The Weight of a Thousand Feathers by Brian Conaghan

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

This book was interesting and bland at the same time. I loved the relationship between Bobby and his mum - who was absolutely amazing by the way - and Bobby and Danny. The MS stuff was well-written and appeared to be well-researched which was in stark contrast to Danny. It was like "Hey here's my headcase brother who is bad enough to go to a special school but we don't want a diagnosis for him." What was that about?

Bobby's friendship with Bel seemed quite hollow and under-developed and feelings or not how do you not tell your best friend that you're gay? Also the group stuff was very weak and seemed like just an awkward way to meet Lou. I didn't like Lou, he was a manipulative liar who used Bobby.

I hated the ending and how Bobby involved Danny, everything after seemed kind of muddled. How did they handle the authorities, especially with Bobby still being under 18?

Stef Out x

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

This was a tricky one. I loved Xiomara and her fiery attitude. I loved that most of the cast were non-white. I loved Xiomara's relationships with her friends and even - though strained - her family, it was so authentic and there was clearly love in the struggles between them though that does bring me to the main reason that I struggled with this book - the religion stuff.

I am not religious and honestly it all freaks me out a little. Also I'm a big supporter of free will and Xiomara's lack of it was sad. I disliked that she just called her twin "Twin", it was de-humanising in my opinion.

The writing flowed and pulled me along but the poetry stuff went over my head a little. I'm never sure what counts and what doesn't.

Stef Out x

P.S. Considering this blog is 99% book reviews these days I've decided to remove the 'Book Review' clarification from post titles. I will only add it if it's an exception e.g. a film review.

Book Review: From Twinkle With Love by Sandhya Menon

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

I loved how authentic this book was. The Indian stuff was really cool even though I didn't understand most of it, it was just really nice to have a novel that wasn't completely white-washed. In fact I think most of the main characters were characters of colour which is awesome! We even had G and B of the LGBT crew and the G half was a black guy!

I loved Twinkle's voice and I loved seeing her growth through the novel and that she was willing to learn and admit her mistakes. I also loved her naivety regarding life and love and Sahil. Oh Sahil, what a sweetheart, it was so obvious from the start that he liked Twinkle yet she was so oblivious! The ending was perfect as well.

Stef Out x