Title: Turtles All The Way Down
Author: John Green
Published: October, 2017 by Dutton Books for Young Readers
Pages: 304
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

Final Thoughts:
I don’t know if this book helps with anxiety or makes it worse. Having just started meds for my own anxiety, this struck a chord, making me question my own thoughts at times, wondering just how many were my own and which ones were the anxiety talking. Aza’s condition seemed to be on the extreme side, having arguments with herself, trying to fight the impulses convincing her to do things she didn’t want to do. It was hard to read, becoming very disturbing the deeper I got, still, it does a great job at highlighting just how hard it is living with mental illness. The missing billionaire mystery helps bring in some levity, with the friendship between Aza and Daisy stealing the show. Sure, there’s a romantic sub-plot with the billionaire’s son, but the two main girls and Aza’s own issues are where the heart of the book is at.

Title: An Abundance of Katherines
Author: John Green
Published: January, 2006 by Penguin
Pages: 227
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun–but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

Final Thoughts:
While it’s not my favourite book, it was a breeze to get through. That may sound like I didn’t enjoy it, but I did. The characters felt authentic; the situation, despite being a little out there, was quite easy to swallow and get into the groove of this contemporary summer road-trip adventure. My only real wonder was at how Colin—with all of his social inadequacies—managed to land nineteen girlfriends, let alone nineteen with the same name. Putting that aside, though, the banter of Colin and his best friend, Hassan, proved to be just about enough to keep the two hundred or so pages of this short book afloat.

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Published: October, 2008 by HarperCollins
Pages: 353
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Quentin Jacobsen – Q to his friends – is eighteen and has always loved the beautiful and edgy Margot Roth Spiegelman. Nine years ago they discovered a dead body together but now, at their Central Florida high school, Q’s a nerd while Margot is uber-cool.

One night, before graduating, Q is basking in the predictable boringness of his life when Margo persuades him to join her in some midnight mayhem and vengeance… and then vanishes. While her family shrugs off this latest disappearance, Q follows Margo’s string of elaborate clues – including an unnerving poem about death.

Q’s friends Radar, Ben and Lacey help with the search, and a post for a website turns up: Margo will be in a certain location for the next 24 hours only. They drive through the night, racing the clock. Is Q ready for what he might find?

Final Thoughts:
Brimming with realism, Paper Towns was addictive. These characters may take things to the extreme, but I could see it happening. Their wacky adventures, their antics, they felt real to me. If you’ve read Looking For Alaska, expect more of the same here. Popular girl draws a not-so-popular guy into her orbit. It comes across as more of a one sided romance than anything else. So don’t expect to find the swoon-worthiness of some of his other characters in Quentin. For me, this wasn’t about the romance, it was about the adventure.

Title: Looking For Alaska
Author: John Green
Published: January, 2005 by HarperCollins
Pages: 262
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Final Thoughts:
How does one review a John Green book? Seriously, what kind of addictively illicit substance is he sprinkling the pages with? After being randomly sent a copy of The Fault In Our Stars and finding myself obsessively pawing through it in a matter of hours, I went off to my library and tracked down his debut. It didn’t disappoint. He just has a way with characterization—they don’t feel like characters—they are real. Staring through Miles/Pudge’s eyes, I found similarities in myself—lots of them, actually—and immediately connected with the book. The ploy used throughout the formatting of the chapters made the twist fairly obvious, taking away most of the impact, but in spite of that, I still enjoyed it greatly. If anything, it brought a new layer to the already established dynamic, making it feel somehow more.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• Ashes by Isla J. Bick (library)
• Touch Of Frost by Jennifer Estep (library)
• Looking For Alaska by John Green (library)
• The Bonehill Curse by Jon Mayhew (thanks to Publisher)
• Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent (purchased)
• Ascend by Amanda Hocking (purchased)
• Stefan’s Diaries: The Compelled by Kevin Williamson & Julie Plec (purchased)
• Dawn Of Darkness by Daniel A. Kaine (purchased)

I tried reading yesterday, but only got through about 80 pages of City Of Lost Souls before I got distracted and let procrastination take over the rest of my Saturday. I’m going to try and get back to it today, though. Just watching the PopAsia music video show at the moment, then time for reading. I’m really liking the cover for Shadow Bound, plus it’s a Rachel Vincent book, which is another big turn on–love her stuff. I’m hoping I can find time to read John Green’s book before it’s due back at the library, because I really loved The Fault In Our Stars. I haven’t read my copy of Torn yet, but I saw a heap of copies of Ascend on the end of a rack at the shops this week and grabbed myself one. I also got a tub of gummi bears as well, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, time to get back to my Sunday kpop. What did you get this week?

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Lord, Gabrielle Conspiracy 365 #10-12, October to December

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!

Title: The Fault In Our Stars
Author: John Green
Published: January, 2012 by Penguin
Thanks: Penguin, AU
Pages: 313
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs… for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Final Thoughts:
Oh my…this was the book I needed to read. I’ve been in a slump lately, taking a while to read books that were okay, but that really didn’t do a whole lot for me. The Fault In Our Stars draws you out of whatever little crook you’ve been hiding in and shoves you head first into a world of feeling. I got this one a couple months back, but I’ve been avoiding picking it up mainly because I’d just read another amazing book that dealt with teen cancer and needed the break to prepare myself. On a whim, I snatched this one off my shelf and took it with me to pass the time in a waiting room and ended up almost finishing the book. Albeit the wait was 4+ hours, but it flew by. I was engrossed. I had to eventually stop myself and put it away—the tears were struggling against my flickering eyelids. Sure I could have continued struggling against a break down in public, pausing every now and again—but I wanted to give this book the attention—and the release—it deserved, so I waited, and dove back in as soon as I got home and utterly adored every second of it.

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Tempest by Julie Cross (purchased) – My Review
• The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (thanks to Publishers)
• The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter (thanks to Publishers)

Small week, which is good as I’ve trying to put a dent in my reading pile. I read five books in the past week, which is unusual for me. I fell in love with Being Human by Patricia Lynne, spending all of Friday night on it – definitely check that one out. As for the books I got, I really enjoyed Tempest when I read the galley a couple weeks ago, so I had to order myself the hardcover. The first twenty or so pages were a little glued together along the top edge, but I managed to pry them apart without any dramas. The other two were sent to me from Penguin and Harlequin Teen, respectively – so thanks for those. I need to catch up on The Goddess Test before the sequel comes out.

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Lewis, Jon S. C.H.A.O.S. #2, Alienation
Lynne, Patricia Being Human #1, Being Human
Meyer, Marissa The Lunar Chronicles #1, Cinder
Yovanoff, Brenna, Smoulder

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!