The Book Catch-Up June

Another month which means more books read. I got to a total of 6 books in June, which is a pretty decent amount. Here's a look in to this months reads and my thoughts on them...

We Are Not Okay - Nátalia Gomes

Lucy thinks she's better than the other girls.Maybe if she's pointing fingers at everyone else, no one will see the secret she's hiding.Ulana comes from a conservative Muslim family where reputation is everything. One rumour -true or false - can destroy futures.Trina likes to party. She's kissed a lot of boys. She's even shown her red bra to one. But she didn't consent to thatnight at Lucy's party. So why doesn't anyone believe her?Sophia loved her boyfriend. She did anything for him, even send him photos of herself. So why is she the one being pointed at in the hallways, laughed at, spat at when it was him who betrayed her trust?

There's a lot I like about this book. For one it really shows us what goes on in a school environment. Like how people act and how what one person says can affect another in a bad way. I managed to finish the book quite quickly, only 3 days. Which for me shows how much I was enjoying it. Being able to get an insight to the four different characters and their thoughts and how they were feeling. Definitely a book worth reading.

As Far As The Stars - Virginia Macgregor

Christopher is the sort of guy that no one notices, yet when Air catches sight of him making intricate paper birds in the airport, she can’t look away. But their worlds are about to collide in ways they never expected. Someone they love is on Flight 0217 from London Heathrow. And it’s missing. Convinced that her brother was on a different flight, Air drives them hundreds of miles across the country, on a trip that will change their lives forever.

This was such a heartfelt book. Really showing how two teens go through the heartbreak of losing someone close to them. You hear about planes crashing but never really think fully about how the people closest are effected. I've read many a book that's made me cry but this one was that little bit more emotional with the perfect amount of romance. A book I 100% recommend to check out.

How It Feels To Float - Helena Fox

Biz knows how to float. She has her people, her posse, her mom and the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, who loves her so hard, and who shouldn't be here but is. So Biz doesn't tell anyone anything. Not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And she doesn't tell anyone about her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven. And Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface--normal okay regular fine. But after what happens on the beach--first in the ocean, and then in the sand--the tethers that hold Biz steady come undone. Dad disappears and, with him, all comfort. It might be easier, better, sweeter to float all the way away? Or maybe stay a little longer, find her father, bring him back to her. Or maybe--maybe maybe maybe--there's a third way Biz just can't see yet.

This is one of those books that I'd seen in store a few times but didn't think I'd like it. And only purchased it when it was the only option. I do wish I'd just got it the first time I saw it as I loved it. It's a story about friendship, family, grief and love and mental illness. It shows how having a mental illness can be a good and a bad thing in the characters instance. I could not stop myself from wanting to read more and more. One book I do really recommend checking out.

Sunflowers in February - Phyllidia Shrimpton

Lily wakes up one crisp Sunday morning on the side of the road. She has no idea how she got there. It is all very peaceful. and very beautiful. It is only when the police car, and then the ambulance arrive, and she sees her own body, that she realises that she is in fact ... dead. But what is she supposed do now? Lily has no option but to follow her body and see her family - her parents and her twin brother start falling apart. And then her twin brother Ben gives her a once-in-a-deathtime opportunity - to use his own body for a while. But will Lily give Ben his body back? She is beginning to have a rather good time ...

After reading Phyllidia's other book, Colour of Shadows I knew I had to give this one a read. It's been on my reading list for months and it was great to finally get the chance to have a read of it and delve in to the story line, like I've been wanting to for some time. And this book was a hard one for me in the sense that at one point I was so bored that I so nearly just stopped reading it. Though by the end of the book I was in tears. It ended up being a great book that I would definitely recommend.

How To Love - Katie Contugno

Before: Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember. But he's never noticed that Reena even exists...until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. Then Sawyer disappears without a word, leaving a devastated--and pregnant--Reena behind. After: Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter. Reena's gotten used to life without Sawyer, but just as suddenly as he disappeared, he turns up again. Reena wants nothing to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said his being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

This books was so close to becoming a favourite. It reminds me a lot of fanfiction I used to read back in the day, which I used to love. But there was just something about it that just made me not love it enough for it to be one of the best books I've read. I dont' know whether it was the use of before and after chapters. Or whether it was the characters. There was just something that put me off in a sense. I still enjoyed it and do plan on picking up some of Katie's other books, if she has any.

Little & Lion - Brandy Colbert

When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she's isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (as well as her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support. But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself--or worse.

For me this book took some time to read. It was a mix of it being a bigger book in size which means more words to be read. But I also managed to get the common winter cold and spent about a week with no energy for anything, reading included. But on to the book, I really enjoyed it. I knew going in to it that it was going to be something I'd enjoy and I did. I found the characters to be so realistic which would make you want to just keep reading. I also loved how they dealt with mental health and how people live with it. It was a great read I would 100% recommend.

So there you have all the books I've read in the past month. Excited to see what I end up reading in the coming month.

Until next time...

Brooke