Twilight - Love it or hate it?

Hey Guys,

It's time to talk about twilight. I will be the first to admit that I am a big fan and the thought of a new book for the 10th anniversary was very exciting. However, not as exciting as it would have been if it had been the long awaited Midnight Sun coming out!

For those of you who haven't read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, here is a quick recap. Bella Swan is moving to Forks, one of the rainiest towns of the USA, to live with her Dad. She is prepared to hate it and suffer through two years before she can break away and go to university. Everything changes when she meets Edward Cullen, the most handsome boy she has ever laid eyes on. Predictably, they fall in love, but instead of normal teenage obstacles like disapproving parents etc, at the root of their problems is the fact that he is a vampire and has been seventeen years old for nearly a hundred years. In this book we briefly meet Jacob Black, a member of the Quileute tribe, who will become Bella's best friend as the series goes on. The Quileutes are traditionally suspicious of the Cullens and it is Jake who first tells reveals to Bella that Edward may be a vampire, though at the time he does not believe the tribe legends. As the plot advances Bella and Edward struggle through and beat the odds, that's how you know it's true love! And that is as much as I can say without spoiling the story too much...  (If you want to me to review the other books and talk more about the Bella-Edward-Jacob love triangle in another post let me know in the comments below)

I was equal parts excited and nervous to read Life and Death. There has long been a certain stigma around Twilight because Bella is portrayed as weak and in need of being rescued by Edward as a big strong man. The author denies Bella's status as a perpetual damsel in distress and argues that she is only weak because she is a human in a world full of supernatural, excessively strong characters, mostly male by the way. To prove this point Meyer re-wrote Twilight as Life and Death.

Life and Death follows Edythe and Beau through the same story as Edward and Bella, but with a massive twist! Almost all the character's genders in the story have been changed, pretty much the only exceptions to this were Charlie and Renee (Bella/Beau's parents). At first I was a bit sceptical, especially with some of the names which sound comical after the original ones, but then I forgot all about Bella and Edward. I fell completely in love with this book all over again! I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Reading it from Beau's point of view was a very interesting experience, being a guy he responded differently to Bella when put in the same situations and I found the strong female character of Edythe to be quite refreshing. I grew to love these characters in their own right and found the added Taylor and the prom drama hilarious. Without giving too much away, be prepared for a big twist in the ending! I feel that even if the ending had been the same, the characters themselves would have made this book it's own entity, however, the altered ending gave it a very "what if" feel and only added to the magic of an already thrilling love story. A definite page turner! 

Have any of you guys read it? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

Review - Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children

Hello everyone,

I have finished reading Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Oh my God, I could not put this book down, I read it across two days and loved it. The blurb reads:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of peculiar photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar children. As Jacob explores its decaying bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that Miss Peregrine's children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow - impossible though it seems - they may still be alive. 

I originally saw this book in the horror section of my local book shop and picked it up because the cover art was so intriguing. I then realised it was actually a photograph, one of many that feature in the book. I am so glad I picked it up!

Jacob is a sixteen-year-old boy bored of his mundane life in America with a head full of fantastic stories of magical children and gruesome monsters. He believes these are stories made up by his Grandfather to entertain a child and detract from the real horror of the Nazis...How wrong could he be? All the stories his Grandfather told him are true, but he only begins to realise this after the brutal murder of his Grandfather. His dying words about the island of his childhood haunt Jacob and spark off his journey to find answers, turns out he finds more answers than he wanted. He stumbles across more photos of the peculiar children and they lead him to the children themselves. Children that haven't aged in decades, children running from a terror...

This book has everything, spectacular narrative from Jacob, a thrilling story line, love lost and terrifying monsters. To add to the draw of this story are the chilling black and white photographs dappled throughout the book. 

My only slight nit pick is that this book was in the horror section and I picked it up expecting a chilling ghost story, but it turned out to be less scary and more fantasy! So I would give it 4.5 stars. It does, however, have the potential to become a scary story in the next books. Much to my delight on reaching the end I found out that it is from a series and I will most definitely be picking up the next one soon! 

Have any of you read this book? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

October Reading List

Hi guys, 

I thought I would do a quick post about my October tbr (to be read list). This month I am joining my best friend in a #petrifyingprose challenge by only reading spooky books! I am so excited about this, I have always loved scaring myself silly with books and movies, and what better time to do this than in the run up to Halloween?! 

I will be attempting to read quite a few books, so in no particular order here they are: 

- Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith 

- Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

- Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

- The Rook by Daniel O'Malley 

- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

- Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

- Slasher Girls and Monster Boys by April Tucholke Genevieve

I know this is a very ambitious list, but I will do my best. Expect some reviews soon! What are you reading for Halloween? Let me know in the comments below :-) Follow me on Instagram @gingersnaphattie for photos of my spooky reads! 

xoxo

Blogtober!

Hello everyone,

To celebrate the month of October, one of my favourites because of Halloween, I have decided to do a writing challenge. For every day of the month of October I will be writing a blog post for you! Let me know in the comments if you want me to cover any particular topics :-)

I am also doing a bit of a spooky challenge with my reading list. My best friend and I have created the #petrifyingprose under which we will only be reading spooky stories with ghosts, witches, vampires, monsters, zombies and magic this month! For anyone who wants to join this, follow me on Instagram @gingersnaphattie and tag me in your spooky book pictures. Enjoy!

xoxo