A Wonderful Feminist Plot But I Felt Disconnected From It All // REVIEW: The Cast by Danielle Steel

Title: The Cast
Author: Danielle Steel
Publication Date: May 29th 2018
Publisher: Macmillan
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: PanMacmillan India
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Kait Whittier has built her magazine column into a hugely respected read followed by fans across the country. She loves her work and adores her grown children, treasuring the time they spend together. But after two marriages, she prefers to avoid the complications and uncertainties of a new love. Then, after a chance meeting with television producer Zack Winter, everything changes. Inspired by the true story of her own grandmother, Kait creates the storyline for a TV series. Within weeks, Kait is plunged into a colourful, star-studded world of actors and industry pros who will bring her vision to life, from the reclusive grand dame to LA's hottest bad boy actor. As secrets are shared and revelations come to light, the cast grows closer. But in the midst of this charmed year, Kait is forced to confront the greatest challenge a mother could ever know and this unforgettable cast becomes more important to her than she ever could have imagined.

WARNING: This Review contains spoilers for The Cast

Actual Rating: 2.75 Stars

The Cast is probably the first Danielle Steel novel I’ve read (I have vague recollections of another book that may either be from Sidney Sheldon or Danielle Steel and I can’t remember NO MATTER HOW MUCH I TRY.) (Life Before Goodreads. Sigh.)

I have two other Danielle Steels’ currently sitting on my TBR, but I picked The Cast up first because of its ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS COVER. Like how STUNNING is that?

The Cast is essentially the story of a middle aged woman, who through hard work and a little bit of luck, gets a bible picked up by a big time executive producer and suddenly her life changes. It’s also about her family, and her three children.

MY THOUGHTS:

1.       If I were to describe this book in one word, or an emotion that I feel looking back at it, it would be ‘Disconnect.’ Told in third person, I not once felt connected to the variety of characters in the book, or even felt anything like happiness or grief when Kait Whittier, the main character, went through events that cause her either.

2.       I mean, KAIT’S DAUGHTER WAS BOMBED AND KILLED WHILE MAKING A DOCUMENTARY AND HER GRIEF WAS SO… PAPER THIN. All I read was “Grief threatened to overtake Kait” but I never once felt it.

3.       Also, everyone in this book was just so MECHANICAL. There were always logical, mature choices being made for EVERYTHING, but does life really… work like that? Especially in Hollywood, when it comes to family and DEATH of a child?

4.       If I put aside the fact that this book was entirely mechanical, I did like a few things including

-          THE PLOT OF The Wilder Women, which is the TV Show Kait wrote. It had such a wonderful story, and I honestly would love to see Women in Aviation during WW II on a real TV screen.

-          Kait and Zach had this ultra-adorable romance, which I loved and I also loved how her kids teased her about it.

-          I loved Maeve, Agnes and Kait and the supportive, constructive relationship they had with each other.

VERDICT: Connecting with SOMETHING in a book is probably the most important thing for me while reading, and so I don’t really recommend this unless you’re already a Danielle Steel fan, and I probably won’t be picking up another book from her for a while now. 2.75 stars. 

Since 1981, Ms. Steel has been a permanent fixture on the New York Times hardcover and paperback bestseller lists. In 1989, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having at least one of her books on the Times bestseller list for 381 consecutive weeks. But Guinness was premature. The fact is that one or more of Ms. Steel's novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list for over 390 consecutive weeks. 

Twenty-one of Ms. Steel's novels have been adapted for television, each earning high ratings and critical acclaim, including two Golden Globe nominations for JEWELS, a four-hour mini-series that starred Anthony Andrews. 

Have you read any Danielle Steel books, or The Cast?
What did you think of it?
I'd LOVE to hear from you <3

 

Hilarious, Satirical and Slightly Insane // REVIEW: The Bitter Pill Social Club by Rohan Dahiya

Title: The Bitter Pill Social Club
Author: Rohan Dahiya
Publication Date: April 2018 
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Bloomsbury India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Flipkart || Infibeam || Google Books

Blurb Description: Witness the private life of the world’s most beautiful animals. 
You know exactly who they are. The ones who walk right past club lines, who get what they want before they ask for it. It’s a familiar cast: the centre of attention, the shameless flirt, the loudmouth, the narcissistic writer. You’ve seen them all. You’ve felt their Gucci-anointed aura. Laughing and dancing. Kissing the wrong people at the wrong time. Swaying to their own beat. Going out every night they’re sad. Finding solace in the crowd in a city paved with mildly good intentions and cocaine lines. A city of smooth talkers, armchair activists, and the rich brats of Instagram. A place to talk pop spirituality and purple prose in connoisseur-only jazz clubs.
The Bitter Pill Social Club takes a look at the lives of the Kochhar family, who find themselves drifting apart in the city of djinns, gins, and fake friends wrapped up in cigarette smoke. As one of their own gears up to tie the knot, three siblings come home to the neurotic parents who raised them. Meanwhile the parents face the family patriarch’s constant judgment. Divorce, disappointment, and disasters ensue as the entitled Kochhar brood dodges old lovers and marriage proposals.

 

It usually take a while for me to get into a book and then, as I move in further, start falling further and further in love. Or hate, depending on each individual book.  

Surprisingly, the opposite was the case for The Bitter Pill Social Club. All it took was the first of its many hilariously ludicrous chapters and I was laughing and basically HOOKED to the book. It was such a raw, riotous take on the lives of the rich and Instagram famous in the capital city and I loved it.

I did find the actual structure of the book lacking somewhere in the middle, which I will explain down later.

Let’s break it down:

Image from Bloomsbury India

PLOT:

I initially thought I knew what this book was about on a basic level, but there were so many twists and curveballs thrown at me that I was amazed. The story didn’t stay static but kept shifting between characters, places and time. I also liked that we had so many varying viewpoints in the Kocchar family and the messed up lives they lead.

STRUCTURE:

Honestly, here is where the story got dicey for me.

While it started off with a certain amount of flair and grounded-ness (girl gets dumped by ex, reunites with a former flame sort of basic storyline), the structure of the story completely disappeared somewhere in the middle. Months flew by in the blink of eye, a previously depressed girl was suddenly working at a hotel in the mountains and I was just CONFUSED. I love books that show you character growth over time, but I do need some structure inducing elements in the character growth. Even if there was a “three months later” or different chapters for different characters’ viewpoints, it would have felt SO MUCH BETTER STRUCTURED.

WRITING:

Rohan Dahiya’s writing was the essence of the story. It brought to life, and made believable all the insanity of the everyday lives of the Kocchar family. The story of three generations of this family were closely woven together in this 300 something page book, and filled with enough content to make you laugh and shake your head in adoration.

CHARACTERS:

Image from Bloomsbury India

Within the first few chapters, I was quite attached to the Kocchar family and all their, for lack of a better term, insane antics. Parties, flying away to Europe, car rides in the rain and shopping sprees were all an integral part of their daily lives amidst divorces, fake friends, being ghosted and the occasional stabbing of gold-diggers.

Sunaina and Surya were perhaps my favourite characters, though I also loved certain parts of Kama’s story and how it was all handled.

CONCLUSION:

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Rohan Dahiya’s second novel. The Bitter Pill Social Club was a hilarious, satirical and slightly insane novel that made me laugh, and those are the best kind of books.

Rohan Dahiya is a writer/visual artist based in Delhi NCR shuffling between café desktops and foldable pool chairs. His first novel Grey Skies was published last year and was well received for its exploration of mental health. On most days he can be found at Chapter 101, an independent bookstore in the city with a coffee cup not too far from reach. He derives inspiration from music recommendations, bad dreams, and the people he meets while traveling through the country.

What are some of your favourite books set in India?

What are some of the most hilarious books you've ever read?

BLOG TOUR: The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk - Review + My Musical Journey

Hello Book Humans, and welcome to my stop on the International Blog Tour for Ashley Woodfolk's brilliant debut novel, The Beauty That Remains. A huge thank you to PRH International for putting this tour together, and for inviting me to be a part of it. 

The Beauty That Remains is a beautiful portrayal of how music can heal. It's told through three different teenagers, with numerous secondary characters and I absolutely loved it. 

Since the book focuses on music, apart from my review, I'll also be talking about my musical journey so do read until the end!

~**~

Title: The Beauty That Remains
Author: Ashley Woodfolk
Publication Date: March 6th 2018
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: PRH International (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon US || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Music brought Autumn, Shay, and Logan together. Death wants to tear them apart.
Autumn always knew exactly who she was—a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister, Sasha, and her love of music. And Logan always turned to writing love songs when his love life was a little less than perfect.
But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan can’t stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered.
Despite the odds, one band's music will reunite them and prove that after grief, beauty thrives in the people left behind.

“If someone asked now, “What does love look like?” I’d tell them it was the lies in your eyes.

Books centred on tragedies usually fall in one of three categories for me – either the fall completely flat, or they leave me curled up in under my blanket sobbing my eyes out or they devastate me, and still leave me with hope.

The Beauty That Remains definitely left me in the last category. Ashley Woodfolk’s deep and haunting debut novel reminded me of Adam Silvera’s writing, along with one of my favourite elements in books (that we rarely see) – music – and I fell in love with it.

MY THOUGHTS:

1.       I love way this book was told. We had three narrators, and some incredibly developed secondary characters, each of whom were experiencing the devastating loss of a friend, ex or sister and it was their journey to reaching some kind of acceptance, through music.

 

2.       I struggled to keep up with all the characters in the beginning of this book. All of them were equally important from each narrator, to the person they each lost, to their support systems, but THERE WERE TOO MANY PEOPLE thrown at me in the beginning.

3.       Ashley Woodfolk’s writing was spectacular.  It was slow paced, but really dove into the unbearable grief each teenager felt. It was heart-breaking, poignant and I am A HUGE FAN.

4.       The cast was diverse and inclusive and I LOVED IT. Just off the top of my head, we had Asian rep, Hispanic rep and Gay rep and it dealt with depression, coping mechanisms, therapy and panic attacks with such finesse.

5.        I honestly connected with Logan and Bram’s story right from the get go, and I was desperately craving more.

6.       The only reason this book isn’t receiving a five star rating from me was that there was no definitive ending. I understand that you never truly finish grieving, but this book felt unfinished in a way I can’t fully explain.

A spectacularly written book on loss that will make you feel. 4 stars.

I first laid my hands on a grand piano when I was nine years old. I had seen my older sister practicing for years before that, and I was so excited to meet her teacher and play a real piano. It took me four years of grueling practice under that yeacher before she thought I was ready for an actual graded examination - the Trinity College of London Examination. 

Before I move on, I should inform you that I was not a natural at playing the piano. I struggled to find any sort of rhythm, make my fingers move across the keys and jump from one octave to another without staring down at each key and, just in general, understanding the beat of a song. 

It took years of practice before I had an understanding of how putting together music worked, which was when I took up my Grade One Trinity Examination. I went on until Grade Five (there are 8 grades) 

I worked on each piece for months on a row, purely because Trinity prescribed pieces from Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin. It was grueling work, learning part of a piece, playing it again and again until it became muscle memory to you, until a point where you weren't reading the notes of looking at the keys, but listening to the music you were creating and knowing what came next to make the melody.

It's hard to describe what music means to me. It's not something I can't live without, but working on a piece from a famous composer part by part and bringing it to life in a flurry of music in a cold examination room that smells suspiciously of maple syrup and makes you think God, I am HUNGRY, is honestly something I can't believe I did. 

Music, or learning an instrument like the Piano and it helps you understand that there are things more than yourself and your life. It's about re-creating art and melody and putting some life into black marks in a paper. 

Because of my ten years of piano lessons, I LOVE books that have music in them. The Beauty That Remains was a beautiful book on grief and music and I can't recommend it enough!

Ashley Woodfolk graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in English and her life-long love of books led her straight to the publishing industry. She's a member of the CBC Diversity Committee and markets books for children and teens. In her abundance of "spare" time, she writes contemporary YA. Indie movies, beer, books, and burgers are a few of her favorite things. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and pit bull puppy, Winnie. THE BEAUTY THAT REMAINS is her debut novel.

Have you ever played a musical instrument? Which one?

What are some of the best books you've read that handle grief?

What are you currently reading? 

I'd absolutely love to hear from you!

 

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.

 

It's Intense (AND THE HYPE IS REAL) // REVIEW: Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Title: Turtles All The Way Down
Author: John Green
Publication Date: October 10th 2017
Publisher: Penguin Books
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Vivek Tejuja and Penguin India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || The Book Depository || Wordery || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Infibeam || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Chapters Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: It’s quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see.
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.  In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

“The way he talked about thoughts was the way I experienced them – not as a choice but a destiny. Not a catalogue of my consciousness, but a refutation of it.”

When you flip open a new book by an author you’ve read multiple books from before, it’s only natural to compare the books and figure out where this new one stands on your list.

Which I think was a mistake because Turtles All The Way Down is unlike anything I’ve ever read before and when you do read it, you’ll fully understand what I’m talking about.

Turtles All The Way Down was ABSOLUTELY EXCEPTIONAL and INTENSE and reading it was a journey that everyone should take. Turtles All The Way Down was a harrowing depiction of life from a teenager who suffers from mental illness and it was astoundingly well done.

MY THOUGHTS:

1.       I have missed John Green’s writing. Nobody else writes like him, with shrewd observations, quirk, sass and dialogue that will make you think. It’s been forever since I experienced his writing, but waiting all these years for Turtles All The Way Down was worth it. I’ve never seen mental illness represented better.

 

2.       AZA WAS A BRILLIANT CHARACTER. I LOVE her name and the story behind it but I loved the girl the name belonged to too. I realised mid-way through the book that even though the whole thing was told from her own point of view, she barely spoke at all. This book is told mostly through her thoughts and her illness. She was extremely intelligent and flawed and me describing her doesn’t do justice to her character at all.

3.       The OCD/ Anxiety rep is INTENSE. And it felt so real and palpable to me. There was this one particular scene where Aza’s ‘rational’ brain and her illness are battling it out against each other and I had to put the book down after because John Green and Aza make you FEEL and I needed a breather.

4.       I think one of my big problems and the reason that this book wasn’t a five star for me is the pretentiousness of the characters, specifically the best friend Daisy. I’m ALL for pretentious characters but why does EACH AND EVERY CHARACTER HAVE TO BE PRETENTIONS/ MANIC PIXIE DREAM-Y? Daisy was… obnoxious. And RUDE and honestly, AN ASSHOLE. AND RUDE AND HORRIBLE and she *SPOILER* wrote fanfic about her best friend who had a debilitating mental illness by calling her ‘useless’ and an idiot and it HURT ME PHYSICALLY THAT SHE COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT. HOW. I wanted to strangle her because she was NOT A GOOD FRIEND AT ALL. STOP.

5.       I’m not 100% sure how I felt about the romance between Davis and Aza. I LOVED them as individual characters and I loved their interactions but it was a little too flawless for two teenagers. I loved them and I also… didn’t? I’m a confusing person, I know.

All in all, this book is real and brilliant and intense and it talks about who we are, who are thoughts belong to and it will make you FEEL. This book makes you understand mental illness in such an intimate and personal manner and I have, once again, been left in awe of John Green’s masterful writing. 4 stars. 

John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.

In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the Nerdfighters website, or a direct link here.

What's your favourite John Green book?

What are some of your favourite book on mental health?

Have you read Turtles All The Way Down? What did you think of it?

ARC Review: Land of Neverendings by Kate Saunders

Title: The Land Of Neverendings

Author: Kate Saunders

Publication Date: October 3rd 2017

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone

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

Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || The Book Depository || Wordery || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Emily felt wide awake - but this had to be a dream. A soft light glowed from the middle of Holly's empty bed. It came from a little tent - striped red and white, not more than knee-height, and with shadows moving about inside it. Never in all her life would Emily forget the strangeness of what she saw next . . .
When Emily's sister Holly dies, she is surprised to find that she misses her toy bear, Bluey, almost as much as Holly. Bluey was Holly's constant companion, and Emily used to make up stories about him and his escapades in the magical (and very silly) world of Smockeroon to entertain her. And the only person who seems to understand Emily's grief is Ruth, her kindly next-door neighbour.
But then very strange things start to happen. Emily dreams of talking toys visiting her bedroom, telling her that they have come from Smockeroon, and have a message for her from Bluey. A terrible black toad, who stinks of sadness, begins to stalk Ruth's house. And when a parade of penguins wearing plastic moustaches marches through their kitchen - well, Emily has to begin to wonder whether this is all a dream after all. But why are the toys here, and what could Bluey possibly be trying to tell her?
This stunning novel will tickle your funny bones as much as it pulls on your heartstrings, and is a true classic in the making.

 

Actual Rating 4.5 Stars

When I first read this title, I believed that this book was some kind of Peter Pan Retelling. A land based on the imagination of children with the called "Neverendings" - can you blame me. 

This is basically me saying that without actually reading the synopsis, I went in thinking that I'd be getting a Retelling of one of my favourite fairy tales, but I got something much different and much better! 

The Land of Neverendings is a hilarious and gorgeously imagined children's book where toys live their own lives and are reunited with their owners when they leave our world. 

My Thoughts:

1. Since I've almost crossed the realm of teenage-Dom, this book was a very quick and fun read for me. I loved getting into Emily's mind, feeling the grief and loss of losing her sister, losing her one old friend and making new ones and also watching her reactions as the toys and their imagined stories came to life in front of her very eyes. 

2. The toys in this book were HILARIOUS. There were refined penguins who opened up a bed and breakfast, nun barbie dolls, various societies that had been formed among the toys and even a prison doll who only knows how to get in trouble. 

3. Amidst all the hilarity, I especially loved that there was loss of a loved one too young being dealt with in an affirming and yet real manner. 

4. Which of course, bring me to Ruth, our main character, Emily's elderly next door neighbour who lost her son in a drunk driving accident. I loved the support that they were able to give each other, the no questions asked belief and most of all, the chocolate biscuits. 

5. Another character I TRULY loved was Martha, Emily's new friend. I loved her honest goodness that wafted off the page, her unwavering loyalty and her kindness. She makes me think ofall the brilliant friends I made in middle school. 

Despite the fact that this is a children's book I still loved every second of reading it. 

The Land of Neverendings is a hilarious, show stopping marvel from a true creative genius. 4.5 stars. 

Kate Saunders (born 1960) is an English author, actress, and journalist. The daughter of the early public relations advocate Basil Saunders and his journalist wife Betty (née Smith), Saunders has worked for newspapers and magazines in the UK, including The Sunday Times, Sunday Express, Daily Telegraph, She, and Cosmopolitan.

She has also been a regular contributor to radio and television, with appearances on the Radio 4 programs Woman's Hour, Start the Week, and Kaleidoscope. She was, with Sandi Toksvig, a guest on the first episode of the long-running news quiz program Have I Got News For You.

Saunders has also written multiple books for children and for adults.

What were some of your favourite stories as a child?

What were some of your favourite fairy tales?

Which one of your childhood toys would you like to meet in real life?