Book Review - One Day by David Nicholls!

Here I am, back with another book review! This week’s book review is going to be on One Day by David Nicholls!

Plot

So, the two main characters Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew meet on the night of their graduation. The book follows on exploring how both of their lives changes and how their relationship grows and changes. Nicholls explores this by adding a new year to basically every chapter. He explores how their relationship and grown and changed in the last 20 years on that graduation night

My Thoughts

I, personally, loved this book! It took me a while to get into but I think that was just me slowly grasping the fact that every new chapter added a new year from the chapter previous. The characters are so well written that you can’t help but fall in love with them. By the end of the book I saw Dex and Em as my best friends and everything that happened in the novel effected me quite deeply as a reader.

My Rating: 5/5 stars without a doubt!

Age Restriction: Due to some of the content I’d say 15+

Mundahlia Interview with RJ Gonzales!

Question 1: In your Mundahlia Q&A video you said that your two main characters names, well, the first letters, spell your name. Are you sure that wasn't intentional?

-I am 100% positive that the coincidence between my nickname (RJ) and my character names (Rini & Jett) was NOT intentional (at first) After I'd written the first REAL draft (My characters were not yet named in the 5 page story that inspired Mundahlia) I finally noticed it and was struck with immediate joy! I guess since I put a little of myself into those two characters as well as a few others, my mind automatically chose the names that fit perfectly. :D

Q2: I'm always curious about different author's writing processes. What was yours like?

-Well BEFORE I even begin to write, I listen to music, dream, and live. Dreams are very valuable. They offer you these intense spins on the real world and open up your creativity. Music is the soundtrack to those intense spins or ideas that spring from your dreams and sometimes help you build up a story. And Living, is another key point. You need to draw inspiration from somewhere, and LIFE is the ever-pouring fountain. You never know what will inspire you.

Q3: Which character was your favourite to write?

-Rini. She was definitely my favorite character to write. (One of them at least) She's sassy, sarcastic, headstrong, and sticks up for herself when she's being bullied, and it was extremely easy when writing through her point of view in comparison to Jett's.

Q4: Was there ever a time when you just wanted to stop and try something new?

-Many Times. But I used that time to start up a second novel. When I got my thirst for continuing the first, I went back and finished it. Now I am midway through my second novel, starting up on a third.

Q6: I know you are an indie author, how is that different from having a book deal?
-An indie author is someone who takes the initiative (and some money) to publish a book on their own. Without an advance check, or the extra help and massive distribution another author would get if they had a deal with a major company.

Q7: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

-I would tell aspiring writers/authors to NEVER give up. As long as you feel love for your story and love what you are doing, then nothing will ever stand in the way. Also, Dream, Listen and Live. "Dreams are the layout of your future, all that's left to do is build."

Q8: Some authors, I have noticed, have a specific preference to when they write. Some write all night and sleep all day, and obviously, vice versa. What was your preference?

-For me it has been a bit of both. Some nights I am restless and basically become nocturnal like a bat or an owl. Some days I write during the day. But Sometimes I don't write at all. I take breaks in between writing to live or just laze around. Nobody has to be a shut in writer.

Q9: Did you ever think when you started writing Mundahlia that it would result in you becoming an indie author?

-At first, no. I dreamed of landing an agent and publishing house, and even queried several, but as many (if not ALL, say) "Publishing is a highly subjective business."
So after a while of waiting around (which takes a while depending on the agent/publishing house) I decided to do everything that takes a team of about 10 or more people to do, on my own.

Q10: Finally, who are your influences in the writing world?
There are too many to name and I will dedicate a separate post to this topic on my blog sometime, but near the top of the list:

Simone Elkeles, is one of my favorite authors. I love how she can create that raw, realistic emotion. So, she is definitely one of my inspirations/influences.

Another is Stephenie Meyer, I fell in love with Twilight. The fact that a book can make you feel love is exceptional! And I have no clue why there is so many "haters" saying that she is a bad author and her books suck and what not, I thought Twilight was amazing and Stephenie Meyer is definitely another influential author to me.

Thank you so much for interviewing me! :D

Looking for Alaska by John Green - Book Review!

Looking For Alaska by John Green - Book Review

Let me just say RIGHT NOW that I loved this book to pieces. I got so attached to the characters that when all these things happen to them, I felt like I was right there with the characters. The characters were so real that you just couldn’t help feeling like they were your best friends.

Plot

Well, I can’t say too much about the plot without giving it away (and, uh, of course I don’t wanna do that!)

So, basically, the main character Miles goes to a boarding school in Alabama called Culver Creek and he meets all these other characters who he becomes really close to. Chip (more commonly known as the Colonel) Alaska, Takumi and Lara. They all get involved in different situations and it becomes really suspenseful because the title of each chapter is like ..... Days before. I’m not going to tell you what happens so I’ll just leave you with that....

My Thoughts

Regardless of how long it took me to read this book (9 days), I honestly loved this book so much. The plot towards the end is so moving and makes you think a lot more about how precious life actually is and how thankful we should be to be living right now. There is a lot of mystery within the plot towards the end as well.

My rating: 5/5 stars without a doubt!

Age rating (in my opinion): 15+

Anyway, guys that’s my review of Looking for Alaska by John Green.

See you all next time.

Book Review - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Hi everyone! Today I have a book review for you. As you can already tell by the title of this post, it is a book review on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

So, as for the plot the book is basically about the lives and the people connected to the Bennet family in the novel. It is also about the romance of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (You've probably already seen a movie adaption or know the basic plot line).
Elizabeth, or commonly named Lizzy by her family, is the protagonist. The second oldest sister out of the five girls. She is very strongwilled and is very confident about her beliefs.
Mr. Darcy is rich, and is seen as "proud" to most people in the novel, people think he is rude because he doesn't say much. His manner changes considerably throughout the novel. (I don't want to give anything away!)

My Thoughts

Lets just remind ourselves that this is the first Austen novel I have ever read. I really liked the plot and the characters. I really liked Lizzy's character as she seems to know what she wants, she wasn't afraid of voicing her opinions, and for me, she seemed like a completely different character compared to the others. She was opinionated and she seemed much more of a...how shall we say? strong willed character. She wasn't a character who would settle to marry someone who she had no feelings towards and was adament about it.
I did struggle with the language in some parts and got quite confused, but looking at the novel as a whole, I mostly understood what was going on. In conclusion, I really enjoyed the book and pretty much any spare minute I had to myself I was reading it. Most of the time I'd read until midnight and forget what time it was whilst I was reading, so that shows a sign of a good book!

I will rate this book 4.75 stars. The reason for this is mainly because I got a bit confused as to what was going on, but then again, maybe that was just me! :)

Hope you enjoyed this week's review!

- Maisie

Libraries, as you all well know...

....ARE MY FAVOURITE PLACES IN THE WORLD! (Well, except France and bookshops, of course.)

As you can probably tell, I'm going to a library today, so eagerly anticipate the hyper and very happy vlog later on! :)

Hehe, as you can tell I'm very hyper today!

:) Maisie

Official release! YAY!

I FINALLY HAVE THIS BLOG UP AND RUNNING AS I INTENDED! (and plus, I really love the design!) I have just finished recording today's video which talks about the OFFICIAL RELEASE of this blog! I'm soooo excited! As I mention in the video, I will be doing written book reviews on this website but I will also embed the video review of the same book so it gives you a choice to either watch the video review or to read the blog!
As you all know, you can find me elsewhere on the web:
goodreads
twitter
dailybooth
and obviously youtube

I shall provide links in the next post!

Bookworm? Uh, yes!

So, if you haven't already figured this out from my YT channel, I am a bookworm. Simply put, I am proud of it. Since I am a bookworm at heart, I believe that I should start doing more bookish things on the blog, which I very much intend on doing.
 So, along with my video book reviews, if you want to, you can check out the blog for written reviews of books on here! So check back for more!
- Maisie