Book Review: 'Billy and Me' by Giovanna Fletcher

I heard about this book through watching Carrie Hope Fletcher and Tom Fletcher on YouTube, and so I took it out of the library and finished it in about 2 days, completing in on Monday.

It isn't what I'd necessarily call a 'serious' read, but it was exactly what I needed after just finishing 'The Book Thief', which depressed me a little!

Brief Summary: Sophie May is a girl living in a small village, working in a teashop, her best friends an elderly lady, her mum drifts in and out of depression, her sad past has stolen her confidence and she's not really sure what she wants to do with her life. Then a new film-version of a literary classic begins filming nearby, and with it comes the film star cast, including the charming Billy Buskin. The pair fall in love, but Billy's world isn't all that Sophie expected.

For a debut novel, 'Billy and Me' is well written, I think. It was exactly the kind of light hearted story I like, but it also had underlying messages too.

I didn't love all parts of the novel, I'll be honest.

I'm a young girl who's never known the feeling of being in love, I love to read and I work in a little café in a reasonably small town. So, although I'm far from BEING Sophie, I could relate to elements of her situation. And, however much I wish I could, the idea of there whirlwind romance seem a bit too unrealistic to believe in. I know its probably just being cynical, and I did thoroughly enjoy the tale for what it was, but even if I could believe the 'famous lad falls for normal girl' part, which I suppose is possible, the speed at which they are suddenly acting like a married couple is a bit odd in my opinion, considering their only in their early twenties. But, I admit, I am being very picky.

The thing that got to me, and I cannot make up my mind if this was a fault in the writing, on Fletcher's part, or a personal thing to me as a reader that I interpreted myself, but as the book went on, I began to really really dislike main character Sophie May. I think part of it was deliberately included by Fletcher, because her aim was to delineate the paranoia Sophie feels when her boyfriend is so desirable, but I just felt as though almost the entire story was focused on Sophie's jealousy and protectiveness over a boy who isn't even cheating on her and who, lets face it, hasn't exactly known her that long. I'm not suggesting that him being a star gives him special treatment when it comes to treating his girlfriend (if only just!) with respect, but, as far as I was concerned, the character of Billy was going out of his way to please Sophie and continue his usual life.

There is one particular point, and you'll need to read the book yourself to fully understand, when I literally wanted to scream at the girl! Billy Buskin is on set performing a sexual scene and, to be fair, his co-star is his ex girlfriend and his current girlfriend, Sophie, is watching. But I was so angry at her reaction and the fact that she put all the blame on him and then blanked him. ITS HIS JOB GIRL! IF YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE THEN LEAVE AS HE SAID HE WOULD TOTALLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU DID!!

Haha, I read so much into it, but it's just because the character's came to life to me, which I believe indicates and excellent author. So I'm really not being disrespectful to the writing, if Giovanna Fletcher can manage to make me want to punch one of her character's into sanity, then that's some achievement. My query is, was it intentionally like that?!

To be honest, both lead character's change throughout the book, into people I didn't imagine them being when they're first introduced to the story, and I suppose, if a little disappointing for the reader, it resembles real life quite accurately, all of us change.

And so, I genuinely hope I haven't put anyone off reading this, because its an ideal teen read and I really want to read Giovanna's second book. But If you do read or have read, please comment what you thought of the character of Sophie.. I'm really curious to know if its just me that felt the need to let out my frustration at her- its quite possible that, since I read this when breaking from studying, I was just tired and stressed and a re-read would change my view!

Catriona x x

Book Review: 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak

I finished this book last Friday, but been kind of busy with exams! Feeling quite relaxed now with just one exam to go, so thought I'd get down to this review... which could take a while!

I had no idea how long this book was! I purchased it for my kindle kind of on a whim when I heard that a film was being made of it, and started to read it a few pages at a time about a week or two before the Easter holidays. But I'd never (and still haven't) seen a paper copy of it, and boy is it long!


But I have got to say, 'The Book Thief' is one of the best books I have read in a while. It attracted me instantly because it was based on a real historical period of time. I've just finished (literally my exam was today!) studying my Higher History and we did a lot of work on WW1, but from a Scottish perspective. I found it fascinating to read about the kind of experiences faced in Germany.

It could be argued that Zusak makes the book too long, as not every part seems crucial to the tale and there are quite lot of back stories and things that feed off from the main thread. However, I urge anyone reading 'The Book Thief' and thinking this to please keep reading until the end. I don't want to give away too much, but lets just say that the last chapter before the Epilogue had me in tears, because, without really realising, you become extremely attached to the characters created. It's this that makes me believe that Zusak is a genius, and this novel is a must-read.

I think an important thing for me to mention is Zusak's extremely unique style. The book is narrated by Death, though this isn't particularly obvious from the start. For me, it was a case of suspecting that it was narrated by death, before having it confirmed later on, but never outright stated. I felt this was an unusual approach, but fitted quite nicely into the story's makeup as it went on. However, I thought the opening few pages, before the real story of a little girl with a fascination for words begins, were a bit strange, as though you are supposed to gather some deep meaning from them but at an initial read sound like a load of mumble jumble psychological nonsense! But once the other characters, as opposed to just the narrator, are introduced, I was hooked!

Another thing that Zusak tends to do in his writing style is to be one of those authors that jumps around in the story, telling you what is to come before it does. In some books, this annoys me, but in 'The Book Thief' it came to be something I just accepted, WITH ONE EXCEPTION!! Despite me not needing any more prompting to cry, I think it was wrong for Zusak to tell the reader of an event near the end a couple of chapters before it occurred, because it was unnecessary to the appreciation of the story as a whole, and, had it been omitted, the effect of a very emotional chapter would have been unexpected and even more heart-wrenching.

A final point on style: Zusak, as death, chooses to leave little notes for the reader throughout the novel. This is hard to describe for someone who's not read it, bust he basically interrupts his telling of the story with a little heading and a note about something, or a quote, or something strange like that! Although some of these little notes were a bit pointless, in my opinion, some of them added to your insight into the story and so it was a clever little style technique which I hadn't seen before and which almost shouldn't have worked, but did anyway!

If I was to pick a favourite character, it would probably be Rudy, a young boy with a big heart and a really genuine personality. I think Zusak does an excellent job of creating both principal character Liesel and her best friend Rudy and in allowing the reader to share in their childhood and in their lives as they grow up. However, I also love the character of Hans Huberman, Liesel's 'Papa'. He's something special and, to me, he feel real, because I could picture my version of him in my head, right down to his mannerisms and tone of voice!

'The Book Thief' also has two messages running through. Actually I think it probably has many messages, but these are the two that jumped out at me; the importance of family, and the importance of words. These are two things that are really close to my heart and so I could especially relate and feel included in the world of Liesel Meminger.

I think I've said all I wanted to say about 'The Book Thief'. I admit it will take you a while but I strongly urge you to read it. It's just wonderfully written and a real treat to read, and it captures the life of one young mind in a wartime German village in a way that makes you feel like you were there.

If you do read, let me know what you think. Similarly, if you watch the film, leave a comment, as I've missed it in the cinema and will probably watch it on DVD, but want to know if it will live up to my expectations?!

Catriona xx

The 24 questions/ 12 personal questions tag!

Ok, so I've never done a tag before, and I don't think its something I will do often! But I decided to take a short break from studying because It occurred to me that anyone reading this might not necessarily know that much about me!

 

So here we go, might as well try something different....

1.Do you have a middle name? Nope!

2. What was your favourite subject in school? My favourite subject is English!! I also really enjoy Modern Studies.

3. What’s your favourite drink? Oh Haha I'm not sure! Tricky one, sorry don't really know! Probably something soft, like diet coke or cranberry juice!

 4. Favourite song at the moment? At the moment its Demi Lovato's version of 'Let it Go' from the 'Frozen' Soundtrack!

 5. What would you name your children? I have always had a sort of obsession with names, ever since I was kid I had a kind of fascination with them! Very helpful when I'm writing stories! However, my taste in names changes often so I can only go with what I would choose if I had to choose right now.. For a girl, I'd pick either Orla or Lily, and for boy, either Louis or James.

 6. Do you participate in any sports? I attend a weekly tennis class but nothing serious! I swam in a competitive swimming club for 5 years but stopped due to school commitments. I do like to keep active though.

 7. Favourite Book? Oh wow! Now that is one tough question! When asked this, I tend to say 'The Sky is Everywhere' by Jandy Nelson, because its one not many people have read and it left an impact on me that's caused me to me read it several times. So yeah, I'd recommend reading that! I'm currently reading 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak, which is super but I wont say too much more as I'll probably review it soon!

8. Favourite Colour? Lilac

 9. Favourite Animal? Never been a huge animal person. When I was little I was terrified of all animals! But I suppose I would say certain breeds of dogs! Can be so cute!

 10. Favourite perfume? I'm no perfume expert, as I don't tend to buy it for myself! But my friend bought me Britney Spears 'Curious' which is pretty nice!

 11. Favourite holiday? I've loved many family holidays both in the UK and abroad. So I'm going to have to pick 3! Best UK holiday was probably to Tobamory! Best family holiday was to Florida in 2007 because it was so magical and just a once in a lifetime experience. I also loved going to Lanzarote in 2011 because I went with my swimming Club and we stayed in a wonderful Sports Resort!

 12. Have you graduated College? Nope, I'm at school for another year after this before Uni.

 13. Have you been out of the Country? Yeah :)

 14. Do you speak any other Languages? Well I studied German for the first 4 years of secondary school but don't remember much! I'm also doing Higher French and hopefully picking up Italian next year!

 15. Do you have any siblings? Yes, I have a younger sister called Aoife who is 15.

 16. What’s your favourite store? For clothes, probably New Look! I also like WHSmith for Stationary :)

 17. Favourite Restaurant? I actually really like Pizza Hut, and Frankie and Benny's!

' 18. Did you like school? I've always really liked school and thrived off education environments.

 19. Favourite YouTuber? Not a huge follower of youtubers but love Carrie Hope Fletcher

 20. Favourite Movie? Aaaah too hard! Current faves off the top of my head.... Rom-com: Friends with benefits, Cartoon: Frozen, Musical: Mamamia or Hairspray, Based-on-real-life: Finding Neverland

 21. Favourite Tv show? Friends

 22. Pc or Mac? PC

 23. What phone do you have? Samsung Galaxy Ace

 24. How tall are you? I'm approx. 5 ft 10 "

12 Personal Questions:
1. What do you order at Starbucks? Strawberries and Cream Frappacino.

 2. One thing in your closet you cannot live without? Jeans!

 3. What’s one thing most people probably don’t know about you? That I blog!

 4. Name one thing you want to do before you die. Publish a book that is successful.

 5. What’s one food you cannot live without? I really love cereal actually! Not saying its my favourite food or anything haha but think that's the food I'd miss most if it disappeared!

 6. What quote/phrase do you live by? There are many quotes I try and live by. But recently I've liked the idea of "Live like the world's not watching" (actually pretty sure that's something I made up myself but u get my drift!) because I think we should all live the lives we want to, and not those that others decide for us.

7. What’s your most listened to song on itunes? 'These Streets' by Paolo Nutini

8. What kind of style would you define yourself as having? I'm not really a big style person, as in I don't really have one definite style. I wear what's comfortable and what I like, and that can vary from fashionable to very plain!

9. Favourite number? 3, or 15. Have no idea why. Except that I was born on the 15th, so that may explain the 15.

 10. Two Hobbies? Reading and playing violin.

 11. Two Pet Peeves? Hmm.. I'm sure I have many but the two that jump out are the toilet roll not being the "right" way, and butter in the jam jar.

12. Guilty Pleasures? High School Musical (all cheesy musicals in fact!) and Carly Rae Jepson's 'Call me maybe'!

 

Well there you have it... A mostly pointless 36 things about me! What a self centred blog post! But all I can spare the time for just now I'm afraid. I'll be back with my usual stuff soon. Feel free to comment below with ideas! xx

Film Review: 'Frozen'

Ok, so I'm a tiny bit behind with this one I know, but I saw Frozen for the first time on Tuesday! Haha! After my experience of seeing 'Noah' on Monday (you can read my review on that film here), I
was suddenly reminded of how much I love going to the cinema. The Odeon at Braehead were showing Frozen on Tuesday morning as part of their 'Kids Club' for £2.50 per person so my sister and I joined all the toots and parents! We felt like really big kids!

I had heard so much about this film as many of my friends are fairly obsessed to put it mildly! I had even bought one of the songs 'Let it Go' before I even saw the film because I'd heard it and loved it. I've never been the kind of person who would choose a cartoon movie. I've seen plenty, especially as a kid, but I've always preferred 'real people'. However, sometimes (like when the last film you watched was pretty full-on) you need a bit of Disney princess cheer.

I began to write one of my typical 'brief summaries', but I'm finding it too hard without retelling the whole story so I would just say read this, and then go and watch it!

I was actually really surprised at how upset the first five minutes of the film made me. I think I was expecting utter cheesy and cheerfulness from the word go, but instead was faced with a whirlwind backstory of loss, heartbreak and shutting people out of your life.

 I thought that the soundtrack was brilliant! The songs were almost all good, and catchy!

I especially liked that, although many elements of the film followed the usual pattern, Disney had not attempted to avoid taking a more modern angle with 'Frozen', allowing for modern phrases etc. This was particularly good as it meant I could relate to it a little more!

I also loved that, instead of being completely focused on true love (although romance definitely played its part!), the key theme of 'Frozen' was one of sisterly love, well that's what I interpreted from it anyway. Having a sister made this something I could totally understand, and sitting watching it with my sister was nice too! I think it shows how young girls should prioritize!

Overall, I congratulate Disney on another successful, yet unique, creation and pitch it as a wonderful all-ages feel-good film. Let me know your thoughts below!

Film Review: 'Noah'

So, I've been away on a wee Easter break to my Gran's and to Dunblane over the last few days which has been nice. Got sooooo much studying to do now but thought I'd get in a couple of posts before I have zero time!

For Christmas, my sister and I got vouchers to spend at the Odeon cinema. As we don't have one in
Aberdeen, we took the chance on Monday of being near Braehead shopping centre (Glasgow) to  spend them! We decided to see 'Noah', as I had heard of it and thought it looked good, particularly due to the cast, which included Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connolly and Emma Watson, who is one of my all-time favourite actresses.

Co-written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, the film was based upon the bible story of Noah's Arc, a tale which, being brought up as a church-goer, I have heard many times. Although the skeleton of the plot followed the bible theme, there were differing elements too!

One example of this was the idea of the creature named 'watchers'. They were huge rock monsters who helped add additional violence to the violent scenes, which were more frequent than expected but didn't make the film difficult to watch.

I thought that all performances were excellent and I was particularly taken with the acting of Logan Lerman who played Noah's younger son, Ham. However, I did find the character's bizarre mix of accents a bit odd, with some (such as Watson) with a distinctly English accent and other sounding more Scottish.

There were key themes in the film which I thought were well conveyed. The one that was extremely hard-hitting and made up the largest proportion of tension in the storyline was regarding Noah being torn between his orders from 'the Creator' (never once referred to as 'God' in this film, I noticed, which I found very interesting and presume was deliberate in order to fit into the time period better) and his loyalty to his family. The Creator plans to wipe out the planet to get rid of human evil and start a fresh with the animals collected on the arc, but wiping out human evil should surely include the ending of Noah's family too? Can Noah condemn his children, his grandchildren to death? How far will he hold true to his faith and what will be the consequences of his decision?

Overall, I'd describe 'Noah' as epic. Everything is larger than life, including all the amazing effects used and the CGI. It's a hard hitting, thought provoking film, so don't go if your looking for a comedy! But otherwise I thoroughly recommend you watch it. As I've warned above, it doesn't stick 100% to the bible version of events, but I would argue that this allows for a fresh spin on a well-known story that results in a deeper understanding of and altered perspective on its message.

"Thank you for the music"

Over the past couple of months, anyone reading this who didn't know me before will have begun to get to know little snippets about me.

Although I have briefly mentioned references to music, my love for and involvement in music definitely deserves at least one post to itself!

Like many teenage girls, listening to music plays quite a big role in my life, as certain songs can put me in certain moods and I like relating to lyrics. Sometimes I like to think that I can appreciate both the musical and literary aspects of songs, but for the most part I stick on something truly cheesy to put a smile on my face!

I don't particularly have one particular music taste, as I enjoy listening to various genres. I'm not going to start listing artists right now because I'll go into more details in further post, but, among the many genres I like, I would most identify myself with a sort of folky sound, like Amy McDonald, Sandi Thom and even my favourites: The Script!

I also like playing music. I've bee playing the violin since I was 7, and although moving around brought some disruption to my teaching, I'm still at it 10 years on! I like playing in my lessons and doing my grades, but I also thoroughly enjoy all the orchestras and music groups I participate in.

2 years ago I started getting lessons in Piano too. I'm not particularly good but I muddle through! I mostly just lack the motivation to practice but that can be said for many things in life.

However two instruments is a bit much, and since I'm more interested in doing my own thing with piano as opposed to progressing on to exams, I might stop lessons soon. Its not an easy decision for me, giving up on something never is because its not in my personality to quit. It was like when I had the awful decision over swimming last year. Firstly, I'm awful with decisions, I'm always so much more relaxed when I've finally got an important decision out of the way! Secondly, I'm one of these people that likes to stick at things as long as possible and not give up!

However, alongside piano, my piano teacher taught me music theory. This is incredibly boring to revise... well for me at least! I just stuck at it until my Grade 5 exam at the start of march which I foyund out last week I have passed with merit (85%)! So I'm chuffed with that! Having grade 5 theory allows you to progress to grade 6 and upwards in a musical instrument which is good, but I'm just so glad to be able to step away from the theory books now! Except its probably time to get cracking on driving theory now....

So basically, I'm just so grateful for the musical opportunities I've been granted in life. Music isn't necessary a talent as such for me, but rather a hobby which I enjoy so much that I strive to do well at it. If anyone reading this doesn't involve themselves in music much- either in playing yourself or listening to music- then I strongly encourage you to grasp any opportunity which presents itself, because you may have found one of your lifetime passions, I certainly did!

Catriona xx

Book Review: 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green

Once again, its been 2 weeks since I finished this book but I still wanted to share my thoughts so here we go....

This was one of these books that there was loads of hype about and I wasn't a part of it until ages later! Haha! I actually downloaded this on my Kindle around Christmas time but I only got round to starting it about 3 weeks ago or so.

Brief Summary: Hazel is a terminal cancer patient who meets cancer 'survivor' Gus at Support Group. They're friendship evolves quickly and, though Hazel initially feels that it would be unfair to put someone through the trauma of dating a dying girl, the relationship is inevitable. They share their innermost feelings that cannot be discussed with people who don't understand, and bond particularly over a novel that is close to Hazel's heart. But Gus has a relapse, and slowly begins to get severely ill and, as his condition deteriorates, the young couple's bubble of happiness fades.

When I first began reading it, I didn't really understand the excitement. I do now, but I don't think I'm quite as big an addict as some! My summary by no means does, or intends to do, justice to such a masterpiece, I include it simply for the benefit of anyone who hasn't yet read it in case I make references you don't understand!

Initially the fact that not a lot was going on put me off a bit, but as I read further I began to realise that it wasn't action that made the writing so admirable, but the emotional content, and the fact that the worries and concerns expressed seemed so truthful that you come to sympathise with the characters.

John Green has quite a specific style of writing, and once I'd picked up on that it was far more comfortable to read. I'm a bit squeamish and so, at times, I was worried that medical references would daunt me ! But, on the contrary, there aren't a lot of medical scenes at all!

Due to a lacking in the action department, with the exception of a few key incidents, characterization is crucial to the appreciation of the novel. Green is successful in capturing what I can only imagine are the varying reactions towards perilous illness; anger, depression, realisation, isolation and more positive feelings such as knowing that nothing is ever too dangerous and wanting to leave your mark upon the world, to name but a few.

I fund certain themes to be a little bit unrealistic, such as when the couple get to meet their favourite author who hasn't even spoken to, far less met, fans in many years. There are certain elements of the novel that that just seem too perfectly staged, but I'm starting to realise that this can be said of a great many novels and that sometimes we need to be accepting of a few key facts in order to appreciate their impact upon the story as a whole.

A lot of my friends warned me that their reading of the book involved a lot of crying. I was surprised to find that this didn't happen for me, but it did make me feel quite depressed and upset for a while so I suppose it achieved its desire effect in that regard!

I'm very happy to hear that 'The Fault in Our Stars' is being made into a film which will be released in June, because I think it will be extremely interesting to see what the director does in order to convey the story and do it justice.

Overall, I really enjoyed 'The Fault in Our Stars'-  its always a good sign when your trying to squeeze the reading of a chapter between every activity of the day, and when your so keen to finish that you finish it while 'road reading'*.

Thoroughly recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet picked it up!

Catriona xx

* I learnt the term 'road reading' in one of my favourite book 'The Sky is Everywhere' by Jandy Nelson, though it was something I used to do years ago without knowing the name. Its where you walk down the street while reading! Not the safest of practices but I hadn't done it since my walks to primary school and I was enjoying TFIOS so much, that I couldn't resist finishing it off on my way down town!