Renée Reviews: All the bright places.

Hey there!

Since I haven't done a book review in quite a while and my eyes have been reading more than a few books in the mean time, I thought why not inform you guys about the books I've been reading. Which is exactly what I'm going to do! 
Just a little side note here: I'm sorry if I accidentally spoil a book for you in one of my reviews, please don't kill me.....

So welcome to my new series: "Renée Reviews"! Because obviously everything that involves more than one blogpost needs a ridiculous name. 

Let's get started. All the bright places an amazing book by Jennifer Niven. 
"When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the 'natural wonders' of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all. But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink."

The book is (obviously) about Theodore Finch and Violet Markey. As is written on the back of the book: "Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kills himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Whereas Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death."

Theodore, better known as Finch, meets Violet on the ledge of a bell tower. To add a certain cliché factor to this book Finch is this weird guy that doesn't really have any friends and Violet is or was this very popular girl with a lot of "friends". As you can read in the summary above they pair up for a project and it's this project that changes their world. 

Now all of this might sound like your average chick flick book, or at least that's what my first opinion of the book was before I started reading it. Whilst reading it however, I discovered there was so much more to it than just your cliché story. The book is written from both Finch's and Violets perspective which allows you to learn so much more about both characters. You delve into their past and present, their thoughts, feelings (for each other), fears and struggles. This was just one of the many things I liked about the book as I love books that give you an in depth view of the characters. The book takes you along on their project to discover the 'natural wonders' of their state, this project gives you more insight on them as persons and their relationship as well. 

It's pretty easy to read which makes it easier to get into the story. Where I was a bit reluctant to start reading the book at first, you know due to the whole cliché girl book thing, I started finding it more and more difficult to put the book down as the story continued. As the book goes on you want to know more about the wonders they visit, the time they spent together, everything that goes on in their heads and all the other things they face in the book. Where you see Violet grow throughout the book you will see that Finch is slowly starting to fall apart.

The book portrais the symptoms, thoughts and feelings of someone suffering from mental illness in an amazing way. Everything about it sounds very familiar to people that suffer from mental illnesses in real life. Then there is Violet who is still mourning her sisters death, another important issue portrayed in a great way.  

At the end of the book I was devastated, which is something I feel at the end of many books. I felt like I had gotten so close to Violet and Finch and their problems throughout the book that it wasn't easy to say goodbye. To close the book and put it back on the shelf. The book itself was still physically there but it felt like a whole world had disappeared the moment I closed the book. The story of Violet and Finch living on only in my head, in my head and the heads of thousands of others all over the world.

I would definitely recommend you all read this book! It's easy to read, it has a great story, very interesting characters and it's written in a way that keeps you from putting the book down. For everyone searching for a great book I would say, go to a nearby bookshop, purchase this book and dive into Violets and Finch's world.

(source: www.goodreads.com)

Renée Reviews: Face.

Hey guys!

I have just finished a book. Yes, there's nothing special about finishing a book I know that although there's something about this book I would like to share with the world. The time has come, the time of my first ever book review here on this blog. First some basic info about it. The book is called 'Face' a debut novel from Benjamin Zephaniah and it first came out in 1999 so it's not a very recent book. When I was out to buy a book for passing my first year of university this one quickly caught my attention. Not because the cover was full of pictures or anything, no, it caught my attention due to its simplicity as shown in the picture below. Another intriguing part of the cover is the fact that there is no face where there should be one, all that is shown are the ears and a bit of the boy's hair.

Dedicated to Changing Faces.

So I bought the book and started reading it. The story is written from a perspective I'm not so much used to in books. Most books are written from one of the character's perspective however this one wasn't. The writer didn't write as if he WAS the main character yet he did a splendid job on expressing the thoughts and feelings of the main character and making me feel for the guy. A short summary. The story is about Martin, your mainstream popular high school kid. However he isn't so much of a douche bag you might have come to believe due to all the stereotypes going around about the popular guys. Martin is pretty much leading the perfect life until this one night that literally changes his life and himself.  His life gets turned upside down and the most challenging task he's facing is himself and the physical changes that he has to learn to live with.

I know it might sound as your stereotypical story and maybe it is but I don't care. This story spoke to me on a personal level. In the book you read about the struggles Martin faces (oh the irony) due to the way his physical appearance has changed after the accident (spoiler). Most of these struggles I recognised as I faced them as well a bit over four years ago. I got diagnosed with diabetes, which changed my life and my way of living forever. Most people call diabetes an illness however I like to disagree with that. Diabetes isn't so much an illness as it is something can't be cured. So it's a chronic illness?! Officially yes but not to me. I don't see it as an illness, I am not sick yet I'm not completely healthy either. Something is wrong with me, not normal. My pancreas doesn't work the way it has to do and yes it does influence my everyday life and yes it is visible on the outside as I have to check my blood sugars every so often and I wear an insulin pump on my body but I am not sick. 

Now you might think this book is about a boy trying to live life after a life changing accident, the main character becoming depressed and blah blah blah but this book is so much more. It's about something that is widely known yet very unknown at the same time. This book brings a great deal of positivity and shows that you need to learn to accept yourself and just be happy with who you are as a person. It shows that there is more to life then just looking good. It tells you that inner peace, knowing and accepting yourself and knowing what your strong points are can be the key to success. This story tells you that you can do whatever you want to do, be whoever you want to be. It holds such a positive message and raises awareness for such a great cause (which I won't name as it will spoil the entire plot).

So if you have some money to spare, if you want to buy yourself a new book or if you want to read a new book and use your library card some more then I highly recommend this book. A lot of people will recognize themselves in the main character and even when you don't you will learn a new lesson in body positivity which is always a good thing. Faces by Benjamin Zephaniah, go read it!

Well that's all I have to say about this book. First review, check! If you liked this review and maybe want me to write more reviews in the future then please let me know. Feedback of any kind is more than welcome.

Lots of love,

ThatDutchGirl96