Me Before You By Jojo Moyes

I strongly encourage everyone to read this book, it shows just how easily the things we do every day can be taken away from us in seconds. Things like being able to lift up a coffee mug and putting on your own clothes is something a risk taking, high living, Will Traynor is longer able to do. That’s what it means to be quadriplegic, you lose more than not being able to walk.

It’s up to a nonadventurous Louisa Clark, to get him to see that even the small things in life can be enjoyable. Although it’s something Will can’t really see.

Me Before You,  has been given praise by The Oprah Magazine, New York Times Daily News, USA Today , People and many more organizations. Don’t take their word for it though, decide for yourself, read the book. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

It’s coming soon to theaters on June 3, click here for the first part of the trailer. The movie is starring Emilia Clarke as Louisa Clark and Sam Claflin as Will Traynor.

I recommend this book to anyone who is a family member or care giver of anyone who is disabled. I think this book and movie will give a good in sight into their lives.

In my opinion, I thought the ending of the book was dissapionting, but I won’t give any spoilers.

So tell me, what did you think of it?

 

 

The Way I Used to Be By Amber Smith

Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.

What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.

Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year-this probed reveals the deep cuts of drama. But also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broke and rebuilt, all while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.

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I thought The Way I Used to Be was an eye opening story. It made me realize how stuffing things can really contribute to someone’s character. What I didn’t like was that the terrible thing that happens to the main character really slaps the reader in the beginning. I think allowing the reader to know the character better first would have made the reader a little more emotional.

This book should be read only by people mature enough to handle it. I would recommend it to young adults willing to understand why people do what they do. This book can be pretty intense at some points even after the beginning. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who can’t handle dark themes.

For anyone who has been through sexual harassment I would strongly recommend this book for you. It will let you know that you are not alone and on the last few pages the author gives a site and a phone number you can call if you have ever experienced something similar to what the main character experienced in the book. Which I put at the bottom of this blog post.

Another book that has a character that’s been put in a similar situation is I Like Him, He Likes Her . It not only has a High School setting, but one of the main character’s close friends has a back story that’s about the same as the character in The Way I Used to Be. 

So what did you think about this book? Let me know in the comments below!!

Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network: rainn.org

RAINN hotline:1-800-656-HOPE

The Girl on the Train By Paula Hawkins

A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.

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I thought The Girl on the Train was beautifully written! The way the author combined three perspectives together was a brilliant idea! It gives the reader in sight to what is really going on, before the characters know about it, which makes it even more engaging. Although I must warn you, the book was hard to follow at first, but once you get towards the end you can’t put it down!

I would recommend this book to anyone who feels powerless. Once you finish reading this book you will certainly feel empowered. You will feel that you can change the world around you. If I had to be gender specific, I would recommend this to women, especially women that have been lied to in past(or present) relationships.

This book might even be good for anyone struggling with any addictions they might have. I think this book can help people steer away from that and put their energy into something greater. Just remember there is no “quick fix” to addictions, it takes time, The Girl on the Train will show that to anyone willing to read it.

I am looking forward to watching the movie for it, it will be release October 7, 2016. Based on the trailer, I think the actors and actresses fit the characters pretty well. Although I still recommend reading it before watching the movie.

So tell me, what’s you think of it? Feel free to leave a comment below!

Intro to the Mortal Instruments Series By Cassandra Clare

Prepare to be hooked! I thought the first book in the Mortal Instruments Series was absolutely fascinating. It is one the most unique books I have ever read. Every one’s heard of the vampires, the werewolves, the fairies, and the witches, but shadow hunters? That’s something I’d never heard of in tell I read this series and I think it was the half human, half angel characters, that pulled me in.

Of course the story line was great too, but I don’t want to put in any spoilers. Although I will say Cassandra Clare set up the first book just right, so you will feel like you have to read the next book. I will also put it that this is a romantic novel and I loved the personalities of the main characters that Clare created.

I Like Him, He Likes Her

I strongly recommend I Like Him, He likes Her to anyone currently in High School or going into High School. It’s almost three separate books in one, so if you stop reading it for a while(which I didn’t because I couldn’t put it down)  some information will be repeated to help you remember what’s going on. Which makes it easier for me to read because I tend to be pretty forgetful. So repeating the information helps me understand the story better.

The genre of this book is romance, and I’d say it offers some pretty good advice to anyone who’s interested. It shows how to handle drama, with of course, a few mistakes along the way.

Alice’s story really spoke to me and made me think about the decisions I’ve had to make in my own life. It shows what really matters.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.
Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

I thought Wild was an enlightening read! I think anyone can reflect on their lives by taking a walk, but when Cheryl hikes the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) she really dives deep into her personal issues that nature helps her to overcome.

I learned a lot about what it means to be poor too, not just the unemployment kind of poor, more like the kind of poor were the only money you have is the fifty cents in your pocket. It reminded me that not many people would actually go out in nature and use what it offered, they would more likely complain about not being able to shower every day and try desperately to cling to the lives they used to have, but Cheryl never did. In fact, she seemed to embrace being able to walk through nature for the net few months.

It has a lot of support too, it’s, “one of the most heartbreaking, and beautiful American memoirs in years.” (NPR Books). Cheryl’s book is also considered, “Vivid, sharp, and compelling.” (People)

There is a lot anyone can learn for this book and if I ever went camping again this would certainly be a book I would bring with me.

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