Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (5)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Russell Evans (179 KP) rated The Songs of Us in Books

Feb 22, 2020  
The Songs of Us
The Songs of Us
Emma Cooper | 2018 | Contemporary
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Heartwarming, heartbreaking and beautiful
‘The Songs of Us’ is an amazingly emotional book. Beautifully written and quirky, it made me laugh out loud many times, but in perfect balance, it made me cry as it also dealt very sensitively with some more serious issues. It’s hard to explain without spoilers, but it was heart-warming, heart-breaking, funny and sad all at the same time.
I highly recommend reading this debut novel from Emma Cooper – perhaps have some tissues at the ready!

The Blurb
‘Our life – no matter what happens in between – starts and ends with a heartbeat: our own personal rhythm, our own song’
If Melody hadn't run out of de-icer that day, she would never have slipped and banged her head. She wouldn't be left with a condition that makes her sing when she's nervous. And she definitely wouldn't have belted out the Arctic Monkeys' 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor' in assembly at her son's school.
If Dev hadn't taken the kids to the zoo that day, then the accident wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have left Flynn and Rose without a dad. Or shattered the love of his life's heart.
But if they hadn't seen the missing person report that day, they might never have taken the trip to Cornwall. And, in the last place they expected, discovered what it really means to be 'Us'.
  
40x40

James Koppert (2698 KP) rated Arctic Zoo in Books

Oct 28, 2019  
Arctic Zoo
Arctic Zoo
Robert Muchamore | 2019 | Contemporary, Crime, LGBTQ+, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Political without ever preaching (0 more)
Been mostly ignored (0 more)
Challenging the world
Even with a good book, 456 pages can start to drag. With Arctic Zoo however, I wanted to continue on Julius and Georgia's story. This is brilliantly paced read with a "one more chapter before bed" level of intrigue on every page to keep you up far too late every night. The story follows Georgia, and relatively unextrordinary English schoolgirl who has lost her sister who becomes the face of the protest counter culture community, and celebrity, completely by accident, who with no choice, is drawn further into that world, and Julius, the son of very rich Nigerian political elite, who is guy and ousted from the family. Both these teenagers stories interweave intermittently and both are engaging on their own. The thing is I really liked Julius and I really liked Georgia and I wanted so much for each of them to succeed despite all the things thrown against them. Whats also brilliant s this book has a lot to say without it ever forcing anything down your throat and doesn't shy away from throwing up hypocrisies either. Muchamore is an absolute master writer who has managed to create an engaging novel that any adult or teenager will enjoy without ever feeling like the pages have been dumbed down to reach a general audience. Yes it was 456 pages long at at the end I said, "ohh, its finished" feeling disappointed rather than the sense of achievement I normally get when completing a book, just because I wanted to stay with these characters in this book and be with them for more of their journeys. But that is what a great artist does, leaves them wanting more, Muchamore.