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Weekly Recap: YALC & London Comic Con



I have had such a hectic month, which is why I haven't really blogged much during that time (who am I kidding, I've been a useless blogger all year!). At end of last month and start of this one I got to have a week and half off work, and it was amazing. I loved every single minute of it and really didn't want to go back to work. During this time I went to London Film and Comic Con and YALC (Young Adult Literary Convention) for the third year in a row with the fiance. It was absolutely brilliant, but completely terrible for my bank account. 

Image result for yalcYALC just seems to get bigger and better every year and I loved every second of it. This year I had the chance to meet Maggie Stiefvater and V.E.Schwab, and they were both so lovely. I got sick on the day that Schwab was signing and I had to go home and missed it. Luckily, I posted about missing it on my Instagram and she saw it and let me know she'd be doing an impromptu signing the next day. So I still got to meet her and get all my books signed. Maggie Stiefvater had a talk, where she spoke about how she used to do portraits before she started writing books, and about one specific incident with an ugly baby. I was howling with laughter, she is absolutely hilarious.

My best friend and his boyfriend also came Comic Con, so we all got to hang out and shop the stalls together. As well as going out for lunch and Pokemon hunting, as LFCC was during the time where the world had gone Pokemon crazy, or at least we had. We also all spent far too much money. I bought a ton of books at YALC, but I also bought so many Funko Pop figures and some artwork whilst I was there too.

Other than Comic Con, I have gotten very behind on blogging and I haven't been reading a lot either. I have been busy with other things, plus I got into a very big reading slump and it has not been pleasant. I have been proud of the fact that I have stuck to my Instagram and still post twice a day. I'm loving Instagram and am hosting another challenge for September and I can't wait.

I did manage to get in a reread of Queen of Shadows, ready for when Empire of Storms releases. I was so grateful for past Charnell, who did the reread last year for Queen of Shadows and wrote up a chapter by chapter recap of the first three books. It saved me having to reread every single one. And I even wrote up a chapter by chapter recap of Queen of Shadows this time, so if you want a recap on any book in the series then you can find that here.



Okay, my haul for August is actually insane, I can admit that. It is of such epic proportions that the makeshift table I use for my bookstagram photos ended up collapsing under the weight of it. That is a sign of a rather huge haul! And this is probably the biggest monthly haul I have ever had, as it tops 70 books. That is because I bought so many on offer at YALC, but then also got a ton free there as well as a ton sent to me by publishers - Penguin sent me two sets of the 7 book Lorien Legacies series, which really bumped the haul up and gave me the chance to do a giveaway!



I completely understand how insane this looks, I will accept that. In my defence... Books were super cheap at YALC and I have no self control. I also managed to get 3 copies of Nevernight, as I got one at YALC and then two came in subscription boxes. I read and reviewed The Cursed Child and was really torn about it. I loved that it transported me back to a world I loved but the story itself was ridiculous and riddled with plot holes, and will never be canon for me. I managed to get a bunch of these signed at YALC and am excited to read them all. 



I received so many amazing books from publishers and whilst I was at YALC. I am super excited for Heartless, which I did a swap for, and A Torch Against the Night.


I am currently reading Frost Like Night and really enjoying it, which is good as I really didn't enjoy the second book in the series.





The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: Review

Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic
Buy this book:  Amazon / Book Depository
Even if Blue hadn't been told her true love would die if she kissed him, she would stay away from boys. Especially the ones from the local private school. Known as Raven Boys, they only mean trouble.  But this is the year that everything will change for Blue.This is the year that she will be drawn into the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys. And the year Blue will discover that magic does exist.  This is the year she will fall in love.
I finally did it, people, I read my first Maggie Steifvater book! The most embarrassing thing is that I already own 8 Maggie Stiefvater books, without having read any of them and it has been like that for years now. The reason it took me so long to get to one was because I was nervous. The Stiefvater hype is intense, especially when it comes to The Raven Boy series. That hype is really off putting, as I feel it make my expectations skyrocket and I don't want to be left disappointed. And I also don't want to end up being the only person who didn't like this book.

Overall, I actually really enjoyed The Raven Boys and am excited to continue the series, but I will admit that I wasn't as head-over-heels in love with it as all the hype had made me believe I would be. It was really good, but it was also a little long and dragged at times. It is also so very, very strange! I have no idea how I had managed to go so long having zero clue what this book was about but I did, so I was a little taken aback by how utterly strange it all was.

Image result for i'm so confused gifI can't remember now where I saw this but, I saw someone refer to this book as 'a bunch of rich boys with a lot of money and spare time' and that is hilariously accurate. The Raven Boys us about Blue, a girl who lives in a house of psychics and is the only one without powers. She has always been told that if she kisses her true love then he will die. When, for the first time ever, she is able to see the spirit of someone who is going to die, she knows it is because he is either her true love or she will be the one to kill him... Or both. That boy turns out to be Gansey, a Raven Boy, which means someone who attends Agliongy Academy and spends all of his spare time searching for Glendower. Glendower is a Welsh noble, who Gansey believes is buried on a ley line in Henrietta, and who he also believes isn't really dead, just asleep, and can be awoken and then will grant one favour to the person who woke him. Woaaaah, COLOUR ME CONFUSED!!! And let the endless google searches begin as I try to figure out who the hell Owain Glendower is and whatever the hell a ley line is.

Now, if I am being completely honest, the Glendower search did't interest me in the slightest. It would have been way more interesting if we had learnt more of his history or if there had been more truth to the story. The fact remains that Glendower was a Welsh noble and all evidence points to him being buried in Wales. I just felt like a story centering on a Welsh noble should probably be set in Wales. I'm not sure why the decision was made to set it in America, but it is set in a fake town in Virginia, which is where Maggie Steifvater is from, so maybe it is out of laziness and writing what you know, rather than trying to set it somewhere she doesn't know very well. I personally just felt it would have been more interesting if it had been set in Wales.

I want to talk characters now though, as I really enjoyed the wonderful mix of characters here:

Blue: Despite her truly awful name, Blue was a character that I absolutely loved and could really relate to. She wasn't afraid to be herself, act how she wanted and dress how she wanted, without concerning herself with what others thought of her. I also loved how she so quickly decided that all the Aglionby boys were bastards. I highly approved!

Image result for you're so weird gifGansey: He is a really interesting character, but not exactly likeable in this book. I hope that he will become a character that grows on me. He just came off as the hopelessly rich boy with way too much time on his hands. His obsession with Glendower borders on the comple

Adam: I really felt for Adam's character, even though he could be utterly frustrating at times. He was the only Aglionby boy who wasn't swimming in money, instead he got in on a scholarship and has to work to pay for his fees. He is struggling with a lot and determined to do it all on his own, without being willing to accept help from anyone. I understood his reasoning but sometimes I just wished he could put his pride to the side and accept help when it came to certain things.

Ronan: He was probably the most fascinating of the bunch. He gets to be the dark, brooding, mysterious Raven boy. The one who has been changed by a big event in his life - his fathers murder and the fact he was the one who found the body. He's not a happy character, nor is he a friendly one. He was fascinating though and really funny, without ever trying to be. The more I learned about his character the more intrigued I became. I am beyond curious to see what becomes of him in the next book.

Image result for you're so boring gifNoah: Our fourth and final Raven Boy was Noah, a character who lacked any sort of personality whatsoever. He was just kind of always there, in the background, never really doing or saying much. I was suspicious of him from very early on as he was so underdeveloped and nobody else was. I wish his character had been handled better, as it was a little too obvious that there was 'more' to his character.

Not to mention that we had a whole hose of side characters who all had their own unique personalities, especially the other women who lived with Blue.

The story was intriguing and magical and totally weird, and not at all what I had been expecting - although I don't even know what I was expecting. The search for Glendower still seems so weird to me. I felt the story dragged a little at the end but I will definitely be continuing the series.

4/5 Butterflies

My Endless TBR: The Series Shame



It's time for Top Ten Tuesday and this weeks topic is:

Owned Series I Have Not Read Yet

This weeks topic means that we get to talk about our endless TBRs. Some may be little, others may be large. Mine is now at the level where I could probably build my own castle out of it and then sit upon a throne built of books. I am not joking, I think the number is reaching about 1,000 or so books. Yup... I have a problem, but you probably already knew that. So here are some of the series that I own every single book in the series, and still have not read them.


The worst part is that this isn't even all of the series where I own every single book in the series but haven't started it. I really need to stop doing that. These series pictured total up to 46 books between them and that is a lot of reading, that is just under half of what I read in year. It would take me months to read them all, but every day a new book releases that I want to read. The TBR will honestly never get smaller, it just grows every day.

Which of these series have you read and would recommend to me?

Throne of Glass: Series Recap


Hey guys, last year,  few years ago I did a complete chapter by chapter recap of the first four Throne of Glass books, in preparation for reading Empire of Storms. I decided to actually make notes of every chapter. I always need to reread a series when a new book is released and it is very time consuming, especially in a series as long as this. I posted my chapter by chapter recap here on the blog and it proved very popular, it still brings a ton of people to my blog even now. I didn't add Empire of Storms at the time, as I didn't take notes whilst reading. I have just done a reread of it, having read my original recap to avoid having to do a whole series reread, and have now added Empire of Storms. Kingdom of Ash comes out in just a few days so I probably won't have time to add that to this.

I have a terrible memory and know a lot of you guys have this problem too. Sometimes it isn't possible to reread before starting the next book, and you are left a little confused and unsure about all the details. So I really hope this chapter by chapter recap is helpful to you all. This took forever to write up and I haven't gone through it all yet, so there might be spelling errors or really crap punctuation and I apologise. I broke the books down chapter by chapter as it seemed the easiest way.This may contain far too much information, but I noted down a lot

I feel it goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, this post is going to contain spoilers for all five of the first Throne of Glass books. I like to think you all already realised that!

You can go to individual posts for all the recaps using these links:


Queen of Shadows Recap


Hey guys, I recently finished my Queen of Shadows recap and added it in with the other three recaps I have done on this series. I love the post, but these are long books and so those posts are very lengthy. I understand it might be easier to just have an individual post for each book. So I am going to be separating them and then keeping one master post of every book recapped as well.

Heir of Fire Recap


Hey guys, I recently finished my Queen of Shadows recap and added it in with the other three recaps I have done on this series. I love the post, but these are long books and so those posts are very lengthy. I understand it might be easier to just have an individual post for each book. So I am going to be separating them and then keeping one master post of every book recapped as well.

Crown of Midnight Recap




Hey guys, I recently finished my Queen of Shadows recap and added it in with the other three recaps I have done on this series. I love the post, but these are long books and so those posts are very lengthy. I understand it might be easier to just have an individual post for each book. So I am going to be separating them and then keeping one 

Crescent City recaps:

ACOTAR recaps:

Crown of Midnight

Chapter 1: Making her way to a manor house, on a mission for the King. She is to kill Lord Nirall. Ends with her raising her sword above him as he sleeps in bed.

Throne of Glass Recap


Hey guys, I recently finished my Queen of Shadows recap and added it in with the other three recaps I have done on this series. I love the post, but these are long books and so those posts are very lengthy. I understand it might be easier to just have an individual post for each book. So I am going to be separating them and then keeping one master post of every book recapped as well.

Throne of Glass

Chapter 1: We meet Celaena Sardothien in the Salt Mines of Endovier, where she has been for the past year. We learn that she is Adarlan's most notorious assassin. Being escorted through a building by Chaol Westfall, the Captain of the Royal Guard. Led to see the Crown Prince of Ardalan (Dorian - who is not end game... Okay?)

Chapter 2: Dorian surprised to find her so well after a year, when average life expectancy in the mines is a month. She once tried to escape, four months in, where she killed her overseer and twenty-three sentries, and almost reached the wall - over 363 feet from her shaft, others have never made it passed 3 feet before being taken down. Dorian says he has a proposition for her.

Chapter 3: The King wants a Champion, is holding a competition to find one. Twenty-three members of his council each sponsor a would-be-Champion to train at the castle, and compete to become the King's Champion. Dorian wants Celaena, but she will compete under an alias to hide her identity. Dorian says that if Celaena wins then he will get the King to grant her freedom after four years of service.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Review

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two (Harry Potter, #8)Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Author: Jack Thorne
Publisher: Little Brown
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
It is finally time for me to review a new Harry Potter story and that feels amazing. What doesn't feel amazing is that my thoughts are so conflicted. I finished reading this play and immediately stamped 5/5 on my Goodreads review. It wasn't that I loved the story, it was that I loved being transported back to a world I love, to characters I adore so much and to experience that magic once again. I had tears in my eyes whilst finishing this book because it just brought back all those nostalgic feelings. The problem was that the story wasn't as good as I had hoped and the more I think about the book, the less happy with it I get. It's currently on a 3/5 with the potential to go lower if I dwell on it anymore. So, no more dwelling, time for reviewing. And, don't worry, if you haven't read the book yet then I won't spoil it. I will keep this part completely non-spoilery and then have the spoilers after a massive warning, for all those who have read it.

This was never going to be the story that most Harry Potter fans wanted. For one thing, it is a script of a play and not a novel. We all knew this before buying so it's not a shock, but it does mean it's a weird new way to experience the Harry Potter world. This is something that is supposed to be experienced and watched, not read. The other main issue is that, no matter how largely they write her name on the cover, this was not written by J.K. Rowling. And that is a terrible thing to me as it meant that I felt the characters were just lacking in a way they wouldn't have been if she had wrote it. The characters always just felt a little off and not like the characters we spent seven books getting to know.
How Jack Thorne & JKR are probably feeling
The story itself was not at all what I was expecting, but I am mentioning nothing about it here. I think it is better to go in blind. We all know this book takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and follows Harry's son Albus rather than Harry. We meet some brilliant characters in this, but also some bad ones. My main issue with the story was that it all felt a bit ridiculous and that a lot of it didn't make sense. I, quite honestly, can never view this play as canon because it all just feels ridiculous and as if it would never happen. Another major issue is the gaping plot holes that this book then leaves us with. And I hate gaping plot holes!

So, yes, overall I was disappointed. I loved some aspects of this but was really pissed about others. I need to go into spoilery detail to explain all that.  If you haven't read this yet or seen the play then now is the time to skip out.

!SPOILERS AHEAD!

Okay, now we have got the warning out of the way... LET'S DO THIS!!!

I am actually excited to review this and go into all my spoilery thoughts. I have to, I won't be able to contain myself otherwise. I need to lay it all out on the table. First I need to get this out of the way: I LOVE HARRY POTTER! If you know me in real life or from my blog, twitter or instagram then you already know this. Harry Potter is my life and has been since I was 6/7 and my nan bought me the first book. Harry Potter was basically my childhood and I loved every minute of it. It was a childhood of midnight releases of books and films. Of dressing up as a Hogwarts student for Halloween. It's owning more HP clothes than regular clothes. It's having to do the Harry Potter London walking tour and Studio Tour. It's owning multiple editions of the books. Harry Potter is life and will forever be. BUT I am never going to be one of those people who is blinded by my love for something. I wanted to love this play, I really did, but I didn't in the end and that is because it has a lot of flaws and problems and things I didn't like. Plus, and I feel this is important, it is a script for a play and I feel it is better to experience as a show (which I will doing next year as I got tickets!!!).

I will do a very quick summary for anyone reading the spoilery side even if they haven't read the play (naughty!). Basically the story focuses on Harry's son Albus as he begins attending Hogwarts and gets placed in Slytherin *gasp*. This is a huge deal and Albus ends up sucking at magic and forever living in his fathers shadow, which he resents, and their relationship is basically strained as fuck. Harry is a terrible father for some reason. Scorpius Malfoy is the most adorable bean of all time and him and Albus become best friends, who are totally in love with each other (but we will get to that later). Amos Diggory shows up out the blue with his niece Delphi, wanting Harry to go back in time and save Cedric's life. Harry, even though one last surviving time turner has been found, lies and says he can't. Albus then decides to do it himself, with the help of good ol' Scorpius. Of course going back in time and changing one tiny detail changes everything and shit hits the fan. So then they keep having to go back, changing things until eventually we figure out that Delphi is the lovechild of Voldemort and Bellatrix and she wants to go back in time to prevent him from ever killing Harry, so that he would never have been defeated. And, yeah, there is one really simplified version of this messy plot.

Trying to make sense of The Cursed Child plot, like...

The first thing I have to mention is probably what anyone who has read it wanted to discuss the most... Voldemort had a lovechild with Bellatrix Lestrange! REALLY!?!?! I got to that point in the book and suddenly understood why I had heard people saying they felt this read like fan fiction. My mouth dropped open and disappointment set in. It just makes zero sense to me, and the explanation of it and timeline of those events also make no sense to me. I just don't see Voldemort as someone concerned with having a child. His plan was to get the Deathly Hallows and master death, so he wasn't looking for an heir. And, come on, it's not like the guy has even one tiny paternal bone in his body. The only thing that does make sense is that if Voldemort had a kid with anyone it would be Bellatrix, you can totally see her wanting to have his baby. I still don't get how this all happened and no one knew. And that it was never alluded to in the final book. She apparently gave birth in the Malfor Manor before the Battle of Hogwarts. So where was the baby whilst she was off fighting? Why did Draco not know about it? Or did he and just never felt like he should mention it?!? Come on, this is the most ridiculous HP storyline in the history of ever and I am going to pretend that it is fanfiction and not canon because otherwise I'd have to rate this a 1/5 and I just can't deal with that right now!

The next thing we have to discuss is the main plot device here: time travel. Why?!?! Do not mess with time travel, it's far too overused and just results in endless plot holes and problems. This book is not an exception to that rule. Especially when we take into account that the main plot here is that Albus and Scorpius want to use the time turner to go back in time and save Cedric Diggory's life...

kristen wiig frustrated unimpressed bridesmaids are you kidding me

They have a time turner that can take them back years and they are going to use this to save Cedric Diggory. Can we all take a moment to appreciate how utterly pointless and stupid that act would be if we think about the fact they could go back in time and strangle tiny, evil baby Voldemort and save thousands of people?!? Oh no, let's just go back in time and save one boy.

stupid the hangover stupid people


That is like someone giving you a time turner in our world and going back in time to save Anne Frank, rather than killing Hitler. If you kill the evil overlord then you would save all the people that died at their hands. So the whole time I am just sitting here wanting to slap everyone for being so stupid. But it is obvious why they can't all suddenly realise they have the power to murder Voldemort and prevent everything... It would mean that everything that came after that would completely change and the first seven Harry Potter books would never have happened. So of course we can't have that, so we will just have this giant stupid plot hole instead. Gah, I hate the time travel storyline so much.

The next biggest problem with this book is the characterisation and how wrong it is in this play. Ron is suddenly reduced to just a little bit of comedic relief. He just eats food and pulls pranks, and apparently got so drunk at his wedding that he forgot most of it. Why has Ron suddenly turned into a Weasley twin too? I know he liked pranks and found them funny before, but he was no Fred or George. And why is he giving a small boy a love potion as a joke gift? He was put under the influence of a love potion and it wasn't an experience he particularly enjoyed, so I can't see him then being stupid enough to give one to a child. Ron is my fictional husband and I hated seeing what Jack Thorne reduced his character to here, it was not fun to read.

Harry was even worse, I hated him being the world's worst father who would be so horrible to tell his son that sometimes he wished he wasn't his son. I just don't see Harry ever saying that. I feel he would love his children, no matter how difficult they could be and appreciate being able to be their for them, as he never had that as a child. And watching him treat Professor McGonagall like shit made for even more unpleasant reading. Am I supposed to believe that Harry, the guy who flipped out when a Death Eater spat on her, would then go and treat her with so little respect? Nope, I am not buying that.

Hermione was just as hard to read, especially in the timeline where her and Ron never got together. She basically becomes a female version of Snape. She's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, who treats the children horribly. She's nasty and bitter, and apparently all because she didn't wind up with Ron?!? No. Are we really reducing Hermione down to this? She is a strong, brave, kind person and I don't see her ever turning that bitter because of a guy, she is so much better than that. Why did J.K. Rowling give this her stamp of approval?!?!

Me watching Jack Thorne ruin my favourite characters
And I am still not sold on the fact that getting humiliated one time would suddenly turn Cedric Diggory into an evil Death Eater?!? Come on. I know this is J.K. Rowling trying some Butterfly Effect type situation but it is just awful. I don't believe for one second that Cedric would allow that one moment in his life change him so completely that he suddenly goes to the HP Dark Side and start working for Voldemort. No.

I have another big issue and that is this: Scorpius and Albus are blatantly in love with each other. The issue isn't that they love each other, the issue is that this seems super obvious to 90% of people reading and yet it is never addressed. Instead they end the book with them discussing what girls they want to get with. Come on, they totally love each other and I ship it endlessly. I just get so sad to see the potential to have our first openly gay couple in the Harry Potter universe squandered. These two were just utterly adorable and I ship it endlessly and feel it is time we finally have a gay couple in HP. Not just watch them fill a play with so much homoerotic subtext and then just brush it all aside at the end. No. In my mind they become the most adorably squishy couple ever, get married and join the Potter and Malfoy households. 



It wasn't all bad though and there were aspects that I really liked. The biggest one being Scorpius Malfoy! He is adorable and I just loved his character. He is so sweet and kind, and I just was so happy with his character. I also loved that Albus and Scorpius were both Slytherins, and both kind, wonderful Slytherins. I have a big soft spot for Slytherin house so I was happy that this play shows that Slytherins are just as awesome! I also loved Scorpius and Albus together, but still wholeheartedly believe they should be a couple. The thing I loved most about this was all the Hermione and Ron feelings that it gave me. I was so happy when reading this book. I loved when Rob told Hermione he wanted to renew their wedding vows, it was utterly adorable. And I cried a little when, even in the world where they never got together, they both still loved each other and sacrificed themselves together! My shipper heart could not handle that!

3/5 Butterflies

Writing this review actually felt quite therapeutic, but I must admit that the more I think about the story, the more upset I get. I just wanted this to be amazing and everything I was hoping for, and it wasn't. I feel this was definitely missing J.K. Rowling's touch and I wish she had been the one to write the script, as I feel the characters would have felt more real if she had. It wasn't all bad and I enjoyed the story whilst reading. It blew my mind reading it, as I tried to figure out how they were going to pull this off on stage. I am excited to see it on stage, as I feel I will love it when I see that. But I can't ever consider this as canon because it just had too many plot holes and makes little sense when you think back on the Harry Potter books.

Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby: Review & Dream Cast

Title: Things We Know By Heart
Author: Jessi Kirby 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Buy this book: Amazon / Book Depository
When Quinn Sullivan meets the recipient of her boyfriend’s donated heart, the two form an unexpected connection.After Quinn loses her boyfriend, Trent, in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the pieces of her now-unrecognizable life. She hears back from some of them, but the person who received Trent’s heart has remained silent. The essence of a person, she has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then maybe she can have peace once and for all. Risking everything in order to finally lay her memories to rest, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas—a guy whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn't want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they're connected—but their time together has made Quinn feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost…and all that remains at stake.
Guys, I am completely struggling here. I don't even know where to begin when it comes to this book. How am I even supposed to review it? This book honestly just touched me so much, it moved me so deeply and I finished this book feeling completely satisfied and so happy. I can't recommend this book more, it is a perfect contemporary read and I am just so in love with this story and the characters.

The book follows Quinn Sullivan, an eighteen-year-old woman who lost her boyfriend a year ago in a car accident. His parents made the decision to donate his organs and Quinn has been attempting to contact all the recipients, as a way for her to get closure. Quinn has heard back from every single one... Except for the person who received Trent's heart. His silence becomes to much for her and she eventually tracks him down and sets out to find him. And this is where Colton comes in. The longer she spends with him, the more time she wants to spend with him and the more she realises she can't tell him the truth without risking hurting and losing him.

Head Like an Orange beach ocean landscape sunsetI honestly just loved every single thing about this book. I loved the characters, the setting, the relationships, the writing and the story. The setting is all beautiful beaches and glorious ocean and I want to transport myself there. I'm kind of an emotional mess right now as I try to write this review, and I don't even care. You will just need to deal with my jumbled mess of ridiculous gushing, and then go experience this book for yourselves.

I connected with this book so much and truly felt for the characters. I lost a friend a few years ago, he was twenty-two and also died in an accident, and his parents made the same decision to donate his organs. And then they did the exact same thing of contacting all the recipients, along with my friends girlfriend. They needed to, it helped them all so much to speak to these people who had received such a vital part of the person they had loved. I don't even know how they would have felt if the person who received his heart hadn't even wrote back. So I just completely felt for Quinn and put myself in her shoes, and I know I'd have probably made all the decisions she did, and all the mistakes.

The characters in this are fabulous and so perfectly written, especially the family relationships. I especially loved Quinn's relationship with her sister Ryan, and how close they were. They could lean on one another and help one another, and both seemed to know the perfect things to say and when. Quinn was so strong and resilient, she hurt and she broke, but she also fought and found herself again and it was beautiful to watch.

I don't want to ruin the story for people, so feel I don't want to say too much. I will just say this: I loved this book. I loved every single thing about it. I am going to reread this book many times over the years, I can just tell, and I am sure I will love it just as much every single time. So I hope you get to read this book, I hope you connect with it as much as I did, and I really hope you love it.

5/5 Butterflies


My Dream Cast

I feel so lucky to be a part of this amazing blog tour and that I get to try and dream cast this. There is just one problem... I SUCK AT DREAM CASTING! No, seriously, I really do. It is because I can never seem to imagine someone playing the characters. And I also never pay attention to descriptions, ever. The characters could be purple and covered in scales and I'd probably be oblivious to it. But I really tried here as I connected to these characters so much.

Lily Collins as Quinn Sullivan

This is so hard for me, as I hate trying to imagine actors as the characters. Here it was especially hard as I didn't know who could play Quinn. A big part of me wanted Shaillene Woodley, just because she is so talented. But I just feel she is far too overused in YA movies atm. So I then fell to Lily Collins. She's an actress that has grown on me so much over time, and I think she could play the part so well. Plus she doesn't seem to age, she's 27 and looks about 18, which makes her perfect for this.

Dylan O'Brien as Colton Thomas

I wanted an actor with green eyes, as this is mentioned so many times in the book and was a detail I really remembered about Colton. I completely struggled to find actors with green eyes though, so I gave up. I have such a soft spot for Dylan O'Brien and feel he can play serious, he can play funny, he can play action and probably everything in between. And he's nice to look at. So I would totally put him in this film. Plus... We also have photographic evidence that he is in fact alive and well, so he could definitely do it.


lily collins sam claflin photoshoots lcollinsedit maker emmaSam Claflin as Trent

I think the only problem here would be that Sam looks too old for the part. But this is a dream cast so I can do what I want. I feel he could just be perfect for Trent and all those flash back scenes that a movie could have. And we already know that him and Lily have great onscreen chemistry. He could just play this perfectly!



Emma Stone as Ryan

I LOVE Emma Stone. I do, and if she was a little younger then I would just dream cast her as the lead in this and every other film ever. But I really do feel like she could play the perfect older sister. The one who can bring the comic relief, the no-nonsense attitude and also the amazing sisterly advice.



drinking vodka betty white alcoholic cbsBetty White as Gran

She's just perfect for any grandmother role. She can play this quirky. hilarious gran perfectly!




And that is everyone I will dream cast for now. I'd love to see this as a movie, even though I know it would make me cry buckets of tears. It would totally be worth it!