The Book Edit - The Best and Worst

Hi! I thought I would take a small break from the normal beauty-orientated uploads and do a book themed post, which I've wanted to do for ages! I want to make this type of post a little series, where I discuss my current favourite books and my biggest book disappointments.

In this post, I'll be talking about 5 books: 3 great books, and 2 not-so-great ones, so I hope you enjoy! 

And don't worry, there's no spoilers!

Paper Towns by John Green - I read this book last year after getting it for my birthday, and I loved it!
This is about a boy called Quentin, who is in love with Margo, the girl who lives across the road. One night, Margo invites Quentin on a road trip around their town to help Margo get revenge on all of her friends. The next day, Q realises Margo has gone missing and he and his friends go on a huge adventure trying to find out where she went.
I realise that this is an awful description, you'll see that more when I describe the other books, so sorry!)

I think John Green is a really good writer, however I do find that his books can be a bit hit and miss. The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns are my favourites, as I think the plots are really interesting and you can really connect with the characters. Paper Towns is written really well and it kept me hanging on and I read it so quickly. It's the kind of book that I can read again and again and never be bored of! It's also really funny, and the bit with the 21-hour road trip is the best part of the book! (If you've read it you'll know the part I mean!)
However, the movie that came out last year does not do the book justice! I thought it was awful and it was nothing like the book!

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven - This book is so raved about, and for all the right reasons! I absolutely adored this book, again, it was so well written. 

This story centres around two characters, Finch, who suffers with depression, and Violet, who is distraught after the death of her sister. The story begins with the two meeting on top of the school bell tower, where they both planned to commit suicide, Eventually Finch talks Violet out of it and they start a friendship as they take on a school project to investigate important parts of their hometown together. As with most young adult books, it develops into a romance and it's just so cute!

This is a book to keep the tissues close by, I almost bawled my eyes out when I read this on holiday, so keep that in mind!

The book alternates each chapter from Finch's perspective to Violet's, and it was really  interesting to read the different characters thoughts. Jennifer Niven created her characters so well, they both felt like real people, and they had such well-developed personalities that a lot of people could relate to.

I could've literally ripped my heart out of my chest and stamped on it and it would've hurt less than this book. Wee bit OTT, but you get the jist.

I've also heard that this is being made into a movie, so I'm hoping that they don't mess it up!

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey - I read this last year after hearing a few different people talking about it, and being interested by the plot.
This book is about Maud, an elderly lady suffering with dementia. Her closest friend, Elizabeth, a woman of similar age, suddenly goes missing and Maud seems to be the only one to realise. She keeps sticky notes to keep track of any clues or people that she can remember and she tries to solve the mystery of what really happened to Elizabeth, as no one seems to believe Maud. As a result of her dementia, these clues and hints aren't easy to follow, Maud normally getting confused or forgetting almost everything she's discovered. The story also has flashbacks to when Maud was a child and her older sister, Sukey, disappeared and was never found, so the story is following Maud trying to solve the mysteries of both Elizabeth and Sukey.
Although this book could get slightly frustrating because Maud forgets a lot, it's really interesting to see what it's like for someone who lives with dementia. Again, this is so well-written and it has a lot of little plot twists. This is definitely not a book aimed at teens, although it is quite easy to read and doesn't contain anything inappropriate, and I would recommend it to everyone!
I really want to read more of Emma Healey's books as I really enjoyed this one and I think it's one of the best books I've read!

Now onto the more disappointing books!

We Were Liars by E.Lockhart - This was on my most recent collective wishlist post, as Zoe raved about it so much in a video and she made it sound so interesting! Well, after purchasing this and reading it, I can say that this is one of the worst books I've ever read.
This book is about a wealthy family who has an annual summer holiday on their own island, and is told from the perspective of Cadence, the eldest granddaughter. The three cousins (plut their friend Gat), who call themselves "The Liars", are all very close until an accident which occurs in what Cadence calls "Summer Fifteen", and the book is spent with her trying to remember what happened that year and why her and her cousins are no longer close.
I disliked this right from the start, but I hate giving up on books, so I kept reading it. It was one of those books where you finish it and give a big sigh of relief because you're happy to finally be finished it! I found that this book had way too many flashbacks, and it didn't really tell you when they started, or when they finished, so I was really confused ost of the time. There was also really confusing romance between Cadence, and her friend Gat, who spent his holiday on the island with them. As well as all of this, there was a really big plot twist at the end that Zoe said was a really good one, but when I discovered it I was even more confused and felt it didn't really make sense and it was kind of rushed.
I found that none of the characters were very developed and I couldn't really connect or relate to any of them, which made me a lot less interested in the book.
I could go on a lot more about how I dislike this book, but I'll stop there, as I think I've ranted about this enough!

I Was Here by Gayle Forman - This book was also on my collective wishlist post, and it had been on my 'to-read' list for well over a year. However when I read it, I was left quite disappointed!

Cady, a girl in her late teens, tells the story. After her best friend, Meg, suddenly commits suicide, Cady feels confused and like a part of her is missing. She soon begins to investigate into Meg's life at college, and suspects that her suicide was not a decision made by Meg herself. Most of the book is spent with Cady trying to figure out how and why Meg really did die and who was involved.

The blurb really interested me, as the plot sounds really unusual and right up my street, but after I read it, I was so dissatisfied with both the plot and the ending.

Again. I felt that none of the character's personalities were developed or shown, so I couldn't really feel connected or understand any of the characters in the story. Cady talks in the book how Meg was an amazing and unique person who everyone seemed to idolise and love but I never really understood why, as the author never really developed her personality. There was also a sort-of romance in this book, but it didn't really feel genuine or real, it felt as though it had just been slotted in to add to the usual romantic young-adult books, if you get what I mean.

I've read the If I Stay series, which was also by Gayle Forman, and loved it, the romance is that book was so well-written and the characters were so realistic and I just loved that book series, I wish he would write another book to add to the series though! This book was really poorly-written in comparison and I find it really hard to believe that these books were all written by the same author!

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So that is it for this post! Please leave a comment if you've read any of these, especially the books I disliked, as I'd like to know what you all think about them!

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you on Sunday for another post!

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