Title: Take Three Girls
Authors: Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
Publication date: September 2017
RRP: $18.99

Synopsis:
Ady - not the confident A-lister she appears to be.
Kate - brainy boarder taking risks to pursue the music she loves.
Clem - disenchanted swim-star losing her heart to the wrong boy.
All are targeted by PSST, a toxic website that deals in gossip and lies. St Hilda's antidote to cyber-bullying? The Year 10 Wellness program. Nice try - but sometimes all it takes is three girls.
Exploring friendship, feminism, identity and belonging, Take Three Girls is honest, raw and funny.

I'm part of the blog tour hosted by Pan MacMillan (thank you!) for Take Three Girls and I'm very excited to tell you my thoughts on this book. Whenever I get contacted about #loveozya books I almost immediately say yes however, I make sure I read the synopsis first and then I can say 'yes' to my heart's content.

As you may (or may not) have noticed, this book has three authors and is told in the perspective of three different 16-year-old girls all attending the same school (in Australia!). Each author wrote a character each which I felt was smart even if it seemed like the normal thing to do anyway. Either way, it was written really well. I would say a downside though was that sometimes it would be in the present and suddenly switch to the past so fast and abruptly that I had to read the paragraph again (this happened a few times).
This book is centred around bullying, in particular, cyber bullying and how these characters deal with it and just you know, their lives really.

 This book took almost 300 pages for me to get really into it which was unfortunate BUT, I felt that it was worth it because after I reached that point, I didn't stop reading until I was finished and it honestly made me so happy (so happy that at one point, I had watery eyes from happiness).

I felt that the characters and situations were so realistic (I was that age 10 years ago - wow, am I old? -  and can tell you now, that most of this happened either to me or around me). I loved how some of the characters, mainly Clem I think, were so naive, even if it seems annoying, it was so damn real.

My favourite character was Ady, I simply adored her and she was who I had tears of joy for that I mentioned earlier. Though I felt like I related to each main character in a little way somehow, whether something relevant now or in my past - it was nice.

There was a little insta-love in the story but I didn't spend much time worrying about it because so much other stuff made up for it. I loved the message this book gave me and how important and relevant it is (fat-shaming, slut-shaming).
This might be a little random but I just wanted to emphasise something in the book how females are in a way, punished for who we are and choose to be. I am not one to usually say something like that but this book made me realise that with certain aspects in life, many women are degraded in a way that most men will never experience in their lifetime.

Okay, anyways... Overall, this book while it started slow, ended up being a good story and had a great message and I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 4/5

*This book was sent to me by Pan MacMillan as part of the blog tour and

in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.




WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

Follow my blog with Bloglovin'!

Title: All the Dirty Parts
Author: Daniel Handler
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: October 1st 2017
RRP: $24.99

Synopsis:
Coles is a boy in high school. He runs cross country, he sketches, he jokes around with friends. But none of this quite matters next to the allure of sex. "Let me put it this way," he says. "Draw a number line, with zero is you never think about sex and ten is, it's all you think about, and while you are drawing the line, I am thinking about sex."
Coles fantasies about whomever he's looking at. He consumes and shares pornography. And he sleeps with a lot of girls, which is beginning to earn him a not-quite-savory reputation around school. This leaves him adrift with only his best friend for company, and then something startling starts to happen between them that might be what he's been after all this time - and then he meets Grisaille.


Upon being contacted about this book to review, my first thought was "ahh, not my kind of book". But then because of that thought, I changed my mind and wanted to give it a try.
Now you might think I'll go off track here but it's relevant, I assure you. You know Lemony Snicket? Author of A Series of Unfortunate Events? Have you ever wondered who he actually is? WELL, it is Daniel Handler, author of this novel: All the Dirty Parts, (fun fact??)

From the synopsis, you may be somewhat intrigued, just like I was. I did not think about the fact that this was told from the perspective of a 16-year-old high school boy however, once I finished, I did and well... I felt a bit weird. So basically, this book is literally the thoughts of said 16-year-old boy, Cole and how he constantly thinks about sex.

I liked how this book was written in Cole's thoughts with the dialogue kind of thrown in there however, I failed to see much of a story, it was really just his day-to-day thoughts and that's what really let me down. It was just about him and sex really, I wouldn't say it was for a 26-year-old female like myself. There was a point in the book that had the full potential to go into a story that I would have loved to read, alas I was left disappointed.
There were times (not too often) where there would be a sudden flashback to the other day or last month and then back to the present in the same sentence, it threw me off a little.

In saying all that, I think there are other readers who would find this novel far more entertaining (I'm now thinking about a line about hommus mentioned in the book). It was a really quick read as well, so if you're looking for just a little something to read and you don't mind reading about the sexual thoughts (some are more explicit than others) from a 16-year-old character then check out some of the reviews on Goodreads because I've seen some others enjoy it.

Rating: 2/5 



*This book was sent to me by Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.




WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

Follow my blog with Bloglovin'!

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if I should still do these wrap up posts since I will always do them on my YouTube channel (unless for some unforeseen reason) and I actually have no idea if people like reading them or not? I decided to do one for August anyway because well, why not? I should be doing an assignment but aye, there's always tomorrow (bad Erena, bad!) If you're keen on watching my video for this click here!

I read a total of three books this month and I'm actually very happy with that seeing as it was an incredibly busy month for me at uni (I am desperate for this semester to end!!) but I do hope to get a bit more done during September.


BOOKS READ IN AUGUST

1. Winter - Marissa Meyer
This is a mountain of a book and it took me a while to get through it since I was so busy, but then all of a sudden I read almost half the book in one night. I felt that most of what happened was necessary so the big ol book was relevant. I loved seeing it all tied together and I really liked Winter's character though my favourite if Scarlet. I loved Cress' development too! Her and Thorne just break my heart. The story, while long, is exciting and Cinder gets real badass.
4/5



2. Genuine Fraud - E. Lockhart
When there was the opportunity to review this, I just HAD to have it. I loved We Were Liars and the I had a feeling this one was going to be just as good. Within the first few pages, I was hooked and I had to force myself to put it down to other human things. The main character Jule is questionable, I really enjoyed reading her character though despite some of the crazy things she'd say and do. If you're in the mood for a fast-paced and thrilling YA novel, this is the one for you! Full review here.
4.5/5



3. The Genesi Code - Tristen Willis
From a new, Aussie author, this dystopian/sci-fi novel is a short, fast paced story that has you wanting more. While the writing in the first few chapters seemed a bit rocky, I was soon immersed in the story and found myself really enjoying it. I love the main character, Luka, she is pretty badass and I enjoyed reading from her point of view. I loved the bouts of action and only wish, the other characters were explored more. I'm hoping for more depth in the next book! For a full review, click here.
3.5/5


SEPTEMBER TBR

1. Nevernight - Jay Kristoff
I've finally picked this back up and I have been loving it. It is brutal and hilarious and it's god damn great.


2. Because You Love to Hate Me - collection of short stories from authors edited by Ameriie
I'll be writing a review for this one.

3. Tower of Dawn - Sarah J Maas
AHH YES PLS

4. Wonder Woman Warbringer - Leigh Bardugo
Another AHH YES PLS (hehe)


5. Take Three Girls - Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell & Fiona Wood
I'll be part of the blog tour on this one, keep an eye out on September 29th!

6. All the Dirty Parts - Daniel Handler
 I'll have a review for this one too.


And there is my slightly ambitious TBR for the month of September. I won't tell you what I've read just yet (though you'll find out on my Goodreads or you'll see on Instagram from time to time). I'll try get the next wrap up post up sooner rather than more than half way through the month, my bad. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed my little reviews and an insight into what I want to read and I'll see you next time!

x




WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

Follow my blog with Bloglovin'!

Title: Genuine Fraud
Author: E. Lockhart
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publication date: 6 September 2017
RRP: $19.99

Synopsis:
Imogen is an heiress, a runaway, and a cheat.
Jule is a fighter, a chameleon, and a liar.
Imogen is done pretending to be perfect, and Jule refuses to go back to the person she was. Somewhere between the mansions of Martha's Vineyard and the shores of Cabo San Lucas, their intense friendship takes a dark turn.
Genuine Fraud is a masterful new psychological suspense novel - the story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge. How far would you go to be someone else?

When I saw E Lockhart had a new book coming out, I almost requested it without even reading the synopsis - though, of course I did, ha. Lockhart's previous novel, We Were Liars was so surprisingly good that I've been waiting for her next book to come out. As you may see from the synopsis above, Genuine Fraud somewhat of a suspenseful story. Literally within the first chapter you'll be wanting more, and you'll be trying to formulate what's happening immediately.

The story itself I found to be incredibly thrilling and it was hard to put down because I just wanted to know everything. It's set out so that the chapters go back in time and you find out what Jule and Imogen have been up to and what has led them to the present. The story gets quite dark (in young adult terms anyway), and when I found out everything that unfolds, I had a little jaw-dropped moment - actually there was a few of those.

It's told in the point of view of Jule and you are constantly questioning her words and actions. This is how you're easily able to continue reading without stopping, you need to know the WHY for everything she says and does. Even though she's kind of crazy, I quite like how Jule's character is written. I like reading about characters that are very different from what I'm used to reading, and further how the author keeps that character going.

Overall, Genuine Fraud is an exciting story that I highly recommend if you're interested in a fast-paced story that kind of resembles a thriller - I wouldn't exclusively call it a thriller compared to what I've read before but it is thriller enough for me, and definitely enjoyable. If you enjoyed Lockhart's previous novel We Were Liars, then I think you'll like this. If you don't usually read these kinds of novels and find yourself in a bit of a slump I think this would be a great book for you to pick up.

If you have read it/end up reading it I would love to know your thoughts. Until then, take care and see you soon!

4.5/5


*This book was sent to me by Allen & Unwin in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

Follow my blog with Bloglovin'!