A Stigma Breaker // REVIEW: You Don't Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow

Title: You Don't Know Me But I Know You
Author: Rebecca Barrow
Publication Date: August 19th 2017
Publisher: Harper Teen
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Harper Collins India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || 

Blurb Description: Rebecca Barrow’s bright, honest debut novel about chance, choice, and unconditional love is a heartfelt testament to creating the future you truly want, one puzzle piece at a time.
There’s a box in the back of Audrey’s closet that she rarely thinks about.
Inside is a letter, seventeen years old, from a mother she’s never met, handed to her by the woman she’s called Mom her whole life. Being adopted, though, is just one piece in the puzzle of Audrey’s life—the picture painstakingly put together by Audrey herself, full of all the people and pursuits that make her who she is.
But when Audrey realizes that she’s pregnant, she feels something—a tightly sealed box in the closet corners of her heart—crack open, spilling her dormant fears and unanswered questions all over the life she loves.
Almost two decades ago, a girl in Audrey’s situation made a choice, one that started Audrey’s entire story. Now Audrey is paralyzed by her own what-ifs and terrified by the distance she feels growing between her and her best friend Rose. Down every possible path is a different unfamiliar version of her life, and as she weighs the options in her mind, she starts to wonder—what does it even mean to be Audrey Spencer?

Read the Guest Post Rebecca Barrow did on my blog here!

I did something really surprising: I actually read reviews BEFORE I started reading this review copy, which is something I almost never do. This is because doing so might leave me with expectations or biases, and the point of reviewing a book is to go in without preconceived notions.*

*Yes, I do feel smart having used the term preconceived notions.

I should PROBABLY come to my point, which is: I expected You Don’t Know Me But I Know You to be something slow paced and heart breaking from the reviews I read, and I was pacing myself for a really slow paced book but Rebecca Barrow’s debut novel wasn’t like that AT ALL.

In fact, it took quite a quick pace and it wasn’t the tragic book I was expecting, but something else altogether.

You Don’t Know Me But I Know You broke down so many tropes when it came to teenagers around friendship, sex, pregnancy and first loves and yet at the same time, had a lot of unnecessary drama popping up, and filled with rant-y monologues and resulted in me being SO CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT I FELT ABOUT THIS BOOK.

Let’s break this down:

1.       I loved how this book deconstructed tropes. It shows teenagers that UNLIKE most conceptions, their parents could support them in having safe sex, won’t kick them out of the house if they get pregnant and also that teen pregnancies don’t always end in the father bailing and the mother being saddled with ever decision. It is SO IMPORTANT to read books where teenagers are treated like adults, because it’s what we crave and EQUALLY IMPORTANT to see supportive parents and boyfriends in fiction just like Rebecca Barrow’s debut showed us.

2.       I also really liked the relationship dynamic between Audrey and her boyfriend, Julian. They had such this open, honest way of communicating to one another about their dreams and worries and most importantly, about the baby.

3.       This book was so adoption positive and I LOVED that about it. I feel like we don’t see enough books that show up adoption when the child knows all along instead of adoption being a huge plot twist, and this was a welcome chance.

4.       Like I said at the beginning of this review, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that all the problems in this book were just plot twists that were filled with UNNECESSARY DRAMA and I just didn’t understand it. Audrey’s relationship with her best friend, Rose was horrible portrayed and all their miscommunication made me cringe. I DIDN’T EVEN REALLY GET WHAT THEY WERE FIGHTING ABOUT and I wanted to shake some SERIOUS sense into them.

5.       I also initially liked the female friendships in the book but they became filler VERY FAST. I hated the way Audrey treated Maria, Jen, Rose and Olivia. She put herself first, made everything about her and there was NO ROOM for anything else and that isn’t friendship in my book.

This book could have been so much better. It had some really promising elements and broke a lot of tropes but there was SO MUCH UNNEEDED DRAMA. 3 stars. 

Rebecca Barrow writes stories about girls and all the wonders they can be. A lipstick obsessive with the ability to quote the entirety of Mean Girls, she lives in England, where it rains a considerable amount more than in the fictional worlds of her characters. She collects tattoos, cats, and more books than she could ever possibly read. YOU DON'T KNOW ME BUT I KNOW YOU is her first novel.

Website || Twitter || Instagram || Goodreads

Who are some of your top romantic couples in YA?

Have you read Rebecca's debut novel? What did you think of it?

I can't wait to see who all of you pick!

Intense, Action Packed & BRILLIANT // ARC Review: The Speaker by Traci Chee

Title: The Speaker (Sea of Ink and Gold #2)
Author: Traci Chee
Publication Date: November 7th 2017
Publisher: G.P Puntnam's Books for Young Readers
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 2 on 3 of the Sea of Ink and Gold Trilogy
I Got A Copy Through: PRH International (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Having barely escaped the clutches of the Guard, Sefia and Archer are back on the run, slipping into the safety of the forest to tend to their wounds and plan their next move. Haunted by painful memories, Archer struggles to overcome the trauma of his past with the impressors, whose cruelty plagues him whenever he closes his eyes. But when Sefia and Archer happen upon a crew of impressors in the wilderness, Archer finally finds a way to combat his nightmares: by hunting impressors and freeing the boys they hold captive.
With Sefia’s help, Archer travels across the kingdom of Deliene rescuing boys while she continues to investigate the mysterious Book and secrets it contains. But the more battles they fight, the more fights Archer craves, until his thirst for violence threatens to transform him from the gentle boy Sefia knows to a grim warrior with a cruel destiny. As Sefia begins to unravel the threads that connect Archer’s fate to her parents’ betrayal of the Guard so long ago, she and Archer must figure out a way to subvert the Guard’s plans before they are ensnared in a war that will pit kingdom against kingdom, leaving their future and the safety of the entire world hanging in the balance.

Read my review of book one, The Reader, here.

When I flipped to the last page of The Reader, book one in the Sea of Ink and Gold Trilogy and the prequel to The Speaker, I realised how I spent MOST OF MY TIME WAITING FOR ANSWERS that I only got at the end of the book.

Which sort of put a dampener on the whole experience of reading that BEAUTIFUL looking book, but I knew that if I had the opportunity, I would definitely pick up the sequel.

I started read The Speaker only a few days ago, and long story short: THIS BOOK WAS BRILLIANT. Filled with adrenaline, twists, action, magic, betrayals and some STUNNING WRITING, I’d like to award The Speaker the BEST SEQUEL OF THE YEAR AWARD.

I had SO MANY thoughts while reading this book, so let me break it down for you:

1.       Between books one and two, the emotion and depth in Traci Chee’s writing EXPLODED. From the very first chapter The Speaker was INTENSE and filled with intricate and deep writing that really took you into the moment, into the heads of each of her characters AND I LOVED IT.

2.       I realized how much I LOVE reading about this world when I actually knew a few major things about it and wasn’t left in the dark like in The Reader. I loved the magic and the intrigue, which made SO MUCH more sense after a lot was revealed in the end of book one, and then pieced together better in the beginning of this book.

3.       I really REALLY loved that Archer, Sefia, Reed and even the Assassin I didn’t like from last time had a point of view. I especially loved Archer’s point of view. It was intense and I loved how deep we got to go into his mind as he became a soldier that everyone else cowered from. I loved his with his Bloodletters, and the camaraderie they had that turned into something deadly.

4.       I cannot reiterate how much better this series turned out to be when I ACTUALLY KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON. It made the world, the character’s motives, the magic and the plot just make sense to me and with it, I loved it so much more and I’m genuinely waiting for the next book.

Even if you read The Reader and thought it was a little out there, The Speaker is LEAGUES ahead of its predecessor and I LOVED IT.

An adrenaline filled, intense, action packed book that you should definitely dive your claws into. 4 stars.

Traci Chee is an author of speculative fiction for teens. An all-around word geek, she loves book arts and art books, poetry and paper crafts, though she also dabbles at piano playing, egg painting, and hosting potluck game nights for family and friends. She studied literature and creative writing at UC Santa Cruz and earned a master of arts degree from San Francisco State University. Traci grew up in a small town with more cows than people, and now feels most at home in the mountains, scaling switchbacks and happening upon hidden highland lakes. She lives in California with her fast-fast dog.

Find Traci Chee on her website

Have you read Traci Chee's debut series? What have you thought of it so far?

What are some of your favourite sequels that you've read so far?

How many books have you read in 2017? Have you met your reading goals?

I can't wait to hear from you.

 

A Fantastic Journey and A Character to Love // ARC Review: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

Title: La Belle Sauvage (The Book Of Dust #1)
Author: Philip Pullman
Publication Date: October 19th 2017
Publisher: David Fickling Books (Penguin)
Part of a Series?: Yes, Book 1 of the Book of Dust Duology
I Got A Copy Through: Penguin India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Snapdeal || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon, Asta, live with his parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford. Across the River Thames (which Malcolm navigates often using his beloved canoe, a boat by the name of La Belle Sauvage) is the Godstow Priory where the nuns live. Malcolm learns they have a guest with them; a baby by the name of Lyra Belacqua . . .

I remember the first time I picked up Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. I was nine and staring at the shelves in my school library trying to figure out which ONE book I wanted to check out (it was a rule – only one book) when I stumbled upon the His Dark Materials trilogy.

I don’t remember much else but I DO remember rushing back to the library the very next day for the second book in the trilogy because I had fallen in love.

So, when I got an email from one of my FAVOURITE humans in the publishing industry, asking me to sign an NDA to get a coveted ARC of one of my most anticipated reads of the year, I jumped around with joy.

I’ve taken almost a week to finish to finish La Belle Sauvage and I loved every second of reading it. Let me give you my thoughts:

MY THOUGHTS:

1.      I fell in love with Malcom, the main character in this book, by the time I had finished the second chapter. He was this PURE SOUL with an INQUISITIVE MIND and a HEART OF GOLD and I loved his story SO MUCH.

2.      I also LOVED Malcom with Lyra. In La Belle Sauvage, Lyra is a mere infant, only a few months old and it shows you the story of Malcom’s connection with her and all about how Lyra ended up at Jordan College, which is where The Golden Compass opens ten years later.

3.      I should warn you that the pace of this book is slow. If you’ve read Philip Pullman’s previous works, you already know what I’m talking about, but just in case you haven’t, it’s always better to be prepared.

   4.      I loved how this book contained SO MANY CHARACTERS we’d seen in the His Dark Materials trilogy. I probably didn’t remember some of them (blame the memory of nine year old me) but the ones I did, I had FANGIRL moments over. It was AMAZING to see everyone before Lyra’s story and see the pieces of Lyra’s circumstances come to be.

   5.      I didn’t remember much about the workings of the Althieometer from when I read The Golden Compass, but the way it was explained in La Belle Sauvage was stunning. I felt like I was there, in the midst of the scholars that were talking about it and absorbed everything as best as I could.

La Belle Sauvage brought back memories from ten years ago in a way that almost no book can. Reading it was a JOURNEY that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

A beautiful new installment into Philip Pullman’s breath-taking world that I HIGHLY recommend diving into.

In 1946, acclaimed author Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England, into a Protestant family. Although his beloved grandfather was an Anglican priest, Pullman became an atheist in his teenage years. He graduated from Exeter College in Oxford with a degree in English, and spent 23 years as a teacher while working on publishing 13 books and numerous short stories. Pullman has received many awards for his literature, including the prestigious Carnegie Medal for exceptional children’s literature in 1996, and the Carnegie of Carnegies in 2006. He is most famous for his “His Dark Materials” trilogy, a series of young adult fantasy novels which feature freethought themes. The novels cast organized religion as the series’ villain. Pullman told The New York Times in 2000: “When you look at what C.S. Lewis is saying, his message is so anti-life, so cruel, so unjust. The view that the Narnia books have for the material world is one of almost undisguised contempt. At one point, the old professor says, ‘It’s all in Plato’ — meaning that the physical world we see around us is the crude, shabby, imperfect, second-rate copy of something much better. I want to emphasize the simple physical truth of things, the absolute primacy of the material life, rather than the spiritual or the afterlife.” He argues for a “republic of heaven” here on Earth.

In 2007, the first novel of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy was adopted into the motion picture "The Golden Compass" by New Line Cinema.

Have you read the His Dark Materials Trilogy or watched The Golden Compass?

What did you think of it?

If you had a daemon, and if you had the choice, which animal would you pick for it to be/

Have you read La Belle Sauvage? What did you think of it?

 

One of the BEST Books of 2017 // ARC Review: This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Title: This Mortal Coil

Author: Emily Suvada

Publication Date: November 2nd 2017

Publisher: Penguin Books UK

Part of a Series?: Unconfirmed

I Got A Copy Through: Penguin India (THANK YOU!)

Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books 

Blurb Description: When a lone soldier, Cole, arrives with news of Lachlan Agatta's death, all hope seems lost for Catarina. Her father was the world's leading geneticist, and humanity's best hope of beating a devastating virus. Then, hidden beneath Cole's genehacked enhancements she finds a message of hope: Lachlan created a vaccine.
Only she can find and decrypt it, if she can unravel the clues he left for her. The closer she gets, the more she finds herself at risk from Cartaxus, a shadowy organization with a stranglehold on the world's genetic tech. But it's too late to turn back.
There are three billion lives at stake, two people who can save them, and one final secret that Cat must unlock. A secret that will change everything.

In Less Than A Thousand Words:

This Mortal Coil WAS AN ABSOLUTELY STUNNING, JAW DROPPING, FUTURISTIC MARVEL that I found SO hard to put down. EASILY one of the best books of 2017 and you need it in your lives.

Let’s go more into detail:

As I was unboxing my 15-Book box of mostly surprise book mail from Penguin India, all it took was one look at this ARC and I fell IN LOVE WITH IT. The sides are stained red, the cover art is GORGEOUS and I knew that whatever happened, I would be reading this book.

I took it with me, one fine morning, to college when all my friends decided it would be a great day for them to skip classes. I flipped it open, because what better way to spend a day with no interruptions that inside the pages of a beautiful book and my 2017 reading year will never be the same again.

This Mortal Coil way surpassed my expectations with its AMAZING plot, perfect futuristic tech that was unlike anything I’ve ever read about before, adrenaline, brilliant characters and a well, IT WAS JUST PERFECT, OKAY? This Mortal Coil made me fall madly in love with the futuristic sci-fi genre again and please excuse me while I shove this book in your face.

Here are some reasons why you should get your BookDragon claws into this book:

1.       Emily Suvada is a plotting GENIUS. This futuristic, apocalyptic world she created drew me in and I did NOT WANT THIS BOOK TO END, and I’m dying for a sequel to be announced because I need to be back in this world of biohacking and genomes and viruses and Black out soldiers and tech I haven’t even dreamed about.

2.       I absolutely loved Catarina Agatta who was badass, supremely smart and yet had her human moments where she ran, cried and felt fear. I loved everything about this girl and she had some MAD skills that you need to read the book to truly understand.

3.       There was this plot twist on page 401 of the ARC that LITERALLY MADE MY JAW DROP. I didn’t see it coming from any angle, and it just went to prove what an AMAZING book this debut author is sending out to the world.

4.       I ADORED COLE AND CATARINA. I loved the TECHNOLOGY IN THIS BOOK and the fast pace and the adrenaline just supplemented their relationship and I loved how they fit together. I can’t wait to learn more about what his blackout training entailed and what he can do and more about Catarina herself.

If me shouting in all uppercase through this review wasn’t enough for you, YOU NEED THIS BOOK IN YOUR LIFE, ON YOUR SHELVES AND MOVED TO THE TOP OF YOUR TBR.

This Mortal Coil is the masterpiece from a new voice that’s going to take the Young Adult world by storm. 5 stars!

Emily Suvada was born and raised in Australia, where she went on to study mathematics and astrophysics. She previously worked as a data scientist, and still spends hours writing algorithms to perform tasks which would only take minutes to complete on her own. When not writing, she can be found hiking, cycling, and conducting chemistry experiments in her kitchen. She currently lives in Portland, OR, with her husband.

Have you heard of or already had the chance to read This Mortal Coil? What do you think of it? 

What are some of your best 2017 books? 

What are some of your favourite futuristic books? 

I can't wait to hear from you!

Honest and Unflinching // REVIEW: Editing Emma by Chloe Seager

Title: Editing Emma
Author: Chloe Seager
Publication Date: August 10th 2017
Publisher: Harper Collins
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Harper Collins India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon UK || The Book Depository || Wordery || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Google Books

Blurb Description: When sixteen-year-old Emma Nash is ‘ghosted’ by the love of her life Leon Naylor, she does what any normal teenage girl would do…Emma spends the summer lurking in her bedroom, avoiding all human contact (and the shower), surrounded by the collection of chewit wrappers she saved from packs Leon gave her, back when he actually acknowledged her existence…
But seeing Leon suddenly ‘In a relationship’ on Facebook with the perfect Anna, spurs Emma into action and she embarks on a mission to make positive changes to her life (or ‘edits,’ if you will) and vows to use the internet for more than obsessively stalking Leon’s activities! Instead, she will use it for good and noble causes like finding someone who will actually be nice to her, and recording her findings for the rest of the world to see (i.e. BFF Steph and her mum) on her new Editing Emma blog.
But Emma soon discovers her ‘habit’ is harder to break than she first thought – turns out she’s not the only one ‘editing’ herself online (thank you Tinder for finding her mum’s profile, age 35, really?) and that life through an Instagram filter isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. But it could be worse, she could have outed her best friend, accidentally chatted up a 12 year old boy and revealed to the world why Leon Naylor is worth no girl’s time or virginity… oh no wait, that’s exactly what happened…

A book about a girl blogging about her life, discussing issues like periods, masturbation, boys and booze like they shouldn’t even be ‘issues’ to talk about? I’d been hoping for a really long time for Editing Emma to be released in India and when I got the opportunity to read and review it for Harper Collins India, I was BEYOND overjoyed!

I finished Editing Emma in a mere two days (or should I say very busy evenings) and while at times, the book frustrated me, I did really like going on this journey with Emma through her blog posts.

Here are my thoughts:

1.       After reading this book from end to end, I can HONESTLY say teenage girls are confusing and I AM A TEENAGE GIRL, so you could tell how confusing it was for me. I really liked Emma – she was honest and spunky and slightly irritating and I spent 330 pages immersed in her innermost thoughts and I came out of them confused.

2.       In fact, even the boys confused me. (WAIT: IF I DON’T GET TEENAGERS, DOES IT MEAN I’VE GROWN PAST TEENAGER-DOM?) They were cute and charming and nice until they were needy and rude and GHOSTED GIRLS FOR NO REASON?

3.       I actually think all the confusion that I’m talking about above just goes to show HOW ACCUTARELY the life of a high-schooler was portrayed. It felt real and it also annoyed me, and I laughed and felt for the characters. ESSENTIALLY, THIS BOOK CAPTURED EVERYTHING YOU FEEL AS A TEENAGER.

4.       I REALLY like that this was told through blog posts. Essentially it was The Princess Diaries, but in the form of a blog and not a diary.

5.       Emma’s sense of humour and sarcasm levels were OFF THE CHARTS, which was what made this book funny. There are resolutions and lists and awkward first text-versations with boys and also not to mention, a beheaded stuffed giraffe. I loved the hilarity of her life and her spin on it.

6.       This book was about growing up and learning to love yourself in a world where nobody will let you. It was about finding your corner and your people and what’s important and it was done through a teenager which I TRULY applaud.

An honest, unflinching and hilarious (if at times eye-roll worthy) coming of age book that should be added to the top of your ever growing TBRs. 4 stars and definitely worth a read!

Chloe Seager grew up in London with her mum and her much loved cat, Katie. She studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia where she realised she couldn't act, but did rediscover her love of children's books. 

Children's literature was one of her favourite modules and it made her wonder why grown-ups ever stopped reading them. She now works with YA and kids' books full time. Chloe lives back in East London with her boyfriend and pet fish.

Have you had the chance to read Editing Emma yet? What did you think of it? 

Have you ever had a dairy/ blog/ some form of writing down what went on in your everyday life? How old were you then? 

I hope you guys check out Editing Emma because it's definitely worth the read!

One In A Million // REVIEW: Windfall by Jennifer E Smith

Title: Windfall
Author: Jennifer E Smith
Publication Date: May 4th 2017
Publisher: Pan Macmillan UK
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Pan Macmillan India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Wordery || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes. 
At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall. 
As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined . . . and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

This book’s summary in a nutshell:

     a)      Best Friend Romance (AKA – MY ACHILLES HEEL OF ALL CONTEMPORARY  PLOTS)

    b)      WINNING OVER A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN THE LOTTERY.

c)       Lives  have been changed forever

The minute I read Windfall’s summary, I knew I WANTED IT. Which is why, after having binge read this book in 1.5 days, I’m sitting on my bed, typing out this review, slightly in love I’m unable to open another one because IT WAS JUST THAT GOOD.

My Thoughts:

1.        Like I said, I love the idea behind this book. Who doesn’t win the lottery with the hope that they will WIN ALL THAT MONEY and live the life they’ve always dreamed of? Almost NOBODY. Add a best friend romance in the mix and I’m SOLD.

2.       One of the first things that struck me about this book after I actually began reading was how grounded a character Alice was. I always like these kinds of fictional girls better and I instantly connected with her. Also, TELL ME ABOUT UNREQUIETED FEELINGS!

3.       Another things I LOVED SO SO MUCH about this book was the presence of strong, sturdy parents. Alice’s aunt and uncle and such amazing people that only want the best for their son and orphan niece who they’ve taken in as their own. They were the PERFECT PARENTS AND I LOVED THAT YA is finally getting some.

4.       I should mention that they Harry Potter reference almost had me in tears. SERIOUSLY. It warmed my heart and YOU NEED TO READ THIS.

5.       I also loved my boys, Leo and Sawyer. I love big brothers in any kind of setting and Leo was only slightly awesome. I wish we got to see more of Max, of that Leo and Max will have a book of their own because SWOON. Sawyer was also a fun, stand-up kind of guy and I loved his humour.

6.       Surprisingly, the one thing I thought I’d LOVE was the one thing I didn’t like about the book – and that was Teddy and Alice together. For starters, Teddy wasn’t my favourite person. I didn’t have a specific problem with him BUT with all the other great characters, he probably ranked last for me in this book (which is even more surprising because he’s exactly like my best friend IRL.) More than anything, I didn’t feel a spark between the two of them or anything but a forced romance.

Harry Potter references guaranteed to make your eyes shed a few tear drops, the lottery, family and brilliant characters – Windfall is one amazing book you should get your hands on!

 Jennifer E. Smith is the author of eight books for young adults, including WINDFALL and THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. She earned her master's degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and her writing has been translated into 33 languages.

You can visit her on her website or follow her on Twitter

 If you won a MILLION dollars in the lottery, what would be the first thing you did? 

Have you read Windfall or any of Jennifer Smith's Books? Which one is your favourite? 

I can't wait to hear from you lovely humans.