strange, yes, but they share a bond forged by the brutal realities of captivity. And as Delilah struggles for her freedom, and for her fellow menagerie, she’ll discover a strength and a purpose she never knew existed.

Renowned author Rachel Vincent weaves an intoxicating blend of carnival magic and startling humanity in this intricately woven and powerful tale. 

What are your most anticipated books? Have you read any of these forthcoming books? Comment below or tweet me at @annalisebooks 🙂

Annalise x

Review: Only Ever Yours

Only Ever Yours
Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Only Ever Yours was a book that I hadn’t heard of before I attended YALC. Then I was bombarded with praise for this book – including a full page spread in the YALC flyer – and within 48 hours I was on the tube to Foyles on Charing Cross Road to get myself a copy.

This is a debut novel which has won both the YA book prize and the Sunday Independent Newspaper Novel of the Year. It’s got to be good, right?

The novel revolves around Freida, who attends a school which trains women to go into one of three professions: companions (the perfect wife for a man of high standing), concubines, or chastities (teachers at the school). Freida, and her best friend, Isabel, are two of the most highly rated girls at the school, and surely destined for roles as companions… until Isabel distances herself during their final year and puts on weight. The novel details the last year of their schooling, including the arrival of the ten future husbands eager to choose a wife (and the destinies of these girls).

The girls have all been bred for sex, and independent thought is discouraged. They all have eating disorders. Essentially the girls in the book are all the same, with minor physical tweaks to make them differentiable. A slight problem here is that there are a lot of characters, of which only a small minority undergo any character development. The worthlessness of these girls is reinforced throughout the novel, to the point where the women aren’t even deserving of a capital letter in their name (a really poignant stylistic choice).

It’s depressing but it’s also brilliantly written and thought-provoking. This is the kind of book which you hate, but you understand why it’s been written how it’s written and the point it’s trying to make. The ending is inspired (and definitely worth the read), and even though it’s a little abrupt, it’s also perfect.

I would recommend this book, if not only because it isn’t a rehash of every other YA novel on the market. It has important things to say regarding the way society works today and the impossible beauty standards girls aspire to. It depicts realistic sex, it talks about periods and it discusses homosexuality (and its eradication in this world so that all women serve men). Those are topics which are completely relevant in YA but which hardly ever feature – and it’s important that they DO feature. The main heartbreak in the novel is one between friends, which is often way more relatable than having your heart broken by the most perfect guy/vampire/werewolf/alien on the planet.

After this brilliant debut, I can’t wait for Louise O’Neill’s second novel, Asking For It, which, refreshingly, isn’t a sequel. (Hooray for a stand-alone YA novel!)

View all my reviews

Annalise x

TBR: The Post-YALC Pile

After an amazing weekend at YALC, my TBR (To Be Read) pile has grown. It was already pretty big – I’ve spent the last three years procrastinating by buying books, but not really procrastinating by reading them (after many 16 hour days in the library trying to learn Chemistry, you kinda just want to sleep and eat). I’m planning on getting through my pile this Summer though (never going to happen but it’s always nice to be optimistic!).

tumblr_m594prrf331r0yglfo1_400 9200000003760743

1. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, and 2. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithian

I’ve read two John Green novels before – Looking for Alaska and The Fault in our Stars. They’re both critically acclaimed, and I thoroughly enjoyed TFioS… the second time I read it. I hardly ever read a book twice, but TFioS was a rare exception, and I’m glad it was – I enjoyed it the first time, and I really want to be a bigger fan of John Green’s work (hence the book buys). Both of these books have interesting premises – AAoK is about a boy called Colin who has dated a grand total of 19 women called Katherine, and WG,WG is a collaboration between two authors, both writing for different characters (both called Will Grayson). I really hope these books exceed my expectations based on previous John Green novels I’ve read – but I won’t deny i’ll be first in line for his next book.

rowell_ep_us fangirl-rainbow-rowell-cover-677x1024

3. Eleanor & Park, and 4. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Confession: I’ve never read a book by Rainbow Rowell. That’s about to change. All I’ve heard are good things about her novels, specifically these two, both published in 2013. Eleanor & Park is a love story, set in 1986, with Eleanor, the slightly overweight new girl with a dysfunctional family, and Park, a half-Korean boy from the ‘perfect home’. Fangirl is about identical twins, moving on to university, still obsessed with their favourite author. I’m excited to start reading these books, if only for the fact that I know people who fit these characters (an achievement in itself).

41uloIrm4nL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

5. Forever by Judy Blume

I’ve heard about Judy Blume ever since I started reading YA fiction. She’s a legend, and this weekend, I got to watch her giving a talk at YALC. I would have asked her to sign a book, but I’ve never read a Judy Blume novel. I decided to rectify that. It is a feat in itself that this book is still a bestseller after forty years – and a little disappointing that it’s still controversial. I picked this up at the Waterstone’s book shop on site at YALC – hopefully it’ll be worth the £6.99 I forked out for it.

16069030

6. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

I first heard of the book a few months ago, and I knew I had to buy it. You know why? The cover. I knew I needed that cover on my shelf. I’ve also heard good things – about the plot, the world, the characters – and after attending a talk at YALC with Marie on the panel, I ran out and bought the book. Kestrel is a general’s daughter in an empire which enslaves those who it conquers, and she’s expected to either join the military or get married. Kestrel has other ideas. She buys a slave – Arin – with unexpected consequences, and finds herself falling in love with him.

untitled

7. Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill

I hadn’t heard of this book before YALC, and it only took two days before I caved and bought it – I’d heard so many good things (It won the YA Book Prize 2015). To my surprise (maybe I should plan better), the author (Louise O’Neill) appeared on the ‘Bringing Sexy Back’ panel in the morning, and, because I was hauling around all my purchases from the weekend, I happened to have my copy of Only Ever Yours on me, for the signing afterwards! I’m so excited to read this book, and ‘Asking for It’, out in September – mostly because of the comparisons to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

tumblr_mr8khs7hnh1rwor04o2_250

8. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

This was one of the books my friends bought for my birthday (I sent them a huge lists of books I promised not to buy and let them choose which ones to get). This originally was released in 2011, and it’s been sitting on my Goodreads list since then. Juliette’s touch is fatal, and she must decide whether to use it for good, or for evil. Also, look at that cover!

gone-girl-400x400-imadu8yszepkzbvd

9. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I’ve known about Gone Girl for a few years, since the book first came out in 2012. I was there for the initial hype, and I was just never convinced enough to buy and read it. Then the film came out, and I went to see it. The film is amazing, and I knew the book would be too. I know all the twists and turns now, but I hear the book is even better, and the film will be tough to beat. Bring it on!

What’s on your TBR list? Have you read any of the books on my list? (I’m not going to lie, I imagine most people have.) Comment below or tweet me at @annalisebooks 🙂

Annalise x