Confessions Of A Sex Kitten – Mila Rossi

by melissay1, posted in Book Review

If you saw last weeks blog post you’ll have seen that I was part of the blitz for Confessions Of A Sex Kitten by Mila Rossi. If you’ve not read this post yet then click here as it provides some excerpts from the novel and a chance to win an Amazon gift card! I was given a copy of this book to do an impartial review of so that is exactly what today’s post is going to be!

Confessions Of A Sex Kitten tells the story of Avery. Avery writes an anonymous blog called Confessions Of A Sex Kitten (hence the book name) but the reality is she isn’t half as adventurous in the bedroom as her blog makes her out to be. That is until James, the most attractive man Avery has ever laid eyes on, moves into the flat next door. The pair instantly have an attraction and struggle to stay away from each other, something which is only amplified when James stumbles across Avery’s blog. However, neither of them act upon their feelings towards each other, so instead James takes to putting on a show at his window just for his neighbours enjoyment. Surely sooner or later sparks will start to fly…

The minute I read the synopsis of this book I knew I would love it. I love a good romance novel and this book is definitely that. Plus the story is set in New York which is one of my favourite cities so I always enjoy reading novels set there. The storyline itself was relatively simple, neighbours who have the potential to fall in love. It’s a realistic situation but I loved the added twist that Avery has a sex blog. Each chapter begins with a snippet from her blog post and I think it gives an extra dimension to the story. You’re reading Avery’s most secret desires (you’ll soon realise she is not anything like her blog makes her out to be) and when you know that James is secretly reading those posts too it’s interested to see how he reacts from reading them.

Both Avery and James were both likeable characters and the story intermittently switches from being told from both of their perspectives. You discover more about them that way and get a glimpse into their individual family lives. Personally the family side of things was the big downfall for me. It was mentioned but for me I didn’t feel like the families were in the story enough to truly add much to the story when the way they acted could’ve provided a whole new element to the story. I would’ve enjoyed the story just as much if the family chapters were taken out but I completely understand why they’re a part of this book as it gives make you understand more about James and Avery’s characters.

The romance side of this book is a slow burner so if you’re into novels that get to the relationship part quickly this is perhaps not the book for you. However, I felt like the slow build up was completely worth it. The book kept my attention and it didn’t take me long to read it as it was one of those quick, fun, romantic reads that makes your heart happy.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Sometimes you just need a romance novel and this one is great. It has two extremely likeable characters that you’re routing for from the beginning, some funny moments, moments that you feel genuinely sorry for the characters and a couple of sex scenes. If you’re looking for a quick romance novel that has a bit of everything then you will love this book.

Synopsis –

Striving to be the sex kitten Avery Taylor portrays on her blog is a lot harder than she imagined, but having a hot, new neighbor move in next door dude gets her imagination going. His green eyes alone would give a girl the vampire. And yet, getting involved with someone so close just isn’t in the cards for Avery, even if her inner kitten is tell her that all rules are meant to be broken once. Or twice. Or as many times as it takes to get familiar with James’s one billion abs.

James Mardin moves to NYC to focus on family and work. Quickly Avery just plops into his life out of nowhere. She’s the last thing he needs, and yet, he can’t seem to stay away from the damsel down the hall, especially after he stumbles upon her secret blog. A sexy goofball lusting after him? It just wouldn’t be proper if he didn’t make her fantasies come true.

With views to die for, neighborly favours to return, and secrets to uncover, James and Avery are in for a treat. The attraction is evident, but is it enough to get them through snarky family remarks, burning buildings, and the heat of a typical New York summer?

Confessions of a Sex Kitten Blitz & Giveaway!

by melissay1, posted in Other

Confessions Of A Sex Kitten by Mila Rossi was released on the 30th August and today, thanks to Xpresso Book Tours I’m going to be bringing you a sneak peak into this book! Click here to be taken to the novels Goodreads page!

If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know that my (not so) guilty pleasure is a good romance novel so it’s safe to say I was excited to read this book.

First things first is the synopsis of the book. I know the minute I read the synopsis I knew it would be the kind of book that I would’ve instantly bought. Hopefully if you’re reading this you may follow my blog and have seen my previous reviews what may mean you like the same kind of books that I do so I’m thinking this will be added straight to peoples to read list!

Synopsis –

Striving to be the sex kitten Avery Taylor portrays on her blog is a lot harder than she imagined, but having a hot, new neighbor move in next door sure gets her imagination going. His green eyes alone would give a girl the vapors. And yet, getting involved with someone so close just isn’t in the cards for Avery, even if her inner kitten is telling her that all rules are meant to be broken once. Or twice. Or as many times as it takes to get familiar with James’s one billion abs.

James Mardin moves to NYC to focus on family and work. Quirky Avery just plops into his life out of nowhere. She’s the last thing he needs, and yet, he can’t seem to stay away from the damsel down the hall, especially after he stumbles upon her secret blog. A sexy goofball lusting after him? It just wouldn’t be proper if he didn’t make her fantasies come true.

With views to die for, neighborly favors to return, and secrets to uncover, James and Avery are in for a treat. The attraction is evident, but is it enough to get them through snarky family remarks, burning buildings, and the heat of a typical New York summer?I have been gifted a copy of this book to read and although I’ve only recently started to read it I’m thoroughly enjoying it so far. I’ll be posting my review of this book next week but if you’re still unsure about whether this book is going to be for you I have an excerpt from the novel below –

Excerpt – 

There was a large bed against the wall, overlooking the skyscrapers. Crisp white linens were accentuated by brown pillows, and a long bench by the window gave him a place to change his shoes or throw on his clothes.

She walked over to the bed and ran her hands over the cool sheets, imagining James stretched out after a long day. I wonder if he sleeps naked.

“Hey,” he said behind her, making her flinch as if burned.

She snatched her hand from the bed and faced him with rosy cheeks. “What are you doing here?”

He walked toward her with a smile. “I live here, remember?”

“I mean, I thought you were working. You got here so fast.”

“I thought my place was burning down, Avery. Did you want me to take my time?”

She shook her head. Of course not. He’d rushed home to make sure his place was still in one piece. The man did have excellent response time.

“I checked every room.” She tried to keep her face a normal color. “I didn’t smell any gas or smoke or anything.”

“Coolio,” he replied, mimicking her earlier text message response.

She was so mesmerized by his green eyes watching her, that she didn’t realize how quickly he was approaching until he stopped mere inches from her. Her racing heart would have alarmed a medical professional.

“I think you’re the only person left on this planet who still uses that word,” he said, grinning.

“Yeah well, someone’s gotta be the last man standing. Or woman.”

“And what were you doing just now, last woman standing?”

She swallowed and tried to think of something to say, but her mind went blank. Completely, utterly blank. Crap!

“I, uh, was checking this room last. No fire or leaks here. All good.” She tried to sidestep him, but he blocked her path.

“You were checking to see if my bed was on fire?”

She lowered her gaze, but he tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. The green of his eyes was replaced by an almost dark brown as he cupped her cheek and his thumb stroked her bottom lip. She tried to hold her ground, but with every pleasurable jolt shooting through her at his caress, panic set in. The room continued to get warmer by the second and she was ready to fling her clothes out the window just to cool off. Which was a terrible idea, considering that the look he gave her dared her to do just that—strip down to her birthday suit so he could show her a good time.

“Well, no,” she mumbled, hearing her own heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears.

“Sounds to me like you didn’t check good enough then. Maybe you should check once more, just to make sure.”

She had no idea what he was talking about, but her panic clock was ticking louder and faster. “I should go.”

He grabbed her waist and pulled her against him so swiftly, her eyes widened in surprise. “You’re not going anywhere.”

She couldn’t for the life of her move away. Move away? She suppressed a hysterical laugh. James was looking at her as though he was about to make her forget every thought in her head and she should pull away? Yeah right. 

His fingers weaved through her hair in a slow and deliberate caress before he grazed her scalp, causing sparks to shoot all the way down to her toes. Her eyes fluttered closed and a sigh escaped her. She was melting into him, her eyes starting to glaze over when he cupped the back of her head and dug his fingers into her locks, pulling hard. She gasped as her head tilted back. His mouth was so close, she could practically taste him.

“Still want to run away?”

She shook her head, unwilling to stand the anticipation much longer. If he wasn’t going to put her out of her misery soon, she’d attack him herself.

His teeth caught her bottom lip in a bite. “What do you want?”

“You. Everywhere. Now.”

Judging by the darkening of his pupils, she must have said that out loud.

Competition Time!

Lastly if the book doesn’t sound exciting enough, if you click the below link you’ll be taken to a Rafflecopter page where you have the opportunity to win a $25 Amazon giftcard!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Many thanks again to Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to be apart of this book blitz tour!

Album Review: Lover – Taylor Swift

by melissay1, posted in Music

First of all hello to all new followers! I blog mostly book reviews but every so often I’ll write about concerts or musicals I’ve been too or in this case an album that I really love. I’ll check out everyone’s blogs in a little while as I have quite a few to read and I want to take a good look at everyone’s blogs and read peoples posts.

Now on with today’s post…

At the time I’m actually writing this post it is Taylor Swift’s new album, Lover, release date. It’s absolutely no secret that Taylor Swift is my favourite solo artist (to the extent she’s probably the only person I’d cry in front of if I ever met her) and I have loved her music for well over ten years now so I’m at that stage now where I would just buy anything she released as I know that I’m bound to like it.

Taylor’s last album reputation wasn’t an instant love for me in the slightest, it was only when certain events happened in my life that I started to click with the lyrics and truthfully that era ended up being on of my favourites of hers so I’m somewhat anxious to hear the new music. I loved the message that the album had and the confident, independent, don’t care what people think about you feeling that reputation came with both from the songs and the powerful presence that Taylor had and from the singles from Lover I’m feeling this album will have a completely different vibe. It’s also worth mentioning that as I’ve been a fan for so long I still have a certain country Taylor expectation so her latest few albums have been growers more than instant loves for me!

I have held off listening to the album all day so I could sit down properly and listen and write this post so I can’t wait to finally get listen.

I’ve not really done many posts like this but here we go…my attempt to write my thoughts, track by track, of Taylor Swift’s Lover album –

1. I Forgot That You Existed

I think this song is the perfect track one on Lover. It’s the perfect introduction to the style of music that is on this album. I adore the way that Taylor speaks some of the lyrics too, it adds to the meaning of the song. It’s an appropriate first song too as it’s about moving on from the haters which reputation focussed largely on so it’s the perfect bridge between both albums. I think if you’ve ever been in the situation where people ever called you out for something or if you’ve hated someone and have moved on you will relate to the happy place you get to when you just move on.

2. Cruel Summer

From what I’ve seen on Twitter, this song appears to be a particular fan favourite! It explores a relationship taking place over the summer. I love the verses of this song as they’re so crazily catchy but personally for me, the chorus is going to be a grower. I can see this becoming a song that I really love after a few listens though. Also Taylor screaming about the devil in this song?! How unexpected was that! You can already imagine the crowd screaming this line back at Taylor when she tours this album.

3. Lover

Vocally Taylor sounds fantastic on this song. As with Cruel Summer I think this song with absolutely be a grower. I like it now but not to the extent that I would say it was a favourite from the album. The second half of this song however is so good and I could listen to that part on repeat so I can’t wait for the rest of the song to grow on me. This song you can already imagine the stage set up for this one. Adding to this one as I’ve just watched Taylor’s VMAs performance of this song. Listening to this song acoustic makes me love it a whole lot more – what a performance!

4. The Man

I think Taylor sums up what every single female has thought at some point during this song. It’s basically going on about how her life could be different if she was a man, would she have had the same stick if she was a man, would she have got to where she wanted to in life quicker etc? Taylor effortlessly weaves in parts of her life and writes about how she thinks things would’ve gone down if she was a man. The song is insanely catchy and definitely one of my favourites on the album. Regardless of the fact that I love this song, I think that it’s so important for someone with Taylor’s influence to do something that recognises gender equality and she does it so fantastically in this song.

5. The Archer

I’m so sad to say that this was my least favourite of the songs Taylor released prior to Lover being released. I do like this song and I know that I’ll look back at this post in a few weeks and think how did I not love this track. I think my issue is that so many people were comparing this song to All Too Well, and for me you just can’t compare these two songs. I’m very intrigued to hear Taylor to sing this song live too as I feel it could be one she strips back to an acoustic performance.

6. I Think He Knows

This song is Taylor embracing rap and it completely works! Its perhaps a different kind of song for Taylor for this reason but it still manages to contain moments that are so Taylor, for example it’s full of parts that you can instantly sing along to. When the song started I initially wasn’t overly sure but whilst writing this I’ve played this song on repeat about five times so it’s safe to say I like it! I have zero chance of ever being able to sing along to the rap part though!

7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

I feel like this song is a nice combination of old Taylor and new Taylor, it fits perfectly on Lover but at the same time it would fit on her previous albums too. I like the lyrics, I like the catchiness of it – after first listen this is one of my favourites from Lover. Lyrically it has a nice nod to the old Taylor in terms of high school, marching bands, prom dresses but then on the other hand she’s singing about America losing it’s glory which brings us straight back into present day. I hope this song ends up being a fan favourite as I need to see Taylor sing this song live.

 8. Paper Rings

You know those songs you hear and within the first 10 seconds you know that you instantly love it? Well for me, Paper Rings is one of those songs! It reminds me of the catchiness of Stay, Stay, Stay from Red or a song that you’d hear in a teen movie. It’s a pure pop hit and is one of those songs that you can imagine dancing happily along to at Taylor’s next tour. It’s a toe tapping hit and if this doesn’t end up being a single I’ll be very disappointed as I think it’s the best song on the album. I’ve been stuck writing about this song longer than I should admit as I’ve just been playing this song on loop, I absolutely love it. I already know this song is going to end up being in my list of favourite Taylor Swift songs of all time.

9. Cornelia Street

I really like Cornelia Street. I can only assume this is the memories that happened when she lived here and I think that everyone can relate to tying memories to a certain place. Cornelia Street is one that I can so vividly imagine ok her inevitable upcoming tour, she’s obviously going to create the street in her tour graphics and walk the crowd through the story which makes me very excited. I know I’ve said this about a lot of the songs but I think this will become a firm favourite of mine. I’m assuming this song is about New York’s Cornelia Street so three guesses what’s just been added to my holiday visit list…

10. Death By A Thousand Cuts

I already know that this song is likely to be my surprising one of the album. That one where you listen and think ‘hmm yeah this one is ok, nothing special but it’s good’ and then within a week it’s suddenly become one of your favourites. Lyrically it’s fantastic and the song captures my attention enough but it’s absolutely going to be one of those songs that grow on you in the best possible way.

11. London Boy

I spent a number of years living in London and my geographical knowledge of the area absolutely stresses me out when listening to this song. Taylor’s idea of spending a day in London is a pure logistical nightmare and some of the places she name drops I just don’t understand why she desires to spend time there. I have a list a mile long of my issues with the places but for one…Camden Market in the afternoon?! I also don’t really like how this song starts with Idris Elba speaking, for me it just feels abit unnecessary and I don’t understand what it adds to the song. Don’t get me wrong this song is unbelievably catchy and if it didn’t feature London places I would love this song but for me at the moment I can’t detach myself from my place knowledge to fully enjoy the song.

12. Soon You’ll Get Better Featuring Dixie Chicks

This song is exactly why I started liking Taylor’s music. It’s so nice that even though she progresses as an artist and brings completely different sounds to each album that she is still able to provide songs that do a nod to the past. It has a very similar sound to The Best Day which is only fitting giving the subject matter of the song. This song is quite possibly the saddest song that I’ve ever heard from Taylor as she sings about her mum’s battle with breast cancer and the experiences she went through with that. I feel like this song will be quite underrated compared to the upbeat songs that are on Lover but I absolutely adore this song and I hope other people love it too as this song shows Taylor in her best, a great song that is tied with such powerful, relatable lyrics. I can imagine given the subject matter that perhaps this will be a song Taylor won’t perform live so much but I truly hope it isn’t the case.

13. False God

All albums have that song that you’re just not sure about and sadly I think False God is that song for me. The thing with Taylor’s songs is that I either love part of it that I get stuck in my head, or the catchy tune or I end up relating to the lyrics then love the song that way. Unfortunately at the moment I haven’t done any of that with this song yet.

14. You Need To Calm Down

You Need To Calm Down was my favourite of the singles Taylor released prior to this album being released. It’s so catchy and I know this will be one of my favourites to see her perform live (this was supposed to be just first impressions but I can confirm it’s one of my favourites to see her perform…did anyone see the VMA performance of this song, it was incredible) as is anyone able to listen to this song without dancing along? Throwing it out there early…Taylors tour is going to be full of so many people wearing gowns and crowns because of this song!

15. Afterglow

I feel this song is so heavily underrated. I’ve barely seen anyone say that it’s on of the favourites from the album but as of now I really love this song. This song deserves way more hype than it’s currently getting as vocally Taylor sounds great plus lyrically it’s a good song too!

16. Me!

I like this song but it’s been played so solidly on radio since its release that with this album its just a skip song for me at the moment. If you listen to a mainstream radio station you’ll have absolutely heard this song at some point. However, having heard the rest of the album now I can completely see why Taylor chose this song to be first single from the album, its a nice nod into the new albums sound. Going to have to google why the lyric, ‘hey kids, spelling is fun’ has been ditched from the album version though.

17. It’s Nice To Have A Friend

To be honest I’m not the biggest fan of this song its just a little too out there for my taste in music. Its ok, but its probably going to be a song I’m always feel indifferent about. However, what I do like about this song is that Taylor sampled a youth music program so they’ll be getting royalties from this song which I think is an incredible way to ensure the future of youth music programs.

18. Daylight

I think Daylight is the perfect end to Lover. reputation was all about how her reputation got tarnished and Daylight sums up so wonderfully how those things will always have happened but you can move on from that and start trusting and loving people again. The voice memo at the end too, what a lovely touch! I don’t think I’ve ever heard an album end with a voice memo weaved in a song but it really should happen more. Taylor’s speeches on tour are one of the things I love the most so the addition of this is fantastic.

In conclusion I like this album. A few of the songs on this album are absolutely incredible songs. However, I always find that the complete change in sound on every Taylor Swift album always takes a little getting into. Despite saying this, at the time of writing this blog it was solely based on first listen, now I’ve listened to the album a fair bit now and I’m very happy to report the more you listen the more you will love this album! What starts off with you think this song is ok rapidly turns into wow, I love this song!

Have you listened to Lover yet? If so, what tracks are you loving?

 

 

Legendary – Stephanie Garber

by melissay1, posted in Book Review

Legendary starts just where Caraval ends, except this time it’s told from Tella’s point of view. To be honest, it took me a few chapters to get into reading from her point of view as the entirety of book one, Caraval, was told from her sisters.

Caraval usually runs once a year but this year thanks to a birthday gift it is running twice. Meaning that although Scarlett and Tella should be celebrating the win of the last Caraval, especially as it meant they were finally safe from their father and Scarlett’s impending arranged marriage. However, it is soon discovered that Tella still isn’t free as she made a deal with a stranger who she has no idea about their identity and the only way she can survive is to find out Caraval’s mysterious master, Legend’s name – a task that no one has ever been able to do before.

I feel that book two in a series has a certain amount of pressure to live up to especially if the first book in the series was as good as Caraval was. Well I’m very happy to report that Legendary met my high expectations! The author is very clever in her thinking for Legandary, it’s so obviously still in the same world as Caraval and you are reading about the same characters but it feels like a completely fresh book especially as you’re now reading from Tella’s point of view.

I loved the storyline. At the time of reading Caraval I thought it was more real life than a game but when you read Legendary you can see more clearly how Caraval actually was a game. Legendary is real life disguised as a game and that storyline is completely a game changer for this book. If Tella doesn’t win, it is no longer just a case of losing a game and not getting the prize at the end it is now a life or death scenario.

As I’ve mentioned before this book is from Tella’s point of view rather than Scarlett’s which book one was written. I think this is very beneficial for the story as you need to know about the deal that Tella made and her thoughts and feelings about it. You just wouldn’t get this from Scarlett’s point of view. I am very excited that book three in this series will be from both of the sisters point of view as I feel that both have so many unanswered questions or things that I’d like to read more about.

In conclusion, I love this series of books and it is rapidly becoming one my favourite book series. The story drags you headfirst into the world and you feel every single twist and turn. Book two keeps all the things you love about book one, for example that the characters are acting and you never know who is acting and who isn’t. Plus the ending of this book definitely kept me sat in utter disbelief for a very long time which can only be the sign of a good book. If you love young adult fantasy novels you must make a start of this series of books but I would highly recommend starting at book one, Caraval and making your way chronologically throughout the series.

Synopsis –

A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister, Scarlett, from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister’s. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice, but now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever…

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . the games have only just begun.

Caraval – Stephanie Garber

by melissay1, posted in Book Review

A few weeks ago I went to YALC and bought Finale, book number three in this series of books. Except I didn’t know other books existed when I bought it and I was captured enough by the blurb of that book to instantly buy it. Naturally, I’ve come home and downloaded the first two books in the series to read, the first in the series being Caraval. I have absolutely zero regrets about buying all this book series because it is so insanely good!

Caraval tells the story of Scarlett Dragna. She lives on a tiny island with her sister Tella and a pure evil father who tortures both of the siblings for the smallest wrong doing that they make. Now Scarlett’s father has planned an arranged marriage for her, she has to accept that this will now be her life and her dreams of attending Caraval are long over. However, this year Scarlett gets a personal invitation from the creator to attend the show and with help from her sister and a sailor they both find themselves on their way to participate in Caraval. Once they arrive on the island, Tella is kidnapped by the organiser Legend and it turns out that this year the person who is first to find Tella is the winner.

Caraval is sort of a cross between the magic of The Night Circus and the game element of The Hunger Games. A bizarre combination I must admit but that’s how in my opinion is the best way that I can describe this book. The magic element works so well and I like a book that weaves magic into a story but in such a believable way that you as a reader just accept it happening. As I also described this book as sort of like The Hunger Games its worth noting that violence does happen relatively frequently in this book so even though its a young adult book it’s definitely more on the older end of the scale.

What I enjoyed the most about this book is that despite Caraval being presented as a game, its very much based on real life situations, it isn’t a Crystal Maze situation with people running around getting crystals! Actors in the game interact with the players, the players may not necessarily be who they lead you to believe and the world provides twists and turns left right and centre. It keeps you as the reader completely on your toes as you find yourself experiencing the game through Scarlett’s eyes. Sometimes I was literally holding my breath and turning pages quicker than I could read to find out what happens as it just got so intense.

To be honest its hard to describe the characters as the only person you really know about is Scarlett. You’re reading the story from her point of view so you’re getting her thoughts and feelings. The game presents everyone else in a strange way, you never know when they’re lying or telling the truth, how much is really them or how much they’re acting. You really experience Scarlett’s emotions as she battles through life, starting with her father to trying to find her sister in the game to somehow falling in love along the way. Yes, perhaps she’s a little dramatic at times but when you consider what’s going on in the game around her its no wonder she acts like she does.

Truthfully this is one of the best young adult fantasy novels since Red Queen, a book which I absolutely adored. Caraval kept my attention from start to finish and with the cliff hanger of an ending I can’t wait to get started on book two in the series! If you like young adult fantasy novels this book is absolutely for you. If you do chose to read this book, I wouldn’t read about the story too much before you start as not knowing anything about the book makes the twists in the story even better!

Synopsis – 

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval – the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show – are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of ac mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as the arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic.

I Hold Your Heart – Karen Gregory

by melissay1, posted in Book Review

Gemma is at college, she has plenty of close friends she can rely on and for a teenager she has a fairly good home life. She’s a fan of country music and hopes to one day be the next big thing. That is, until Aaron comes along. He says all the right things and sweeps her off her feet. However, soon the I love you’s become very intense and the feeling that he cares for her turns very controlling instead.

Before you continue reading, I can’t write this without spoiling certain elements of the book so this review is 100% full of spoilers. However, please know if you have ever been in a controlling relationship this book absolutely is not for you!

First of all I got this book as it was July’s Wildest Dreams book box book. The cover made me think it was going to be a cute romance novel where things turn a tiny bit sour but boy I couldn’t have been further from the reality!

Admittedly, I rated this book as only 3 stars on Goodreads and I feel that may have been a little harsh. Truthfully I only rated it so low was not because it wasn’t a good book but because I spent most of the second part of the book absolutely in pieces. The way Aaron treated Gemma made me feel physically sick at times. Ok, he didn’t do anything physically abusive until the end but he was obsessively controlling, a manipulator…need I go on? My stomach churned more as I turned each page as the emotional damage Aaron caused Gemma got worse at the novel progressed. This book is genuinely a fantastic novel in terms of what it achieved and truly believe that everyone should read this book once. I appreciate that all those reasons should’ve made it a 5 star but I personally rated it quite low due to the fact that mentally I couldn’t read this book again.

Gemma is a wonderful character. It was interesting to see her grow as a character, how she had a tight knit friendship group, she was passionate about performing, she was a good student at college…then Aaron comes along and she falls head over heals in love with him. He’s cool, he drives, he whispers all the romantic things that she wants to hear…then his true personality shows. The more Aaron wears her down, the more Gemma’s personality is snubbed out. He completely puts out her spark and she starts to live in complete and utter fear of her life choices and the things she does in case it triggers a reaction. I’ve always had an issue when reading a good book that I get so invested in it, I basically end up mentally living the life of the main character I’m reading about. This meant that the more I read, the more drained I became. Aaron was not only wearing Gemma down but me too. I can’t even imagine how someone who has been in such a controlling relationship would cope reading this book as even if you haven’t I can’t imagine you can read it without being affected a little.

This brings me nicely onto the story itself. The book is split into two halves. Part one is when you see Gemma pre Aaron, you watch her life with normality. Then her and Aaron meet and he comes across as Prince Charming. Buying her gifts, saying romantic things to her…basically doing everything he can to appear to be the perfect boyfriend. As a reader I completely bought into the relationship. Then part two comes along and that’s when the fun begins. Slowly Aaron’s controlling ways start edging in, it starts at paranoia of Gemma cheating with literally any male that talks to her irrelevant of his age, to making Gemma turn against her family and friends. He basically makes Gemma isolate herself so when he turns fully controlling she has no one to turn to or anywhere to go. She is stuck with Aaron and his ways fearing her every move in case it triggers Aaron.

I can’t begin to describe how well wrote this book is. The author made the story completely believable and I was truly sucked into the story that was being told. I thoroughly enjoyed how the story was told from 90% Gemma’s perspective and 10% Aaron’s. The 10% of Aaron’s chapters gave you just enough insight on him for you to understand how his mind was working. I also feel that the whole controlling relationship in a young adult novel is particular important to write about too. I think so many young people may not be aware of the signs, just like Gemma wasn’t, and would really benefit from reading this book.

Overall I have mixed feelings about this book. Yes, it was a fantastic book. It was thought provoking, made me feel ill and caused me to read the entire book in only a couple of hours, and really is that not the signs of a good book? However, for me personally I wouldn’t read it again. The topics discussed were quite difficult to read about for me. Despite this, the book truly is a good read and I think if you can cope with a heavily controlling relationship storyline then you will absolutely love this book. As I mentioned earlier though I do believe that everyone should read this book once the way it presents this relationship is so believable and everyone should be aware of this kind of relationship.

Synopsis –

The tense, tender must-read book of the summer –perfect for fans of Louise O’Neill and Sara Barnard

‘You make me feel like there’s something good in the world I can hold on to,’ Aaron says. He kisses me again, draws me so close it’s almost hard to breathe. ‘I love you, Gem. And I promise I’ll hold your heart forever.’ 

When Gemma meets Aaron, she feels truly seen for the first time. Their love story is the intense kind. The written-in-the-stars, excluding-all-others kind. The kind you write songs about. 

But little by little their relationship takes over Gemma’s life. What happens when being seen becomes being watched, and care becomes control?

Told in both Gemma’s and Aaron’s words, this is a raw, moving exploration of gaslighting in teenage relationships that skewers our ideas of what love looks like.

London Film & Comic Con / YALC 2019 Book Haul

by melissay1, posted in Other, travel

You may have noticed that my weekly Sunday blog post last weekend didn’t happen – why? Well, last Sunday I was Olympia in London attending London Film & Comic Con! Prepare yourself as long post ahead…

I’ve attended London Film & Comic Con for a number of years now, in fact I think my first one must’ve been around ten years ago now. I think anyone who likes any television show or is super passionate about one of the more ‘nerdy’ movies, then you will love attending London Film & Comic Con. This year I met Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter), Emilie de Ravin (Belle in Once Upon A Time) and Ian Somerhalder (Damon in Vampire Diaries) but if you look at the line up, if you had the money I could list so many guests who I would’ve loved to have met.

I don’t think anything is more exciting that meeting some of your favourite actors / actresses. Huge credit particularly goes to Ian Somerhalder, not only did he make an effort to talk with every person in the photo session and hugged every person in the photo, but he also stayed until long after the convention shut to sign all the diamond pass (a type of ticket that you can buy that guarantees you a photo opportunity and autograph with some of the bigger named guests) autographs and he didn’t rush it in the slightest, he made sure that he spoke and made eye contact with every single person. I also really loved meeting Emilie de Ravin, I had met her before at a Once Upon A Time convention but I met her quite late in the day I think she was quite rushed on time, however this time was incredible as I was able to have a small conversation with her and tell her how much I love her portrayal of Belle. She genuinely is the most lovely person. I only had a photo with Tom Felton and although it was very rushed as he had to get through a lot of people, he again made an effort to at least say hello to everyone and to be honest I was fangirling inside so much that I was meeting the actual Draco Malfoy to have been able to manage anything more than a hi anyway!

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A more recent addition to London Film & Comic Con is the Young Adult Literature Convention – YALC.

You don’t have to look far on my blog to realise how much I love reading, I mean most of my blog consists of book reviews, plus I’m a complete sucker for a young adult novel! I went with a friend who wasn’t as into books so I had an hour or so exploring YALC myself. I went on Sunday and sadly didn’t get up to the YALC until after long into the afternoon so I’d missed out on all the ARC raffles and pretty much all the talks, signings etc. However, the perk of going late in the day was that I managed to get some absolutely amazing deals on books! I’m sure I’m not alone in the book lovers community where no matter how many books I have in my to be read pile, I can’t resist buying more. YALC also gave people the opportunity to meet some of your favourite authors, the book guest lineup was incredible and I’d wished I’d had more time to have been able to get some of my books signed.

As I usually do my Sunday book blog post, I thought I would share with you in book name alphabetical order, my YALC book haul, the blurb and a little bit about why I chose to buy the book!

Finale – Stephanie Garber

Blurb –

A love worth fighting for. A dream worth dying for. An ending worth waiting for.

It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time—only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

Welcome, welcome to Finale. All games must come to an end…

Why I Bought This Book – You know a book has an amazing blurb when you take one read of it and instantly buy it even though its book number 3 in a series. Now I don’t know whether to take the risk and instantly dive into this book or download the first two books onto my Kindle to read first! I love a young adult fantasy novel that has a little bit of romance in it too and oh my goodness this book sounds incredible. I genuinely can’t believe I’ve never even heard of this series of books, let alone the fact that I’ve never picked any of them up to read before. The amazing reviews on Goodreads only hightens my excited of reading this book! This book is the most excited I’ve been to read a series of books in a very long time and I genuinely can’t wait to start reading the series!

Freshers – Tom Ellen & Lucy Ivison

Blurb – Uni beckons. Phoebe can’t wait to be a fresher – especially since her crush from school will be there too. She’ll be totally different at Uni: cooler, prettier, smarter … the perfect potential girlfriend. She’ll reinvent herself completely. But Luke’s oblivious, still reeling from the fallout of the break-up with his ex. Thrown head first into a world of new friends, parties and social media disasters – can Phoebe and Luke survive the year, let alone find each other?

Why I Bought This Book –I have been dying to read this book for a good year or so now. It’s been on the top of my to buy list for the longest time now but somehow my to be read pile keeps getting bigger and I don’t really know why but I just never end up buying this book. The Chicken House stall had an amazing offer on buying three books so I instantly picked this book up. The book is exactly my kind of book and I cannot wait to start reading it, I hope the wait is worth it!

Lily’s Just Fine – Gill Stewart

Blurb – Lily couldn’t have planned life better herself. She lives in the best house in town and she’s dating the most popular boy in school. Everything else she can fix. Mum’s apathy? On it! The stuffy gala committee? Watch this space!

Tom has enough on his plate without trying to drag Newton St Cuthbert into the 21st Century. His sister is sick and there’s nothing anyone can do. Not doctors, not his parents, and certainly not Lily Hildebrand.

Sail away this summer with the unexpected romance of Scotland’s most determined teenager.

Why I Bought This Book – I bought this book very late in the day, and by that point my friend had joined me and we were offered 2 copies of this book for £5 and the author would sign it for me! Dangle a book in front of my nose for £2.50 and I will absolutely snatch your hand off. The blurb sounded just my cup of tea. Definitely a whim purchase but I’m very excited to read it.

The Apprentice Witch – James Nicol

Blurb – Arianwyn has flunked her witch’s assessment: She’s doomed. Declared an apprentice and sent to the town of Lull in disgrace, she may never become a real witch– much to the glee of her arch-rival, Gimma.

But remote Lull is not as boring as it seems. Strange things are sighted in the woods, a dangerous infestation of hex creeps throughout the town, and a mysterious magical visitor arrives with his eye on her.

With every spirit banished, creature helped, and spell cast, Arianwyn starts to get the hang of being a witch–even if she’s only an apprentice. But the worst still lies ahead. For a sinister darkness has begun to haunt her spells, and there may be much more at stake than just her pride . . . for Arianwyn and the entire land.

Why I Bought This Book – This book was number two that I bought in order to complete the three books offer from the Chicken House stall. You know those books that you pick up and think wow, younger me would’ve loved this book? This was completely one of those books and even though I rarely read much of the lower age of young adult novels, but for pure nostalgia reasons I knew I had to buy this book. I’m already half expecting to read this book and not be as engaged with it as I could’ve been as I’m so much older than the target age but I do like the sound of the story so i’m happy to give it a go. Regardless, I have a neighbour who is the perfect age to enjoy this book so if I don’t enjoy it I know that I can pass it onto her and she’ll get maximum enjoyment from it.

The Lost Princess – Connie Glynn

Blurb – In the third book in the Rosewood Chronicles return to a world that effortlessly combines the charm of The Princess Diaries and the immersive magic of Harry Potter.

Ellie is a rebellious princess hiding her real identity.

Lottie is her Portman, acting as the princess for the public to shield Ellie from scrutiny.

Jamie is Ellie’s Partizan, a lifelong bodyguard sworn to protect the princess at any cost.

Together they are attempting to stay safe from Leviathan, a group determined to take the princess for unknown reasons.

When Leviathan force them to travel to their beloved Rosewood Hall’s sister school in Japan, the threesome find that nowhere is beyond Leviathan’s long reach. The only solace they find is a secret group called Banshee who are fighting against the organisation’s hold. But when long-buried secrets are uncovered, the lives of Lottie, Ellie and Jamie will never be the same again…

Why I Bought This Book – Truthfully when I bought this book I assumed this was book number two in the series and I’ve only found out its actually book number three whilst writing this blog post! Whilst visiting the Waterstones stand I saw signed copies of this book and it was being sold at YALC before it was even officially released, so safe to say it was in my hands and I was walking to the till to pay so quickly whilst being extremely happy with my purchase! I had no idea author Connie Glynn was a YouTuber when I initially bought book one, The Rosewood Chronicles, I just downloaded it as it sounded like the kind of book I would love and I did. I had been desperate to read the next instalment in the series so can’t believe book two somehow passed me by and I now have two whole new instalments in the series to read Now I just need to buy the second book in the series so I can hurry and start this one…

The Return – Rachel Harrison

Blurb – An edgy and haunting debut novel about a group of friends who reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance.

Julie is missing, and the missing don’t often return. But Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she feels in her bones that her best friend is out there, and that one day she’ll come back. She’s right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her.

Why I Bought This Book – The short answer – it was free! I bought Finale by Stephanie Garber and when I paid the man who served me said I could take an ARC of this book for free! I’m sure I can’t have been the only person who bought this book and did a completely shocked, ” What?! You mean I get to take a book for completely free?!” This book isn’t out until March 2020 but I’m intrigued to start reading it. I’ve been looking forward to watching the tv show, Manifest which tells the story of a plane that goes missing for 5 years and the passengers on the flight thought they’d just been on the normal length flight and had no idea it was so many years later when they landed. This book reminds me of that and although I don’t think I would’ve bought it ahead of a lot of books if I saw it in the shop, I am extremely excited to read it. I think my interest in watching Manifest, makes me quite eager to read a story that’s on the similar kind of line. Despite it not the usual kind of book I’d read I am extremely eager to start reading this story.

Under Rose-Tainted Skies – Louise Gornall

Blurb – At seventeen, Norah has accepted that the four walls of her house delineate her life. She knows that fearing everything from inland tsunamis to odd numbers is irrational, but her mind insists the world outside is too big, too dangerous. So she stays safe inside, watching others’ lives through her windows and social media feed.

But when Luke arrives on her doorstep, he doesn’t see a girl defined by medical terms and mental health. Instead, he sees a girl who is funny, smart, and brave. And Norah likes what he sees.

Their friendship turns deeper, but Norah knows Luke deserves a normal girl. One who can walk beneath the open sky. One who is unafraid of kissing. One who isn’t so screwed up. Can she let him go for his own good—or can Norah learn to see herself through Luke’s eyes?

Why I Bought This Book – This is the final book I bought in the offer of three books that I bought from the Chicken House stall. I think books that feature mental health issues are something that needs to be documented more but I sadly don’t really read many books that feature them. I needed a book to complete the three books for the offer, this sounded like a romance novel (and we all know I love a good romance novel!) and recently I’ve been thinking that I’d like to read more novels containing mental health issues so figured I would take a shot with this book.

When The Curtain Falls – Carrie Hope Fletcher

Blurb – In 1952 two young lovers meet, in secret, at the beautiful Southern C ross theatre in the very heart of London’s West End. Their relationship is made up of clandestine meetings and stolen moments because there is someone who will make them suffer if he discovers she is no longer ‘his’. But life in the theatre doesn’t always go according to plan and tragedy and heartache are waiting in the wings for all the players . . .

Almost seventy years later, a new production of When the Curtain Falls arrives at the theatre, bringing with it Oscar Bright and Olive Green and their budding romance. Very soon, though, strange things begin to happen and they learn about the ghost that’s haunted the theatre since 1952, a ghost who can only be seen on one night of the year. Except the ghost is appearing more often and seems hell bent on sabotaging Oscar and Olive. The young couple realise they need to right that wrong from years gone by, but can they save themselves before history repeats itself and tragedy strikes once more?

Why I Bought This Book – To be perfectly honest, I’ve read this book before (and loved it!) in hardback and this copy is in paperback and Carrie Hope Fletcher was at YALC so I had hoped to get it signed. I’m sure I’ve mentioned on here how much I love Carrie, I think she’s fantastic and pretty much anything she does I’d buy, so far everything she’s written or performed in I’ve loved. Sadly, it turned out YALC did Virtual Tickets that you had to collect within the first hour of the event opening in the morning which gave you a virtual spot in a queue at the time of the signing later in the day. I drove down so arrived quite late in the day so YALC was well and truly past that point, so no virtual ticket for me! I was told that more would be given out for her signing when she started the session but it was likely that Carrie wouldn’t reach my number. Someone at YALC overheard me asking this and as I sat down to wait to hopefully try and get a ticket to meet Carrie she came over and said she had to leave early so couldn’t meet Carrie and if I would like her virtual ticket. If you’re reading this, you have no idea how much you made my day and I truly can’t thank you enough. Getting to meet Carrie was one of the highlights of my day and I’m so insanely thankful that I was given a ticket. Carrie was absolutely lovely to meet and I was thrilled to get a photo with her too – I didn’t think I would get the chance to meet her so thank you so much again to the person who gave me your ticket, I’ll never get over your generosity.

Other Purchases

Normally I wouldn’t post such a, look at all the things I bought kind of post as sometimes I read some I feel like they don’t come across so well. However, aside from books I bought one other thing from YALC and I need to write about it as frankly its the best thing I’ve ever purchased!

Above is the book sleeve that I bought to hold your book in! I have to admit I don’t carry physical books around so much anymore since I bought my Kindle but I do still take an actual book when I go on a long distance train journey or if I’m going on an airplane. I think a lot of people can relate to that feeling of throwing a book in your bag or stuffing it in the little holder in the seat ahead of you on a plane and then retrieving your book and suddenly its become all tatty. Well now I’ll be able to put my book into this book sleeve and keep my book all nice and protected. The genuine excitement I have about owning this is unreal and I can’t believe I’ve never heard of them before or was even aware such thing existed!

The company is called Paperandword and if you click here it’ll link to the website where you can buy your own! It super padded, so soft and they have a variety of designs just to make it a little difficult to chose which one you want. They’re also available in paperback and hardback sizes – personally I only ever travel with a paperback so I opted for the smaller version.

Conclusion

If you’re still with me after reading this insanely long post…thank you for sticking with it!

If you’ve never been to London Film & Comic Con / YALC before I can’t recommend it enough. London Film & Comic Con offers you the chance to meet some of your favourite celebrities and every year that I go the organisation gets better and better. It’s also full of stalls selling a variety of different things, opportunities to do fun things for example this year I took part in a stand which put me into the Fast & Furious trailer and even got a free movie poster for my effort. Then if that wasn’t good enough a whole floor is dedicated to YALC. If you’re a book lover you will love YALC. You get the opportunity to meet your favourite authors and get your books signed by them, you get the chance to get ARCs and they have some amazing deals on books! Plus I found the whole YALC a lot calmer than the London Film & Comic Con area so it was nice to escape up there and chill out with fellow book lovers for a little while. However I would highly recommend trying to get for more than one day! I found trying to fit everything that I wanted to do in both London Film & Comic Con and YALC quite exhausting and if you intended on extensively doing both, going multiple days would’ve been so much less tiring!

Did you got to London Film & Comic Con / YALC this year? What did you think? If you’ve read any of the books that I bought I’d love to know your thoughts!

The Nerd Next Door – Sylvie Stewart

by melissay1, posted in Book Review

The Nerd Next Door is the story of Haley. As the book title suggests she lives next door to a nerd, Ted Jones. The only problem with that is she absolutely fancies the pants off him. Somehow without even meaning to Haley and Ted seem to have the most embarrassing interactions every time they encounter each other, even when their relationship doesn’t extend further than a friendly neighbourly hi. Thanks to Haley’s best friend Liv taking matchmaking matters into her own hands, Haley and Ted finally become friends but even though she’s giving off every single signal she can for some reason Ted just doesn’t seem interested in her being anymore than a friend.

Haley was likable from the word go. I think we’ve all been in that situation where no matter how much you try to be cool in front of that person you like, somehow you end up doing something ridiculous and I think that is largely why I at least instantly liked this story. Ted was equally as instantly likable and it was fun to watch the relationship between them grow. Even though they’re just friends I thoroughly enjoyed reading how they interact with each other as they certainly have chemistry. Although she wasn’t in the book so much I also really liked Haley’s best friend Liv and I’ve already decided that I need to read a book about her as I think it’ll be fantastic.

The storyline I thought flowed quite well and it did turn out more than just Haley lusting after Ted which I thought was a good thing. I’ve mentioned before that a lot of the time it irritates me a book being told from a dual perspective as I find sometimes it makes the story difficult to follow. However, in the case of The Nerd Next Door I felt it really added to the story. I felt that you learnt so much more about both Haley and Ted when they were telling the story in each others perspectives. I particularly enjoyed the dual perspectives when the hilarious misunderstanding happened. This incident was also one of the many sections of the book that made me laugh out loud.

If you’re after a book that has some laugh out loud funny moments, as well as a nice romantic build up then you should pick up The Nerd Next Door. Its a quick read and although I don’t think this book is one that you would read time after time, if you are just wanting that quick read then I couldn’t recommend this book more.

Synopsis – 

New town, new job, new neighbor… new crush.

I’ve got a serious problem and it goes by the name of Ted Jones. Even his name is nerdy! Combine that with his glasses, lean runner’s frame, crazy smarts, and superhero addiction and he’s got my lady engine revving hard.

What can I say? I’ve got a thing for hot nerds.

But our shy glances and awkward exchanges in the elevator aren’t going to cut it. This nerd is mine; he just doesn’t know it yet.

Sanctuary Tour – Aly & AJ

by melissay1, posted in Music

Changing it up from my usual Sunday book blogging this week as I recently went to see Aly & AJ in concert and I can’t wait to post this up, particularly as the European tour is very short so if you’re wanting to see them live you have to act fast as it’s sadly all over and done with on Wednesday.

Aly & AJ have been one of my favourite artists since I was at school, I was trying to pin point when I started liking the music and I think its probably a good 14 years ago now! I was definitely that kid who watched the Disney Channel 24/7 and one of my favourite shows at the time was Phil Of The Future which starred band member, Aly Michalka. Then when they started to make music together, Disney Channel used to play clips between shows and since then I’ve been a fan. I used to ask for their merchandise and albums for Christmas and birthdays as it just wasn’t sold in England at the time so its safe to say I’m a fan. Aly & AJ were the only band left on the list of artists I really wanted to see live and as they’d never done an overseas tour before I didn’t think it would ever happen unless I went to America to see them…well now I have seen them perform live and it was everything I’d been expecting it to be and so completely worth the wait to see them perform live.

I had a meet and greet ticket for the show. I have to mention this as I thought it would be like any other meet and greet, you know the drill, pushed in for a photo, a very quick small talk chat if you’re lucky but Aly & AJ kept the numbers low and made it the best meet and greet experience I’ve ever had. They took the time to talk to depth with every single person, introducing themselves, making an effort to ask your name and where you’d travelled from and they were genuinely interested in how you became a fan or just hearing about your life in general. They both made the conversation as if you were just talking to friends and must’ve spent a good 10 minutes talking with every single person, signing anything you wanted them to sign and taking countless photos. It was truly the best meet and greet experience and I have left with the greatest memories from it.

Tour support came from Audrey – to find her on social media search for @audreyismusic. I thought Audrey was such a great choice in support act, she was fantastic! Great vocals, a very expressive and lively performance and super catchy songs – what more do you want? Audrey performed all of her own music and I think if you like Aly & AJ’s music you will like Audrey which is why I feel she was a perfect choice of a support. My personal favourites from her set was Stampede which has only recently been released and Red Flag. Audrey got the crowd perfectly hyped up for Aly & AJ and I think a lot of people, including myself, will have watched her performance and gone straight home and downloaded her music. I know that I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on her social media pages and would certainly see her own show if / when she comes back to the UK.

You could feel the excitement building up in the room in the wait for Aly & AJ to come on stage. Everyone you spoke to had been waiting a very long time to see them perform and it was quite interesting how barely anyone was actually from Manchester and had travelled some distance to see the show. I think that alone proves how these few European tour dates were completely well overdue. Aly & AJ came onto stage and considering the relatively small venue, the amount of applause and cheers coming for them was like nothing I’ve heard before.

The first song of the night was Church, one of Aly & AJ’s latest songs from the Sanctuary EP. It was a great choice of an opening song with every single person in the crowd singing along word for word, something which continued throughout the night. Aly & AJ basically took a ten year hiatus between the first two albums they released and the two most recent EPs, but the set list was a great mix between both old and new albums. I had worried they wouldn’t perform any of the old music that I love so much so I was thrilled older songs were dotted in throughout the setlist, the first of these older songs that was performed was Closer, one of my favourites from the Insomniatic album.

The set continued with a number of songs from the two recently released EP’s. My personal favourite to hear live was Star Maps from the Sanctuary EP. However, every single song both old and new sounded incredible live and you can’t deny that Aly & AJ are really good performers. Vocally they’re both incredible and they know exactly how to work a crowd. I never thought that I would hear older songs such as, Like Woah performed live and it was such a wonderful experience to be a part of a crowd that thought the same thing but you couldn’t deny that the new songs were any less fantastic to hear live. For me, I didn’t realise how much I actually do love the new songs until I saw them performed live. The likes of Not Ready To Wake Up, Promises and The Distance saw the entire crowd dancing and singing along, loving every single second of the performance. Take Me was another personal favourite of mine to hear live, this was the first song Aly & AJ released after the hiatus and it is the perfect introduction to the new music and the chorus is particular was sung so loudly by the crowd. After performing an already jam packed set list, Aly & AJ left the stage after performing Rush. Although this song is from the first album they ever released, it sounds just as much of an anthem as it was when it was first released and for me it was my favourite of the older songs that they performed live.

Of course this wasn’t the end of the night as both Aly and AJ walked back onto the stage with the biggest smiles on their faces for the encore, I can only imagine it was just as good of an experience for them to hear crowds from a different country who clearly adored ever song they’ve every made as it was for the fans to finally see them perform. The encore consisted of an cover of Kacey Musgraves song Slow Burn, and although I have to admit I’ve never heard the original before I thoroughly enjoyed Aly & AJ’s cover. This led onto the title track from the new EP, Sanctuary, a song saying thank you to the fans which never seemed more appropriate as they were performing in a room full of people who had been supporting them for well over ten years. Sadly they only had time for one more song and of course it was Potential Break Up Song. I’m pretty sure that even if you’re not a fan of Aly & AJ that you will know or will have at least heard of this song so it only seemed fitting this was the final song of the night. Although the crowd didn’t stop singing and dancing along all night long, the mood somehow seemed to go from 100 to 110 during this song – to this day this song definitely seems to remain a firm fan favourite!

This tour was a long time coming and I really hope that Aly & AJ do come back to the UK one day. From the most perfect meet and greet experience, to the show that I’ve been waiting a very long time to see, to being part of a crowd that clearly shared my love of Aly & AJ…all this combined made this one of my favourite concerts that I have ever attended and if you get the chance you must try and see Aly & AJ in concert. I don’t think one person in that crowd walked out of the concert thinking anything less than wow, that was an amazing show.

Glastonbury Festival 2019

by melissay1, posted in Music, travel

Last week I could be found in the middle of a field in Somerset in a tipi (glamping all the way!) for Glastonbury Festival. I’ve been going to Glastonbury on and off since I was at school and to be honest I can’t imagine any festival in the world comes close to it. I mean where else can you see David Attenborough making a speech on saving the planet by reducing your usage of plastics, catch the likes of Liam Gallagher, Stormzy and Kylie on the same line-up and do a million and one things that isn’t seeing music performed, this year they even introduced Glastonbury On Sea!

I think I’ll probably do a few Glastonbury posts in the near future as I really want to write up my thoughts on glamping at the festival vs bringing your own tent on site, but for this week I want to talk about some of my favourite performers I saw at the festival.

Miley Cyrus

The minute the line-up was released Miley Cyrus was the name I was most excited about. I consider myself to be a massive fan of Miley and even went to see her on tour when she was still in her Hannah Montana days so she was always going to be in my favourite performers list. For me, I was intrigued to see her for the first time since her Disney days and boy has she progressed as a performer. Admittedly, Miley Cyrus is known nowadays as being quite controversial but you can’t deny that she’s a performer and vocally she is fantastic and has definitely massively improved since the last time I saw her. Her set list was littered with covers that the Glastonbury crowds knew, new songs from her latest album as well as her biggest hits, all whilst chucking in a few special guest appearances for good measure. Miley Cyrus well and truly got the crowds attention and I heard countless people declaring her as being their favourite performance from the weekend.

Lewis Capaldi

To be truthful I must’ve been one of the only people on the planet that hadn’t heard Lewis Capaldi’s music prior to Glastonbury. I have seen his face all around social media from videos he’s posted online and I have laughed at them but not once did I bother to check out his music. However, a friend constantly talked about how much she loves him prior to the festival so whilst I was there I figured that I had to go and see what the fuss was about. I went in to his set completely blind as to what his music / performance would be like and I absolutely wasn’t disappointed with what I saw. His music is exactly my cup of tea and I genuinely can’t believe I never bothered to listen before. I feel like he’s one of those people whose name has been hyped up so much that at fear of joining in with the latest popular trend you just never check it out but I enjoyed his set so much that his album was instantly downloaded the second his set had finished. Lewis Capaldi has an unreal voice, a personality that works so well on stage and I certainly have walked away from the festival as a fan and have told everyone how much I enjoyed his performance.

George Ezra

I have seen George Ezra a couple of times previously. I’ve always thought he was ok to watch at a festival but I’ve never really had an opinion on him more than he’s ok. Then last year I did a charity walk and one of the girls I did it with kept singing his songs including Shotgun as we were climbing up mountains, since then I just associate George Ezra with doing that walk and it brings back (somewhat!) happy memories. I’m not sure if that is the reason why I really enjoyed his performance or if he’s just really upped his game but George Ezra was one of my favourites from this years festival. Before seeing him at Glastonbury I’d only heard his most recent album either played on the radio or being sung half way up a mountain and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded. I actually would go and see George Ezra if he performed locally now as even with a sprained ankle he put on one hell of a show.

Liam Gallagher

I think that if you play any of the Oasis hits anywhere in the UK people will always stop and sing along, so when you put Oasis frontman in the field singing a lot of Oasis songs its safe to say that it’s always going to go down well. I think Oasis is just one of those bands where people at least love the hits and know every single lyric. I’ve seen Oasis live before they split but this was the first time I’ve seen Liam Gallagher perform as a solo artist so I was abit sceptical as to whether to could deliver a performance to rival that of Oasis. However, he most certainly did and although much of the crowd was definitely there for the Oasis songs, when he weaved his own songs in they didn’t sound out of place in the slightest. I think many people, including myself, will be checking out his solo material now we’re back at home.

The Killers

I have to be honest, when The Killers were announced as one of the headliners of this years Glastonbury I was ever so slightly disappointed. I’ve seen The Killers live on a number of occasions now and I think if you’ve ever been a fan of The Killers or have even attended festivals you’ve probably seen them perform at some point over the years. I used to really like The Killers music but I’ve not been so keen on the more recent albums, however I thought that the performance was fantastic. I’d been quite vocally going around telling people how they just aren’t as good as more but the new songs actually came across really well live and seeing the performance made me realise just how much I did use to love the earlier albums.

I think my list of top 5 is probably quite predictable as they’re all big names. In most years at Glastonbury I’d usually tire myself out running from stage to stage seeing the last known names but this year is was just too sweatingly hot to even consider moving far from the Pyramid stage, so I ended up seeing most of the big artists who performed on that stage that weekend. Despite this, I wasn’t disappointed with who I saw and the above five artists were my stand out performers of the weekend.

Did you go to the festival or even just watched on television? I would love to know which performances you enjoyed, if I didn’t see that one I’ll definitely have a watch!