My review of Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

PAPER BUTTERFLIES
By Lisa Heathfield

  

Stand By Me meets We Were Liars - a heartbreaking and stunning breakout novel for teenagers from the award-nominated author of Seed.

June's life at home with her stepmother and stepsister is a dark one - and a secret one. Not even her father knows about it. She's trapped like a butterfly in a jar.
But then she meets Blister, a boy in the woods. And in him, June recognises the tiniest glimmer of hope that perhaps she can find a way to fly far, far away. But freedom comes at a price . . . 
Paper Butterflies is an unforgettable read, perfect for fans of Lisa Williamson's The Art of Being Normal, Sarah Crossan's Moonrise, Jandy elson, Jennifer Niven and Louise O'Neill.

MY THOUGHTS…

This book touched my heart. The torture that June goes through at home with her stepmother made me want to cry, but the book was written so well that I just kept reading until the end.

I was hoping for a happy ending for June. So, as soon as Jacob (Blister) Wick was introduced as a character, June's future seemed to brighten. Blister and June, the two main characters, were my favorite two. This was only to be expected as they are the nicest characters in the whole book (in my opinion).

The ending surprised me. I'm not going to give anything away, but there was that small hope at the end which made me wish for a book two to be in my hands immediately. Just when I thought all hope was lost, Lisa Heathfield brought a small ray of sunshine to the last page and hope came back for June.

I Highly Recommend this book to anyone as it is one of my favorites and everyone should read it.

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My reiview of LIA’S GUIDE TO WINNING THE LOTTERY By Keren David

LIA’S GUIDE TO WINNING THE LOTTERY
By Keren David

Money can’t buy you love. But it can buy many other very nice things. Lia’s mum is a nag, her sister’s a pain and she’s getting nowhere in pursuit of the potentially paranormal Raf. Then she wins £8 million in the lottery, and suddenly everything is different. But will Lia’s fortune create more problems than it solves? Everyone dreams of winning the lottery - but what’s it really like? Find out in this hilarious story by Keren David, whose acclaimed debut novel, When I Was Joe, was Highly Commended for the Booktrust Teenage Prize.

MY THOUGHTS…

Does winning the lottery bring happiness or more problems?

Lia's family always seem to disagree with her and then she wins £8 million. But this brings the initial problem of her family thinking thatthey have won the lottery. When this initial thought blows over, the comes the issue of popularity at school, hate comments and people asking for things. How can Lia say no? She ends up spending over £1000 on people she doesn't know, and her family keep pestering her with more things she needs to pay for.

My favourite character was Raf. He had such a hard past, although what happened in his past isn't know until the end of the book is nearing. I wanted everything to turn out okay for him, and it did.

I liked this book, and I Recommend it to anyone who hopes to win the lottery or anyone in need of a good book to read.
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My review of THE LAST KINGDOM (THE LAST KINGDOM SERIES BOOK 1) by Bernard Cornwell

THE LAST KINGDOM
(THE LAST KINGDOM SERIES BOOK 1)
By Bernard Cornwell

Uhtred is an English boy, born into the aristocracy of ninth-century Northumbria. Orphaned at ten, he is captured and adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred's fate is indissolubly bound up with Alfred, King of Wessex, who rules over the only English kingdom to survive the Danish assault.

The struggle between the English and the Danes and the strife between christianity and paganism is the background to Uhtred's growing up. He is left uncertain of his loyalties but a slaughter in a winter dawn propels him to the English side and he will become a man just as the Danes launch their fiercest attack yet on Alfred's kingdom. Marriage ties him further still to the West Saxon cause but when his wife and child vanish in the chaos of the Danish invasion, Uhtred is driven to face the greatest of the Viking chieftains in a battle beside the sea. There, in the horror of the shield-wall, he discovers his true allegiance.

The Last Kingdom, like most of Bernard Cornwell's books, is firmly based on true history. It is the first novel of a series that tells the tale of Alfred the Great and his descendants and of the enemies they faced, Viking warriors like Ivar the Boneless and his feared brother, Ubba. Against their lives Bernard Cornwell has woven a story of divided loyalties, reluctant love and desperate heroism. In Uhtred, he has created one of his most interesting and heroic characters and in The Last Kingdom one of his most powerful and passionate novels.

MY THOUGHTS…

I love reading Bernard Cornwell books, and this one was no exception.

My favourite characters were Uthred, Ragnar and Thyra. The list of characters I didn't like, due to their personalities, is very long, so I won't list all of them. The characters, those I didn't like included, were described very well and their personalities were evident.

This book, although one of a series, is an excellent one and has made me want to buy the rest of the series, as well as making me want to watch the television series. I love reading historical fiction/fact books, and this one was certainly no exception.

I Highly Recommend this book to anyone and everyone! Enjoy reading it!


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My review of TOMORROW THE WORLD by Josephine Cox

TOMORROW THE WORLD
By Josephine Cox

Bridget Mulligan loves her husband. He is caring, loyal and dependable - everything a woman could ask for. But she can't quite forget Harry - the one that got away - and when a snow storm drives her into his arms, the inevitable happens. Nine months later a child is born. 

Overcome with remorse, Bridget is determined that her husband should know the truth, but her confession can lead only to heartbreak. Although he allows his wife and her child to continue living in his home, Tom Mulligan makes it clear that their marriage is over. Lonely and afraid, Bridget finds comfort in the friendship of Fanny, a feisty young mother who knows what it is to be alone. But Bridget's life can never be complete until she has the love of the only man she ever really wanted...

My Thoughts...


The ending to this book made me happy... so did the actual story, but the ending made me especially happy.

I thought that the event that started the story was wrong and that Bridget shouldn't have given in to temptation - she was married after all. Although, without that one event, there would be no story for me to add to my 'favorites' shelf!

I loved the characters of Bridget, Ruthie and, despite it all, Harry. They all seemed like really nice people, and I thought that the ending turned out well for them.

I was not sure what to think about Tom Mulligan. One minute he loves his child and the next he hates it. I believed that how he treated Bridget was appalling, even though she was honest and, in many similar cases, many lies would generally be told and things would be made ten times worse. I was slightly sorry for him at the end of his characters part in the story (no spoilers) but what happened, happened because of his own choices.

I do love this book and Highly Recommend it to any Josephine Cox/Historical Fiction/Historical Drama lovers!

My book review of A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd

A SWIFT PURE CRY
By Siobhan Dowd


After Shell's mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, charming, eloquent and persuasive. But when Declan suddenly leaves Ireland to seek his fortune in America, Shell finds herself pregnant and the centre of a scandal that rocks the small community in which she lives, with repercussions across the whole country. The lives of those immediately around her will never be the same again.


MY THOUGHTS…

I loved reading this book. The story is a good one, the main character, Shell, being responsible for her siblings, Jimmy and Trix. Her mother had long since died, leaving her father a drunken, religious mess. But how would Shell cope?

I felt sorry for Shell all the way through the book. Her best friend isn't the nicest of people, and she had no one else to turn to but Declan. But Declan only made things worse for her. I won't give out any spoilers, but I cried when I read about Rosie.

My favourite character was Shell, followed closely by Jimmy, Trix, Rosie and Paul. It seemed such a travesty that Rosie and Paul could not have survived and Shell raised them as well as her siblings. It seemed so sad when no one believed Shell about Rosie and Paul, and I hoped that the ending would bring a little happiness for Shell.

Siobhan Down wrote a fantastic book, and I Highly Recommend this book to all Young Adult readers and anyone else wanting an amazing, yet heartbreaking, story to read.

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My reiview of Severed Knot by Cryssa Bazos

Severed Knot
 By Cryssa Bazos

Barbados 1652. In the aftermath of the English Civil War, the vanquished are uprooted and scattered to the ends of the earth.

When marauding English soldiers descend on Mairead O’Coneill’s family farm, she is sold into indentured servitude. After surviving a harrowing voyage, the young Irish woman is auctioned off to a Barbados sugar plantation where she is thrust into a hostile world of depravation and heartbreak. Though stripped of her freedom, Mairead refuses to surrender her dignity.

Scottish prisoner of war Iain Johnstone has descended into hell. Under a blazing sun thousands of miles from home, he endures forced indentured labour in the unforgiving cane fields. As Iain plots his escape to save his men, his loyalties are tested by his yearning for Mairead and his desire to protect her.

With their future stolen, Mairead and Iain discover passion and freedom in each other’s arms. Until one fateful night, a dramatic chain of events turns them into fugitives.

Together they fight to survive; together they are determined to escape.


MY THOUGHTS....


I was lucky enough to win a copy of these book over on Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots, and I have to say it is absolutely fabulous. I really liked Mairead and I LOVED Iain!!! This is such a great book. I cannot praise it enough!!

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