Blog Tours Archives - Page 13 of 16

Blog Tour – Book Review: When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Jul 6, 2016

When Micheal Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Pages: 360
Publish date: July 28th 2016
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 1743534973
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Before Mina, my life was like a completed jigsaw puzzle but Mina has pushed the puzzle onto the floor. I have to start all over again, figuring out where the pieces go.

When Michael meets Mina, they are at a rally for refugees – standing on opposite sides.

Mina fled Afghanistan with her mother via a refugee camp, a leaky boat and a detention centre.

Michael’s parents have founded a new political party called Aussie Values.

They want to stop the boats.
Mina wants to stop the hate.

When Mina wins a scholarship to Michael’s private school, their lives crash together blindingly.

A novel for anyone who wants to fight for love, and against injustice.

When Michael Met Mina:

I received When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah from Pan Macmillan for the When Michael Met Mina Blog Tour, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

Before I even started to read this book I knew that I was going to like it, I don’t know why, but I did and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m not going to lie When Michael Met Mina is a hard book to read, not because it was bad, but because it deals with such a hard subject.

When Michael Met Mina follows protagonists Michael and Mina as they go on a journey of friendship, love, hardships of being different from everyone else. They learn to stand up for themselves, each other and what they believe in.

Michael and Mina are from two different sides; Michael’s family are the founders of Aussie Values, a political party that wants to make Australia great again – by stopping the boats. Mina a refugee that fled Afghanistan with her mother. They are from two opposite sides and they believe in very different things, but then they meet.

Mina has just received a scholarship to join a private school that Michael just happens to go to. I really enjoyed Mina as a character, she was never afraid to let people know who she is, she’s proud, but because of this you can also see her insecurities. When people around her are contently pulling her down for who she is, what she believes in, it gets tough – and they fact is, they have no idea what she has been through.

I really enjoyed the relationship Mina had with her mother and step-father, it was really nice to see this family care so much about each other, they all tried to stay strong and when one was feeling down and hurt, they tried to pick each other up.

Michael was hard to like at first. His family are racist, his friends are racist and to an extent at times he can be a little racist too – but he is also a product of his environment. We can see from the start the resistance that he has against his family values and what they promote. I adore the character arc of Michael, the reader is able to see him grow and not let the people around him influence his thoughts and feelings.

Michael’s family on the other hand; well I hated them. His father and mother, they are racist bastards (sorry not sorry). I wanted to throw my book across the room with everything that they said, even after his father sees first hand what people go through – he doesn’t change the way that he thinks.

His father’s group of friends are no better, I just cannot comprehend how people can think like this, it’s just so small minded and frustrated.

The romance was adorable though Michael and Mina do not have the best start. It was nice to see them go from dislike to friendship and then into something more. It was slow and great to see that they both learnt things from each other.

I also liked the friendships that Mina finds at the new school, they didn’t care that she believed in different things, they liked her, for her.

Randa Abdel-Fattah writing throughout When Michael Met Mina is captivating, once I started to read I didn’t want to stop. Abdel-Fattah created a story that captures some thinking in Australia today, and showed that you have to think before you speak, because everything is not always what it seems. Michael and Mina’s voices were also very different from each other and both capture the life of teens in Australia.

When Michael Met Mina should be on every high school book list in the country. The younger generations need to know that sometimes the government and media lie and manipulate the sense of asylum seekers. They need to know that most of these people are not illegal or jumping the queue, they are just simply people looking for freedom, safety and peace. It’s an important story to write and share.

Have you read When Michael Met Mina yet? Did you like it? Are you going to? Have you read anything else from Randa Abdel-Fattah? Let’s Chat. Also check out the rest of the blog tour and join the conversations on social media with #Michael4Mina

Blog Tour – Book Review: Wicked Heart by Leisa Rayven

May 10, 2016

Wicked Heart by Leisa Raven

Pages: –
Publish date: May 3rd 2016
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN:
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Pan Macmillian

Liam Quinn is talented, gorgeous, and one of the biggest movie stars in the world.

He’s also only man Elissa Holt has ever truly loved.

After being out of her life for six years, he and his gorgeous fiancé are set to star in the new Broadway show Elissa is stage managing. Both Elissa and Liam try to ignore the connection they both still feel, but when late night rehearsals bring them together, the line between what is and what could have been get blurred.

Elissa knows that falling for Liam again would be a tragedy in the making, but as any good romantic will tell you, love doesn’t always follow the script.

Wicked Heart:

I received an e-arc of Wicked Heart by Leisa Raven via Pan Macmillan in conjunction with the Wicked Heart Blog Tour in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book, some are bad and same are good, but overall I don’t really know how I feel about Wicked Heart. This is the third book by Leisa Rayven that I have read, I liked the previous two which are both from this series, but I did love them, the problems that I had with them, showed up again in this one.

Wicked Heart follows protagonist, Elissa 4 years after her heart was torn apart. She is a stage manager of a new show and, you guessed it, the person that broke her heart is playing the lead – with his fiancé playing the romantic interest. Elissa now has to deal with trying to be professional and keep her feelings at bay, but it’s just not that easy.

Wicked Heart like the others in the series includes flashbacks, and like her previous novels I wasn’t the biggest fan of them. I would have loved the flashbacks in Wicked Heart if the romance didn’t move like lightning.

Through the main part of the novel, the romance was good. It was steady and not bam; we are in love. However, when Elissa and Liam first meet, it was way too instalove for me.

If you have read Leisa Rayven’s other novels in this series, you would know that Elissa is Ethan’s sister and we kind of have an idea of who she is from the other books, but in Wicked Heart we really get who she is.

I actually quite liked Elissa as a protagonist, she was easy to get along with and wasn’t whiny however, I did want to knock her about at times regarding her feelings for Liam.

Now Liam, I wasn’t the biggest fan of his. For the most part, I was enjoying him, but then he did things and I just questioned why? Why would he do this? We do find out things throughout the novel to answer most of these, however the reasons behind some of the things weren’t an excuse. I also found that at times he was quite possessive and that just ticks me off.

I really enjoyed the setting of Wicked Heart. I really like the atmosphere of the book that was created because of it being set mainly in a theatre. It’s different from other books and its fun. We get to see more of what happens backstage in Wicked Heart and it was quite intriguing.

I loved the friendship between Elissa and Josh – like can I have this friendship. The banter, the teasing, the way they are always there for each other. It made my heart swell, it was beautiful to see a female/male friendship that wasn’t turned into a romance.

Another thing that I liked about Wicked Heart was the writing. It was easy to read, fun and kept me reading. However, sometimes I didn’t like all the pop cultural references, it just took away from the book.

Overall, I enjoyed Wicked Heart by Leisa Rayven. It was a fun, quick read that was full of romance, banter, laughs and more. Nevertheless, it did have its faults, the romance did move a little fast for me, Liam wasn’t by favourite and I just wanted more, but on a whole it was a fun book.

Have you read Wicked Heart? Have you read the others in the series? Have you liked them? Are you going to read the? Let’s Chat.

Book Review: The Natural History of Us by Rachel Harris

Mar 30, 2016

The Natural History of Us by Rachel Harris

Pages:297
Publish date: April 5th 2016
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
ISBN: 1633920682
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

One class assignment. One second chance at love. The school player is all in. Now he needs to win back the sweet commitment girl who’s forever owned his heart.

Justin Carter has a secret. He’s not the total player Fairfield Academy believes him to be. Not really. In fact, he used to be a one-woman guy…and his feelings for her never went away. Too bad he broke her heart three years ago and made sure to ruin any chance she’d ever forgive him.

Peyton Williams is a liar. She pretends to be whole, counting down the days until graduation and helping her parents at the family ranch. But the truth is, she’s done everything she can to get over Justin, and salvation is just around the corner. With graduation one short month away, she’ll soon break free from the painful memories and start her life fresh. Of course, she has to get through working with him on one last assignment first.

For Justin, nothing ever felt as right as being with Peyton, and now that fate’s given him a shot at redemption, he’s determined to make the most of it. And for Peyton…well, Justin Carter has always been her kryptonite.

The Natural History of Us:

I received an e-arc of The Natural History of Us by Rachel Harris from Spencer Hill Press via Inkslinger PR in conjunction with The Natural History of Us Blog Tour. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

This is the first YA book from Rachel Harris that I have read, which is totally wired because I love her stuff. I have only read her NA books before this one. So when I received this for review, I was very excited and I loved it.

The Natural History of Us was a fun, emotional read that is sweet and adorable. You want to find out what happened? What is going to happen? And how everything is going to be fixed?

The Natural History of Us follows protagonist Justin and Peyton. Two people that were torn apart and with a school assignment are brought back together. They have their ups and their downs it’s not just about their relationship, but so much more.

The Natural History of Us is told in two coinciding parts. The first is before the incident. We don’t know what the incident is, we just know one part and as the novel goes it slowly unfolds. Then we have the ‘now,’ the pairing of Justin and Peyton for the assignment and how everything goes from there.

It was certainly a smart way of doing this. Instead of telling how Justin and Peyton used to be, it’s shown. At first it was a little confusing just to get used to the two time placements, but I quickly got used to it.

I loved the characterisation and character arcs of both Peyton and Justin through The Natural History of Us. The characters grow throughout the novel and we can see it.

Peyton, was a likable character and protagonist. She wasn’t annoying, though at some points I wanted to give her a knock on the back of her head, as a ‘come on,’ however we all have those moments.

I loved Justin, I just want to be his best friend and he needs one. I am not saying that his friends are horrible, because they are not. But he needs someone to be there for me, for him to tell everything. He had that in Peyton, until everything went south.

I liked that setting of The Natural History of Us. I don’t know what it’s like to live on a farm, but the way that it’s presented in the book, let me use my imagination and it was fun.

Nevertheless, there were also some amazing things that happened in The Natural History of Us. That made you want to cry. They weren’t the amazing that is the best thing in the world, but the amazing, that I am glad that Rachel Harris used them in her book.

I love Rachel Harris’ writing style, it’s easy to read and you know that when you start her books, you are going to finish them pretty quickly because you want to know what is going to happen next.

Overall, The Natural History of Us tells us a story of how two people that have been torn apart can be brought back together. With writing that is captivating, a story line that is intriguing and characters that you want to be friends with, The Natural History of Us is a book for every contemporary fan or not.

Have you read any books from Rachel Harris? Have you read The Natural History of Us? Are you going to read it? Let’s Chat.

About Rachel Harris:

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Vibrant settings, witty banter, and strong relationships are a staple in each of her books…and kissing. Lots of kissing.

An admitted Diet Mountain Dew addict and homeschool mom, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and watching way too much Food Network with her husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romances, and LOVES talking with readers!

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter Signup | Goodreads