ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER BY STEPHANIE PERKINS

In case you didn't already know, Isla and the Happily Ever After is the third book in the series by Stephanie Perkins, however you can read the book in whatever order you like- though I do strongly suggest you read them as they came out:

Anna and the French Kiss

Lola and the Boy Next Door 

Isla and the Happily Ever After

There are a few spoilers in Isla of the events of the previous books, if you're bothered by such things like me.

I GIVE IT 5/5 BECAUSE I UTTERLY ADORE THE CHARACTERS THE PLOTS AND THE WONDERFUL SETTINGS. 

Isla might be my favourite of all the books- barely pipping Anna to the post- simply because I related to her the most. The way she deals with situations is very similar to the way I do so I didn't feel the conflict between what the reader thinks is best and what the characters do, especially when Isla dealt with Hattie. 

I loved the development of Isla and Josh's relationship, that is was fast and energetic and that for a large part of the book they were together unlike in Anna or Lola where it takes the whole book for them to really see it.  Their development as characters was also wonderful, there was a strong difference between beginning-of-the-book Josh and end-of-the-book Josh, similarly with Isla. 

Not only can you see Josh and Isla changing, you get to see Anna and St Clair get engaged! I was ecstatic to see them again and the proposal made my heart melt into a gooey puddle. Calliope was going for gold, Lola and Cricket were cheering them on and Meredith was being utterly wonderful (I'm glad that she's not paired off, just to keep everything grounded because not everyone gets someone when they turn eighteen!).

As always, Stephanie Perkins' writing makes a clear, clean cut film begin inside my head which is lovely. I know exactly what the characters look like, who they are and how they'll react which is surprisingly rare. Thank you, Stephanie Perkins for a fab series!

Can't wait to read more by her!

See you later,

E x

THE LUNAR CHRONICLES BOOKS 1-3 COMBO REVIEW

CINDER, SCARLET & CRESS BY MARISSA MEYER

I'll admit I was hesitant to start this series because robots, androids and aliens GHUH but thankfully, my expectations were completely wrong. I'm not one for intense science fiction and in a way this series is science fiction, however, once thrown against the fantastical fairy tale theme it creates a wonderfully balanced contrast between old and new. 

I would recommend this series to readers, perhaps not just anyone because, although I really adored the first book, the predictability of Cinder might not encourage them to read on. It cannot help but be a little predictable because it's based off Cinderella and it has to be happen that way so that the rest of the story can happen.

I GIVE IT 5/5 STARS

There are so many shocking things in this series, though every time I try and think of one I can't because all the shocking things make total sense! The fact that the plague is biological warfare was one of the main ones, I was absolutely dumbstruck and annoyed that I hadn't seen it sooner.
When it was revealed that Wolf was one of the weird wolfy things from Cinder, it didn't click entirely because I'd imagined Hunger Games Mutts- though it was said that those were early prototypes.


I must talk about the relationships before I burst.
Cinder and Kai are so wonderful together because their love has suffered and regenerated through the books right from when Kai finds out about Cinder being a cyborg to when he's kidnapped by Cinder and he finds out she's the lost Princess Selene.

Out of all the relationships we've seen, Wolf and Scarlet are my least favourite, only because they're a bit insta-lovey. Wolf sold out her and her grandmother, delivered her to a group of other wolfy people- admittedly saved her- and then joined Cinder's ragtag band of fugitives. I still like them though!

Cress and Thorne make me:

That is all.

I am excited to meet Winter properly, she seems like a Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer kind of crazy character (though hopefully less evil). She must be relatively good considering she's only going mad because she's stopped using her powers because she doesn't believe it's right. That's a heavy price to pay just to feel like she's being morally right.

See you soon, 

E x

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