COVER REVEAL: Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon + GIVEAWAY!

HELLO ALL OF YOU LOVELY BOOK PEOPLE!

I am so so SO pleased to exclusively reveal the cover for one of my FAVOURITE books of the year, Mel Darbon's debut novel, Rosie Loves Jack. It's a gorgeous, wondrous, MUST read book told from the viewpoint of this brave girl with Down's syndrome, and how she tackles the world and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. 

Which is why I jumped up in excitement when Usborne asked me if I would like to reveal the cover, because YES! This book is something ALL TEENAGERS and ALL ADULTS need to read because it handles SUCH AN IMPORTANT topic in such a wonderful way. 

So, scroll down to read a note from Mel Darbon herself, get a FIRST look at the cover and ALSO, ENTER A GIVEAWAY FOR ONE OF THE FIRST FINISHED COPIES EVER! (Open International)

If you would like, here is a link to my review of Rosie Loves Jack!

Two years ago I walked into the Usborne offices to talk about my novel Rosie Loves Jack and realised immediately that I’d found the right home for my story. The team embraced my character Rosie, who has Down’s syndrome, and my objective to give a voice to someone who deserves to be represented in the pages of a book. Everyone at Usborne supported my intention that we should focus on a person’s abilities and not their disability.

I loved writing Rosie’s voice and aimed to accurately represent the world of someone with Down’s syndrome and what they have to deal with on a daily basis. The challenge was to never lose sight that Rosie is sixteen years old and I wanted to demonstrate the universal nature of her teenage life as she fights for her independence. She must navigate her way through difficult times to reach the boy she loves.

The super-talented Will Steele has perfectly captured the heart of the book with his cover design for Rosie Loves Jack. I am excited by his striking and contemporary interpretation, which reflects that this is a novel that, despite its darker elements, is essentially a love story. I am delighted that Rosie Loves Jack is coming out in September.

Without further ado, please find below the GORGEOUS COVER that I INSTANTLY fell in love with!

Isn't IT SIMPLY WONDERFUL? I'd absolutely love to hear your thoughts down in the comments on what you think of it!

The lovely humans at Usborne have put up one GORGEOUS EARLY FINISHED COPY OF THIS absolutely must read book. Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Wondrous, IMPORTANT, Must-Read Book // ARC Review: Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon

Title: Rosie Loves Jack
Author: Mel Darbon
Publication Date: September 6th 2018
Publisher: Usbourne Publishing
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Usbourne (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon UK || Wordery || Foyles || Waterstones

Blurb Description: Rosie loves Jack. Jack loves Rosie. So when they're split up, Rosie will do anything to find the boy who makes the sun shine in her head. Even run away from home. Even cross London and travel to Brighton alone, though the trains are cancelled and the snow is falling. Even though any girl might find that hard, let alone a girl with Down's syndrome. See the world through new eyes in this one-in-a-million story about fighting for the freedoms that we often take for granted: independence, tolerance and love.

Rosie Loves Jack is a WONDROUS debut novel, told from the point of view of a girl who has Down’s syndrome as she navigates the world by herself for the first time.

I have nothing bad to say about this book, so please be aware that this review consists entirely of me gushing about the perfection that is Rosie Loves Jack.

This book, you guys. THIS BOOK. It felt like such a privilege to read it early because it was SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN and it made me laugh and happy cry and ugly cry because it was poignant and real and delivered the author’s message with such stunning clarity – that whether someone who has Downs' or any other illnesses, at the end of the day, we’re all the same; human with feelings and love and needs and I LOVED IT SO MUCH.

Rosie, our narrator, was courageous, independent and managed to capture my whole heart in just a few pages. She was smart, steadfast in what she wanted and looking at the world through her eyes was a beautiful, altering experience.

THINGS I LOVED ABOUT THIS BOOK:

1.       ROSIE (obviously)

2.       The kindness of random strangers everywhere. This was such an important element of the book to me because while it showed that there are some truly scary people out there, even someone you’ve never met before can be the kindest. Rosie’s story was filled with these souls and it really filled by heart to see them in this story.

3.       The WONDERFUL representation: I hope this goes without staying, but Mel Darbon’s portrayal of a girl with Down’s felt stunningly real and a privilege to read and it honestly helped open my eyes to a little bit of what someone who has Downs' is going through.

4.       I do wish we saw more of Jack and Rosie together in this book in real time, not in Rosie’s memories or through the letters Jack wrote. It would have helped me root for their relationship more whereas I was just rooting for Rosie’s happiness and didn’t really know Jack enough to care as deeply for him.

Like I promised, this review contains only me gushing about this book.

It’s just that Rosie Loves Jack is such SUCH an IMPORTANT read for children and teens everywhere because it talks about how:

a) People that may seem different aren’t really that different and

b) That kindness and empathy are SO IMPORTANT.

Go pre-order this book. IT’S NOT ONE YOU SHOULD MISS. 5 Stars.

Mel Darbon spent a large part of her childhood inventing stories to keep her autistic brother happy on car journeys. She won’t mention the time spent with him standing by level crossings waiting for the InterCity 125 to go past as she wouldn’t want to be labelled a train spotter. 

Life took her in many different directions working as a theatre designer, a freelance artist, teaching young adults with learning disabilities and running creative workshops for teenage mums, young offenders and toddlers (though not all together).

Mel now writes young adult novels and is a recent graduate of Bath Spa’s MA in Writing For Young People, where she found a channel to give voice to young people who otherwise might not be heard.

Have you had the chance to read this book? What did you think?

Brilliantly Sassy // REVIEW: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Title: Made You Up

Author: Francesca Zappia

Publication Date: May 19th 2017 

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone

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

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

Blurb Description: Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal. 
Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up. 

Reading the synopsis of the book, I thought it would be a deep dark book on mental health exactly like Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow, and I went inside prepared for a fairly intense book.

Made You Up was a really fun read, one that made me really believe in the romance like very few books do. It was about friendship and trying to function normally while also living with a debilitating mental disease.

Let’s break it down:

Writing:

Francesca had an easy to read writing style. In fact, it was so easy to read, I finished the entire 400 page book in one day and I wanted more. It made the entrance into the world and especially Alex’s mind very east.

Idea:

I LOVED THE IDEA. I LOVE LOVE LOVED IT. A story about the confines of reality told from the schizophrenic’s point of view? And the girl suffering from schizophrenia is also trying to be a normal high schooler, get into college and fall in love? I NEEDED IT. I was going to import a copy for myself before Harper announced that they would be releasing it and I was over the moon.

Plot:

I LOVED this book. I loved Alex, I loved Miles and I loved everything about this story. It was fun, it was about to know it all high school teenagers whose conversations were filled with sass and dark humour and there was nothing not to love about it.

I’ve never read a book told from a schizophrenic’s point of view, and I wasn’t sure what I expected really. The only schizophrenic’s I’ve seen are the few on Grey’s Anatomy, who have rather advanced cases but I assume that what Alex has was not so acutely onset. I honestly don’t know enough about the disease to make judgements, but I felt like it was treated a little lightly. Alex was trying a lot to be normal (which I respect and understand) but I felt like I learnt nothing more about the disease, in a book whose tagline was about said disease.

I did love the chemistry between Miles and Alex, the club and even the high school conspiracy that also played around the book. It was a FUN book.

Characters:

Like I already said, I LOVED the dark humour and sass between Miles and Alex. I liked all the club misfits and Tucker. I really wish that Alex’s parents were more responsible about her condition. I wish her mother didn’t say she would throw her in an asylum. They were well developed, but again, I don’t feel like the people who were supposed to treat her disease with maturity didn’t and it annoyed me a little.

Conclusion:

A fun, light hearted, sass-filled book that will make you appreciate the reality you live in while making you crave the romance that it creates. 4 stars. 

YA writer represented by Louise Fury of the Bent Agency. MADE YOU UP (2015), ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS (now available). 

I like writing, reading, drawing, and scaring my friends. I'm on Twitter @ChessieZappia, Tumblr (http://exeuntstormtroopers.tumblr.com), Instagram @ChessieZappia, Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/francescaza...), and on my website, www.francescazappia.com.

Have you read this marvel of a book? What do you think of Miles and Alex? 

What are some of the best books on mental health you've read? 

I can't wait to hear your recommendations!

Intense, Real, Heartbreaking // REVIEW: Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Title: Girl In Pieces

Author: Kathleen Glasgow
Publication Date: October 6th 2016
Publisher: Rock The Boat UK // Delacorte Press US
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: Rock The Boat UK (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon US || Amazon UK || Barnes and Noble || Wordery || The Book Depository || Foyles || Waterstones || WHSmith || Kobo || Books A Million || Indigo || Google Books

Blurb Description: Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The thick glass of a mason jar cuts deep, and the pain washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.
Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.

It’s hard to describe what a book this deep, dark and intense makes you feel. Truth be told, I’m nothing but a bundle of emotions right now that I’m just trying to shove down so I can write this review semi-coherently.

I’ve had an e-copy of Girl in Pieces for a while now, but for some reason, I could never quite focus on everything going on in this book through the screen of my iPad. And so, when I got my hands on a paperback, I dove right in.

This book is one of the most intense portrayals of a harsh life that I’ve ever seen, but always with a glimmer of hope in the background and I fell in love with it.

”Each aberration of my skin is a song. Press your mouth against me. You will hear so much singing.”

Girl in Pieces opens with a girl lying on the snow in front of a hospital, the red seeping out of her body and into the white underneath her. It will grip you right then, make you feel Charlie’s pain and understand it and leave you reeling.

Some opinions/ thoughts:

1.       Girl In Pieces is a deep, heavy and accurate description of what mental health problems feel like. While it is primarily about self-harm, it also deals with physical and sexual abuse, substance abuse and emotional abuse. It’s an intense book that I needed to keep putting on hold for hours before getting back to it.

2.       This book is authentic. It handles the ups and downs or the ‘good days’ and the ‘bad days’ of mental health and addiction with stark clarity. It also shows the below average standard of health care given to those who need it when they don’t have the financial ability to pay for it.

3.       Charlie Davis is a heart breaking character. She has had a less than ideal life, and my heart ached for all the four hundred pages I was in her head. I’ve never understood a character more, all I wanted was for her to find some kind of love and to be happy. She was unique, living a painstakingly real life in a harsh world and I only want the best for her.

 

    4.       I didn’t get Riley and Charlie. It felt like a bad idea from the start, not to mention the ten year age difference and the fact that Charlie was a minor. I didn’t get it, but I understood where she was coming from. I hated it when, as she put it, made herself smaller for him to notice her. Even the book portrayed it as something that wouldn’t end well, but I did sort of understand why Charlie did it.

   5.       The middle got kind of slow. There’s a sort of lag in the middle when Charlie and Riley are together, when Mike is gone and Blue isn’t there and they’re forming this unhealthy routine between them when I found myself counting pages, waiting for something to happen.

6.       Mike was such a… filler character. I didn’t know what to think of him. I just didn’t. Also, BUNNY? A real name?

I don’t quite know what I’ve even said in this.

This book is a gorgeous and heart shattering rendering of what it is to find yourself and find your place when your biggest enemy is you.

I’ve never read a better, more intense, more real or more heart-breaking book on mental health and hard lives and I could not recommend it enough.

It was absolutely positively fucking angelic.  

Kathleen Glasgow lives in Tucson, Arizona. She likes Tyrion and Shireen, musty old paperbacks from used bookstores that have cats wandering the aisles, cheesecake, coffee, and the Isle of Skye. Visit her on Twitter (@kathglasgow), Instagram (misskathleenglasgow), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/KathleenGlas...) or her website (www.kathleenglasgowbooks.com).

What are some of the best books on Mental Health that you've read?

Have you heard of or read Girl In Pieces? What did you think of it?
I can't WAIT to hear from all of you.

A Double Serving Of ARC Reviews #8 - The One With Mental Health and Fashion

Hi Guys! I've been trying SO HARD to stay on top of my NetGalley TBR, and my other review copies, but I've been unsuccessful. (Sigh. #TBRProblems) I have with me two of my NetGalley ARC's, Karen Fortunati's The Weight Of Zero,  and Stephanie Scott's Alterations which released JUST yesterday!  

Title: The Weight Of Zero
Author: Karen Fortunati
Publication Date: October 11th 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: The Publisher Via NetGalley (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon US || Wordery || Barnes and Noble || Google Play Books || The Book Depository || Amazon UK

Blurb Description: Seventeen-year-old Cath knows Zero is coming for her. Zero, the devastating depression born of Catherine’s bipolar disease, has almost triumphed once, propelling Catherine to her first suicide attempt. With Zero only temporarily restrained by the latest med du jour, time is running out. In an old ballet shoebox, Catherine stockpiles meds, preparing to take her own life when Zero next arrives.
But Zero’s return is delayed. Unexpected relationships along with the care of a new psychiatrist start to alter Catherine's perception of her diagnosis. But will this be enough? This is a story of loss and grief and hope and how the many shapes of love – maternal, romantic and platonic – impact a young woman’s struggle with mental illness.
The manuscript was awarded the 2014 SCBWI Work-in-Progress Grant in the Contemporary YA category, named a finalist in the 2015 Tassey-Walden Awards and won the Serendipity Literary Agency 2013 YA First Page/Novel Discovery Contest.

***Before you start this review, I would like to state that I don’t know AS MUCH about Bipolar Disease and I would like to, and I am NOT CLAIMING TO BE AN EXPERT, but I am talking from the viewpoint of someone who wants to understand the disorder better, and a reader who was looking for that explanation, all while enjoying a story***

It’s been a couple of months since I read a good book on mental health, the last being Nick Lake’s Whisper to Me and so, reading The Weight Of Zero came as a welcome break from all the fantasy I’ve been reading. 

In A Nutshell, this book was a good interpretation on what it is like to DEAL emotionally with bipolar disease, but it wasn’t all it could’ve been. 

Catherine Pulaski suffers from Bipolar Disorder and the depressed and manic states of mind that come along with it. After she witnessed her grandmother suffer a heart attack and disintegrate into someone else before her eyes, she gets diagnosed and her “best friends” drop her like a hot potato and take up bullying her instead. 

Jaded with life and any sort of human kindness, Catherine is waiting for the next inevitable time that her depression, ‘Zero’ will come, and has a plan to end her life as it does. 

Filled with romance, friendship and how mental illness factors into the life of a teenager, The Weight of Zero is a great book to read!

I did, however, have a few issues with it that I thought the book could have dealt better or should have spoken more of:

1. The book focused on the MC’s “relapse” into her manic or depressed state of mind and her suicide plan while sort of skimming past the explanation of bipolar disease itself. 

2. There was more talk of the suicide that she planned to commit when she went under “Zero’s” (her name for her depressed state of mind) than anything else, and it got a little monotonous.

3. In Catherine’s Intensive Outpatient Programme, she kept talking about the connection she shared with everyone there, and how she slowly felt like it was a safe space, but never shared ANYTHING about her disease and it felt sort of redundant. 

4. The ending was so rushed, very sunshine-y and rainbow-y in a real, harsh book and it made it all feel silly. There was also no real explanation to the bullying Catherine had endured, and it felt slightly rushed. 

I’m not AT ALL faulting the book for focusing on one area (how to deal emotionally) of this mental disorder, I’m just saying I wish there was MORE (everything else) about the disease. I also wish the ending wasn’t so rushed, and that the talks with her therapist and her mother were more detailed that a short third person summary. 

The Weight of Zero should definitely be on your essential reading list, but I still wish it had MORE. 

***

Title: Alterations
Author: Stephanie Scott
Publication Date: December 6th 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury Spark
Part of a Series?: No, A Standalone
I Got A Copy Through: The Publisher Via NetGalley
Buy Links: Amazon US || Nook || Kobo || iBooks || Google Play Books

Blurb Description: If anyone saw the prom boards Amelia Blanco makes on her favorite fashion app, they'd think Ethan Laurenti was her boyfriend. They wouldn't know that all the plans she's made for them are just dreams, and that she's the girl who watches him from the kitchen while her parents cook for his famous family. 
When Amelia's abuelita enrolls her in a month-long fashion internship in NYC, Amelia can't imagine leaving Miami--and Ethan--for that long. As soon as she gets to New York, however, she finds a bigger world and new possibilities. She meets people her own age who can actually carry on a conversation about stitching and design. Her pin boards become less about prom with Ethan and more about creating her own style. By the time she returns to Miami, Amelia feels like she can accomplish anything, and surprises herself by agreeing to help Ethan's awkward, Steve-Jobs-wannabe brother, Liam, create his own fashion app. 
As Liam and Amelia get closer, Ethan realizes that this newly confident, stylish girl may be the one for him after all . . . even though he has a reality TV star girlfriend he conveniently keeps forgetting about. The "new and improved" Amelia soon finds herself in between two brothers, a whole lot of drama, and choice she never dreamed she'd have to make. 

There are some books you read just because you’re:

a)      Looking for a light read

b)      Everybody needs baseless drama at some point

c)       YOU JUST WANT TO

And Alterations was definitely one of those books for me. I knew it wasn’t going to be winning any awards from be under the “makes you want to search your soul” or other such DEEP categories, but HECK, sometimes I NEED a book like that.

Amelia is a fashion expert. She lives with her mother and grandmother in their tiny apartment on the estate of some of the richest folks in town, the Laurentis as the domestic help. Of course, the Laurentis have GORGEOUS twin sons, both Amelia’s age, one of who she’s been in love with for forever.

And then she gets this AWESOME internship in New York, only to come back and find her whole dynamic with the boys altered.

While this book was fun, LIGHT, drama-filled and everything I expected from it, it was also slightly awkward and a little overdone. Some of my problems include:

1.       Was Amelia’s internship an INTERSHIP or like Summer School? Because CLASSES and PROFESSORS = SCHOOL. The Devil Wears Prada Mean Bosses = INTERNSHIP.

2.       I didn’t feel anything with EITHER boy. Like Liam was cuter, and an awkward potato (which I can totally relate to) but NO FEELS. SIGH.

3.       Amelia’s sense of EVERYTHING was warped. In her head, BOYS > WORK ON A REALITY TV SHOW.

4.       Amelia’s thought process was awkward.

All in all, it was an okay-ish read, and what I expected it to be, a fun, light read! 3 stars! 

Does Anyone have an AWESOME book on Mental Illness that I NEED to read? OOH, And books set in New York?

Have you read either of there books? What did you think of them?

Quirky and Hilarious // REVIEW: The Boy Is Back (The Boy, #4) by Meg Cabot

Title: The Boy Is Back (The Boy, #4)

Author: Meg Cabot
Publication Date: October 18th 2016
Publisher: William Morrow (Harper Collins)
Part of a Series?: Yes, book 4/4 of The Boy Series. Can be read as Standalones
I Got A Copy Through: Harper Collins India (THANK YOU!)
Buy Links: Amazon IN || Amazon US || Amazon UK || Wordery || Flipkart || Snapdeal || Barnes and Noble || The Book Depository || Google Play Books

Blurb Description: In this brand-new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a scandal brings a young man back home to the small town, crazy family, and first love he left behind.
Reed Stewart thought he’d left all his small town troubles—including a broken heart—behind when he ditched tiny Bloomville, Indiana, ten years ago to become rich and famous on the professional golf circuit.  Then one tiny post on the Internet causes all of those troubles to return . . . with a vengeance.
Becky Flowers has worked hard to build her successful senior relocation business, but she’s worked even harder to forget Reed Stewart ever existed. She has absolutely no intention of seeing him when he returns—until his family hires her to save his parents.
Now Reed and Becky can’t avoid one another—or the memories of that one fateful night.  And soon everything they thought they knew about themselves (and each other) has been turned upside down, and they—and the entire town of Bloomville—might never be the same, all because The Boy Is Back.

There’s something so enchanting about reading Meg Cabot books…

It’s like going back to the days you first started reading, and re-experiencing your first love all over again (because if you haven’t read The Princess Diaries, you haven’t truly experienced ANYTHING) and it is beautiful.

While I wasn’t initially excited about The Boy Is Back, I’m only a mere bookworm with no self-restraint (as my bookshelf will clearly show you) and well, I definitely reached the excitement stage, and the MINUTE (okay, the day) after I got the book, I dove in.

The Boy Is Back is a quirky and hilarious, a typical Meg Cabot book that will have you laughing, falling in love and, as always, wondering where your Michael Moscovitz/ Reed Stewart is.

Becky Flowers is the only senior moving consultant in a hundred mile radius, and has stayed in her home town of Bloomville, Indiana when her dad passed away to take over the family business. There’s only one thing that still shadows her – a boy in high school, and a break-up and scandal that involved a pool, liquor, a golf cart, a prom and ten years of no phone calls.

Reed Stewart used to be the number one golf player in the world, and he also used to be the son of a judge and in love with a quirky girl whose last name was flowers’, until he left it all behind.

Ten years later, and a minor scandal involving stamps, major food chains and fraud, Reed Stewart is back in town, and nothing will ever be the same.

There are so many things you that ALL Meg Cabot books contain, that you can’t help but love:

1.      DRAMA

2.       A TAD MORE DRAMA

3.       FAMILY

4.       BEAUTIFUL BOYS that make you want to scream at your love life

5.       AWESOME Best Friends

6.       Siblings (mostly)

7.       Princesses and Genius Scientists that make you swoon

8.       AWKWARDNESS

9.       DRAMA (Wait. Did I say that?)

10.   A WHOLE  LOT OF AWESOME BOOKSIHNESS

And with the exception of number 7, The Boy Is Back has all of them, which just means that you need to buy and start reading this NOW. Told in a text, email and diary format, this book is a fast paced read that will have you smiling, pining and rooting for a fairy-tale ending.

Despite all the cuteness, the only thing I didn’t like was Becky and Reed together. Don’t get me wrong, they were GREAT on paper – cute, wronged lovers that fate threw together again – and their texts and email to and about each other were OH SO CHEMISTRY FILLED, but The Boy Is Back had about FOUR SCENES where they actually spoke to each other, and well, I NEEDED MORE. Reed, though he was portrayed as a ‘bad boy’ really just seemed like an enigmatic rich boy.

I think I just needed MORE of Becky and Reed themselves, ALONG with all the secondary drama for it to have been a great, and not just a good read.

WHAT is your favourite Meg Cabot Book?  WHO is your favourite Meg Cabot Boy?

PLEASE TELL ME YOU'VE READ THE PRINCESS DIARIES (and that Michael is EVERYTHING)

Top Ten Books To Read if Your Book Club Like Super Discussable YA (TTT #16)

HI TOP TEN TUESDAY-ERS! Man, it has been FOREVER since I sat down (okay, stood up) walked out of my bed (and comforter that have totally excepted me as their own #BedPotatoLifestyle) and stared at the bookshelf, trying to make a Top Ten List because IT IS JUST SO HARD to pick only ten books of ANYTHING.

I don't actually have a book club (NOBODY AT ALL IRL can keep up to my #AWESOME Book Reading Skills. #TrueFact) but, if I did here is my (attempt) at a list that I would LOVE LOVE to analyze with them (analyze = fangirl/ hyperventilate/ nothing remotely formal or sane)

What is Top Ten Tuesday? It's a meme hosted every Tuesday by the awesome ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish to TEST YOUR BOOK-DRAGON MIGHT (!) (Kidding. I'm Kidding.) So. here goes.

1. Asking For It by Louise O'Neill
A truly riveting book on what it is to be a Rape victim in a world that tells girls who dress "provocatively" that they're "Asking For It" instead of telling the boys who commit those atrocious, inhumane acts not to.

A real situation, a real reaction, because most victims find it easier to bury what happened to them rather than face the consequences.

This book will leave you all kinds of MAD and trust me, you will WANT to discuss (yell about) this with someone.

2. Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
While I expected this book to be a fluffy romance that was good for a one-time read, it SHOCKED me. I finished this book last Saturday, and it was BEAUTIFUL - the story, the words and the characters.

A Brutally honest book on what it means to fall in love, to stay in love, to be loved and to love when you're not loved back as much. It is truly wonderful. My review will be up tomorrow!

3. The Girl Who Fell by Shannon Parker
One of the perfect books that BEAUTIFULLY describe what it's like to be in a toxic, but not abusive relationship, and one that REALLY makes you understand what it's like to be the person "Changing" as everyone on the outside calls them.

A BEAUTIFUL and even extremely cute book for your book club to read and then discuss, because what is more important than being in the right relationships?

4. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
One of the first books I ever reviewed as a reviewer, and one of my FIRST YA books in general, This Lullaby is a SERIOUSLY SPECIAL book to me and is also an AWESOME book on standing up to your friends in harsh high school life, seeing that everything about a person is NOT rumours and what they look like and is also about dealing with unwanted sexual advances.

Combine it with a beautiful love story and a beautiful family and characters, this is another book you should be reading and discussing!

5. Whisper To Me by Nick Lake
Fair Warning, that while this ending might make you want to SCREAM, this is a BEAUTIFULLY HANDLED book on mental illness and dealing with the very real voices in your head.

The narration, the story line and the characters are BEAUTIFUL as well, and I CANNOT STRESS on how WELL mental illness and trauma is handled in this book. (Also, there's MURDER and crime solving and ROMANCE if you're interested)

6. Breaking Butterflies by M. Anjelais
A BOOK ON CHILDHOOD FRIENDS that are also sociopaths.

This is one SERIOUSLY UNDERRATED book because it has the power to leave you lying on the floor, questioning all you knew about the people around you. I CANNOT describe what this book is like in this short description, but you should read my review and interview with the author.  SERIOUSLY. YOU NEED TO READ AND DISCUSS THIS BOOK.

7. Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton
A Cut-Throat, Edgy and Backstabbing book set in New York city in the world of competitive ballet. The first in a duology, this is told from the viewpoint of three different girls competing for the lead roles in ballets as well as the one coveted position in the American Ballet Company.

Even if you don't like Ballet, it would be AWESOME to talk about this graceful masterpiece.

8. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
I picked this up after reading another book by the author, and it was BEAUTIFUL. Based on a taboo relationship between a brother and a sister that fell in love, this book will BREAK your heart after convincing you that love in its purest form is something you can never fault.

A GORGEOUSLY handled book on teen love, incest, growing up, sacrifice and family.

9. Warrior Witch by Danielle Jensen
The last book in the YA Fantasy Malediction Trilogy, Warrior Witch will KILL YOU. A book that you will NEED to discuss with your book club purely for all the heartbreak and #feels that you will be feeling at the end of it.

While you're at it, if you're into discussing SWOONY PRINCES and BEAUTIFUL PLOTS, you should pick up this series for your book club!

10. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
Not a book about mental illness but a book YOU WILL NEED A BOOK CLUB TO DISCUSS WITH (because you will be broken and re-made and broken because you will be falling in love and hate and FEELING ALL THE THINGS.)

Also, no, I've NEVER made any sense while talking about this book, because it is my FAVOURITE of all time. I even had an ACTUAL spur-of-the-moment, because we NEEDED it so damn much book club with Rhea D'Souza and Sierra Abrams.

What would you recommend as SUPER DISCUSSABLE YA for a book club? Have you read and LOVED any of these? Do you want to discuss (FANGIRL) about them with me? - My comments are ALWAYS open!