Sunday, January 27, 2013

Review Sundays: The Fault in our Stars by John Green

So I would like to try this new thing called Review Sundays, both giving me a boost to read more and to post regularly on the blog, so here the first review sunday.. and it's a great book to start with.. The Fault in Our Stars!



Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.


Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

What can I say, for those of you who have not yet stumbled across this book and hungrily absorbed each page, eager to reach an ending that will inevitably rip your heart out. You have not known what it is to laugh and cry and die on the inside in the way this book will make you. 
The Fault in our Stars follows the life of Hazel, a sufferer of lung cancer who knows she doesn't have long to live. If I was to sum up Hazel's personality in one word, it would be real. Hazel is real, she's a teenager with all the sadness and distractions, but she's also mature; she understanding.. in so many ways that most people just aren't. She offers an insight into the life of people suffering from terminal illness and how that effects them, their lives and mostly their families. I felt  I really connected with Hazel and her views on the world, death and love. 
When Augustus first comes into her life he seems like a typical, charming teenage boy.. but the more time they spend together the more of Augustus we see. He is deep and knowing and completely in love with a girl who he knows he is going to lose.
Their story is the kind of beautiful that makes you feel like an abyss has opened up in your chest. Augustus and Hazel save each other with their love, even when it causes them such grief in the end. 
"The thing about pain... it demands to be felt."
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this story, to appreciate your health, your family, being able to breathe.. but what I took from it was that, even though life beats you down in every way it can we have one thing that can save us, one thing that we live for, something that people take for granted or don't actually feel when they say they do; and that's love.
For avid readers especially this book will be perfect for you, because you'll be able to relate so well with the literate characters and their views/personalities. But in all honesty I know people who don't read books much and would recommend this to you in a heartbeat. John Green has created a story that will seep under your skin and remain there for a long time, he has shown us characters that we will never be able to un-know.
I'm trying not to give away any spoilers because this is the kind of book your don't want to understand the gist of from reading little snippets of information on the internet, especially little snippets of other peoples opinions, its the kind of book you want to sit inside with for a good long day and read cover to cover with a box of tissues at the ready and a heart that can survive a good breaking. 

But I will show you my first reactions after finishing The Fault in our Stars: 

Yep. The Fault in our Stars broke my heart.

But wow, John Green is a fricken empathetic genius

And I need like every other book of his right now

Like what can I read after reading The Fault in Our Stars.. it's just not gonna compare

I haven't read John Green's other books, but I feel like I need every single on of them right now, I would really love to hear your thoughts on The Fault in our Stars, and if you've read them your favourite of his other master pieces.

I think I'm going to say it.. my new favourite read. I don't usually feel like I would want to go back and re-read books when I know what happens, but I think this book will be read frequently and adored.

"It seemed like forever ago, like we've had this brief but still infinite forever. Some infinites are bigger than other infinites."



Next week's Review Sunday is for Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Sunday, January 06, 2013

2013


Since I wrote about last year and what I felt like I accomplished, I thought I might as well share with you what I hope to accomplish during 2013. I have a lot of excitement for this year, even though I dislike odd numbers.. 13 eww.

I have a few resolutions:

work my ass off to keep my grades
(lowest AAAA stars would be nice)

2 work my ass off to get fitter
(I don't care if I'm a girl I want a slight six pack)

3 party my ass off to be more social
(I got better at this, this year, but got to make new friends at uni - scary)

4 go abroad at least once
(want so much to travel, Italy with college and maybe Tenerife with friends)

5 make this summer bloody amazing
(go on holiday with friends/make the most of my time with them)

6 move out and start uni as the best version of me
(be fit, be social, be happy and enjoy new stage in life)

7 read more, blog more, fricken write more
(basically do more, hopefully finish some novels I'm working on)

8 make the most of my last year at home
(help out mum, spend time with her, tell her I love her)
(my mum and my double bed are going to be really hard for me to separate from when I move to uni in September)

What are your resolutions? 

2012


This is a little belated due to how jam-packed my new year week was (mostly spent in the company of my friends rather than revising, but hey I don't get weekends off I only get the half terms and college holidays so I try and make the most of them) I just wanted to make a post about what I feel I have accomplished in 2012, mostly for myself to see it all written down.

Education
 I am actually rather proud of my achievements in the education area of my life from 2012, completing my first year (half) of my a-levels with straight A's. I never thought that would be possible for me, I mean it was expected of me, but my grades are something that has always rather shocked me if I'm honest though I don't know why because I do work my ass off to get them. For my summer exams I spent about a month locked in my room during study leave revising for about 10 hours a day. But I guess even though I work my ass off a part of me feels like I'm not spectacular enough to be a A student, but I think that's down to how if you met me you wouldn't expect me to be one, I'm not the typical stereotype you could say. 
Health and body 2012 was the year I finally, somehow, still a bit baffled to how, I turned my life around in terms of becoming healthy. I now live a healthy lifestyle in that I eat what is good for me and I exercise regularly. Ever since a young age I've despised that I've always been 'slightly chubby' and I had always wanted to do something about it but never stuck to anything. But in 2012 I managed to alter my life so that being healthy was a huge part of it. I'm proud that I'm much fitter than I used to be in that I can actually run for longer than a couple minutes, I can cycle hard for almost 20 miles, I have some muscle and I'm not a utter weakling and mostly that I've lost some of that chubbyness I so much hated. Though I still have a way to go, now that I've become in the habit of a healthy lifestyle I know that I'll stick to it.  
Social life After moving from school to college in 2011 I lost a whole lot of my friends due to being one of the only one going to a certain college. But throughout this year I have become really close to a lovely group of friends, who I actually did know at school but never really knew that well, and I'm happy to say that I actually go out a lot more than I used too, maybe a bit too much! But it's been such an enjoyable year with them! 

I think I have progressed a lot as a person from 2012, as in strength of will power, of mind and to be completely honest I feel I'm nicer than I used to be. (I was a bit of a bitch you might say) I'm really looking forward to the year ahead and hope times carry on as great as they have been. But also for new experiences such as University which I have uncontrollable excitement for!