Beauty & The Books

How To Stop Time - Matt Haig Genre: Romance/Fantasy  Pages: 336 Rating: 4.5/5 Format: Mix of the past and present, but in a somewhat chronological order _______________________________________________________________________________ Before we get going here is a little synopsis of the novel and I hope it gets you as hooked as it did me! From  https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Stop-Time-Matt-Haig/dp/1782118616 Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life. Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try to tame the past that is fast catching up w...

Lyrebird - Cecelia Ahern Genre: Romance Pages:432 Rating: 5/5 (INCREDIBLE) Format: Mixture of 1st/3rd person _________________________________________________________________________________ Unique and breathtaking! That's the only way I can sum up this novel in a few words. Here is a little synopsis (from Goodreads): Life is in two parts: who you were before you met her, and who you are after. A documentary crew discover a mysterious young women living alone in the mountains of West Cork. Strikingly beautiful she has an extraordinary talent for mimicry, like the famous Australian Lyrebird. The crew, fascinated, make her the subject of her story, and bestow the nickname upon her. When they leave, they take Lyrebird with them back to the city. But as she leaves behind her peaceful life to learn about a new world, is she also leaving behind a part of herself? For her new friend Solomon the answer isn’t clear. When you find a rare and precious thing, should you sh...

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern  Genre: Fantasy  Pages: 387 Rating: 3.5/5 Format: Fiction Organised By Dates  _________________________________________________________________________________ *WARNING THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THE REVIEW, APPROACH WITH CAUTION* _________________________________________________________________ I went into this novel with high expectations and excitement but I was left somewhat disappointed, so much so that I did not even finish the novel. I loved the idea of the story and the plot and I feel like it had great potential! It was just the fact that the plot took time to develop fully that I had a problem with, it became something that I did not want to pick up anymore.  BUT... Here are some of the things that I loved about this novel! First of, I loved the detail in setting and the time period that it was set. A lot of the novel focuses on different places and setting and Morgenstern does not...

Noughts and Crosses (Series) - Malorie Blackman Genre: Adventure/Romance Pages: Around 400 per book (there's 4 books) Rating: 5/5 Format: Chapter changes depending on POV, They jump from different times as well (not entirely chronological) _________________________________________________________________________________ Malorie Blackman has created a unique and simple world that is so amazing and effective at expressing her desired story! The series follows the intertwined lives of the Hadley family and the McGregor family, specifically their children (Sephy and Callum). This world shows the effects of an alternative history in which African people (Crosses) gained technological and organisational advantages of the European people (Noughts), resulting in the Africans making the Europeans their slaves. Despite this series being published in 2008 (almost 10 years ago!) there are scary similarities between this series and today's society. Especially the racial t...

The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes - Arthur Conan Doyle   A Gift To Remember - Melissa Hill Genre: Contemporary romance Pages: 416 Rating: 5/5 Format: Novel _________________________________________________________________________________ This book is one of those that you snuggle up with in the winter months with a nice hot chocolate by the fire, or, like me, you chose to read this in the middle of August in the monsoon season of India. This book was a gift from my tutor and it was definitely a gift indeed! I have nothing but praise for this novel and I highly recommend it to anyone. The novel follows Darcy Archer who simply works in a bookshop (my dream job!) and her simple life that gets turned upside down with a quest to reunite man and dog. (Without giving too much away) Hill has a way to creating intricate twists and turns and develops a story and then completely blows your mind!! Overall I'd highly recomm...