Category: Young, New adult/College

Fantasy/Paranormal · Romance · Young, New adult/College

A court of mist and fury – Sarah J. Maas

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17927395.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

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My thoughts: Do not read this review if you not yet have read the first book because I don’t want to unintentionally ruin it for you. So this is a SPOILER ALERT. Read on by your own free will. I have warned you. 😉

I have no words! Oh I’m lying to you. I have so many words and feelings that it is a big chance this review is just a rant about how much I love this book. Love, love, love, loved IT. I don’t know what to say in order to express how stunning this series is. I’m starstruck and was sporting a major book hangover before I was even done and I just had to get my hands on the third book right away. I could not, was not, ready to leave the world of Prythian or its people like Feyre, Rhys and all the others. That the book ended on a major cliffhanger did not surprised me either.

This is in my opinion a work of art. The so small details in the first book made so much more sense in the second. It’s a beautiful way Maas has tied the books and story together. She has a talent with slowly changing the readers mind and thoughts about different subjects like for an example Tamlin, Rhysand, Lucien and the world of Prythian. You fall even harder in love and I admire Feyre. I connect with her and it is just a wonderful, heartbreaking and intense ride throughout the 600 pages. Not once did I feel the slowness of the story as I did in the first book.

I love the development, the magic, the love, fear, feelings and so much more that Maas has crammed in there. And hate! I feel so much hate towards some of the characters. They are hideous, mean and what I once thought is no longer the truth. It is so intense to follow that I even dream about it at night. I’m so high-strung that I should start meditate to be able to mentally tackle the third book. I feel so much that I’m ready to burst. Aren’t it a wonderful feeling? 🙂

Fantasy/Paranormal · Romance · Young, New adult/College

A court of thorns and roses – Sarah J. Maas

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22839894.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Feyre is a huntress.

She thinks nothing of slaughtering a wolf to capture its prey. But, like all mortals, she fears what lingers mercilessly beyond the forest. And she will learn that taking the life of a magical creature comes at a high price…

Imprisoned in an enchanted court in her enemy’s kingdom, Feyre is free to roam but forbidden to escape. Her captor’s body bears the scars of fighting, and his face is always masked – but his piercing stare draws her ever closer. As Feyre’s feeling for Tamlin begin to burn through every warning she’s been told about his kind, an ancient, wicked shadow grows.

Feyre must find a way to break a spell, or lose her heart forever.

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My thoughts: How am I supposed to review this one? This… this fantastic, unbelievable imaginative, angst riddled and intense product, written by a queen. A book who rips, ravages and breaks you into a million pieces before it reassembles you at the end. But you as a human will never be the same. It changes you and the view I once had are long gone and forgotten. I am and for ever will be a different person after this. That is how good it was, with such an impact that it even was hard to read on sometimes. I have heard that the second book is even worse, with more tears, more pain… just more of everything. And I can’t wait to read it.

A court of thorns and roses or ACOTAR, was a major hype a few years back. Everyone I knew and followed on YouTube, Instagram and in the groups on Facebook could not stop talking about it. The synopsis never intrigued me back then and even when I started it, I was still a bit skeptical. I often have problems with YA and often find YA Fantasy to be overrated and without any real depth and almost always has that stupid love triangle drama that I hate with every fiber of my body.

So why did I read it? Well I just wanted something new and unpredictable and I wanted it directly. Meaning, I didn’t want to order online and wait several days for it to arrive and I didn’t want a e-book either. I wanted something real. This one was the only book my local bookstore had on English that remotely interested me. And I’m so glad that I bought it.

The only (two) problem I have with the book is the pace. It was to slow but still had that simmering feeling that something will soon happen, then it didn’t and it drove me nuts. And some things was not explained enough. I do not read that much fantasy and would have liked a little more explanation on some things. But other than that, I’m happy.

Contemporary · Romance · Young, New adult/College

Four letter word – J. Daniels

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28963772.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Fate. Hate. Love. Lies.

Which four letter word will change their lives forever?

Sydney Paige was never so mortified to hear the words “wrong number” in her life. She meant to tell off the guy who broke her best friend’s heart but unleashed her anger on a perfect stranger instead. And now her world is turned upside down by the captivating man who wants to keep her on the line.

Brian Savage is living a life he’s quickly come to hate-until Sydney’s wild rant has him hooked and hungry for more. Soon the sexy woman on the phone becomes the lover in his bed. But Brian has secrets, and the closer he lets Syd get, the harder it is to shield her from the devastating mistakes of his past . . .

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My thoughts: Cute story. Great build up and sweet characters, a little long and slow some parts and somewhat predictable but cute non the less. I wouldn’t say I love it but can’t say I hate it either. Until like 50% in the book I really enjoyed it. I adored the sexual tension banter between some of the main characters, the easy atmosphere and the interesting sensation it created. There is some depth to the story and layers to the characters that I found intriguing to peal of.

After the 50% however the pace started to halter and nothing really happened. One could anticipate what would happened and how it would go and it was kind of boring, reading + 100 pages and just waiting for it to kick off so something would change the mush that kept going on and on. Nothing surprising in the whole ordeal when it finally happened, but it was still nice and I liked the way they resolved the situation.

A little part in the end surprised me though and it was nothing I had foreseen. I feel it matched the plot perfectly and I would probably not have found the book as great without it. It gave some of the soul back to it.

The writing is somewhat long and not easy for the eye, but nothing I thought much about after I got used to it. It did however make it a little harder for me to connect with the book in the beginning and may be a reason for the slowness in the middle of the book.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Thriller/Horror · Young, New adult/College

Flesh & Bone – Jonathan Maberry

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13147460| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Reeling from the tragic events of Dust & Decay, Benny Imura and his friends plunge deep into the zombie-infested wastelands of the great Rot & Ruin. Benny, Nix, Lilah and Chong journey through a fierce wilderness that was once America, searching for the jet they saw in the skies months ago. If that jet exists then humanity itself must have survived…somewhere. Finding it is their best hope for having a future and a life worth living.

But the Ruin is far more dangerous than any of them can imagine. They are hunted by fierce animals escaped from zoos and circuses. They must raid zombie-infested towns for food and medical supplies. They discover the very real truth in the old saying: In the Rot & Ruin…everything wants to kill you.

And what is happening to the zombies? Swarms of them are coming from the east, devouring everything in their paths. These zoms are different. Faster, smarter, infinitely more dangerous. Has the zombie plague mutated, or is there something far more sinister behind this new invasion of the living dead?

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My thoughts: I very much enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed the first two books. But I do found this one to be a little of the same thing. It is still a great book and it is terrific written as usual. It fits well together with the other two books and there are some impressive characters to follow. However I feel that it has gotten a little bit stuck. There were several chapters where I legit was wondering “hasn’t I read this before? Haven’t we been here before already?”

The third book picks up around where the second book ended. And you as a reader are thrown into this action filled story right from the start. There is a lot of running, fights, zombies, crazy humans, animals, secrets, misunderstandings and so on. Just as there is in the first and second book. It starting to feel somewhat used. It is the same only under different circumstances. Do you understand what I mean here? It was like I read the first and second book all over again, just with some different characters and with a little different outcome.

At the end of the book we are at a crossroad and how the plot will continue and its outcome is anyone’s (who have not read it of course 😛) guess so far. I do like that. The not knowing, it’s exciting. We have been introduced too some new characters and a new “world” where the rules are not the same anymore. I do hope the fourth book brings me some different situations and more characters to fall in love with. It really is a great series.

Contemporary · Romance · Sports/Games · Young, New adult/College

The score – Elle Kennedy

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27252717| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: He knows how to score, on and off the ice

Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn’t have the first clue about what she’s going to do after college. To make matters worse, she’s nursing a broken heart thanks to the end of her longtime relationship. Wild rebound sex is definitely not the solution to her problems, but gorgeous hockey star Dean Di Laurentis is impossible to resist. Just once, though, because even if her future is uncertain, it sure as heck won’t include the king of one-night stands.

It’ll take more than flashy moves to win her over

Dean always gets what he wants. Girls, grades, girls, recognition, girls…he’s a ladies man, all right, and he’s yet to meet a woman who’s immune to his charms. Until Allie. For one night, the feisty blonde rocked his entire world—and now she wants to be friends? Nope. It’s not over until he says it’s over. Dean is in full-on pursuit, but when life-rocking changes strike, he starts to wonder if maybe it’s time to stop focusing on scoring…and shoot for love.

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My thoughts: I’m freaking love this series. Every book is about a hockey player in a collage team. They are cocky, funny, insanely hot and really great guys with a moral compass pointing in the right direction. I loved the first book (yes you should read them in order) and I almost loved the second book as much. But this third one. O my gosh. I think it is my favorite so far and I’m in love with both Dean and Allie.

Dean is that cocky son of a bitch, who circling around the main characters from the first couple of books. You do get to know him some and you really do not know if you are to love or hate him. He is a strong character with an open mind and easy going, natural, rich boy way of living. Not in an obnoxious way though which make me love him even more. Allie is this great, strong, funny character who is down to earth. I love how their relationship starts of as a “accident” and how grownup they are about everything. How the relationship and the feelings grow in a good, slow, realistic way and it made me not be able to stop reading. I love the bumps in the road and how it all worked out. I love the underlining meaning with the book. I love every freaking thing about it. I’m not kidding.

There is not often I feel this way about a book. In a way where I seriously can’t stop raving about it. So i’m gonna stop here. Now! Just want to say that this is a great book, and a even greater series by a talented author and if you never read this or anything by Kennedy before, I highly, with my whole heart recommend it.

Oh, and it ended in a way that I just have to read the forth book. Not cliffhanger per say, but I seriously need to know.  To bad I’m on a “buy books” ban. I need to read down my TBR before I buy anymore books. According to my calculations, this will not be able until after new years. Yeah, that is how many books I own and need to read. Will I be able to wait?

Contemporary · Romance · Young, New adult/College

Simon vs. The homo sapiens agenda – Becky Albertalli

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19547856.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

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My thoughts: I have been avoiding these cutesy, young adult romances as the vampire avoids sunlight. Not only because they often are to fluffy and angst filled for my taste. But also because they feel to unrealistic and predictable. It is like these teenage movies where you have 75 minutes of “funny” cringe worthy scenes and you still KNOW that the prins and princess will get each other in the end. I can see the charm, I do, and I do watch them sometimes when I don’t have the energy to use my head. At times I only want to be filled with something shallow, where I can remember or forget. Depending on the mood. And I do wish I could enjoy them, as much as so many others do. I feel I miss out a lot but the most of these YA I have tried, I have not enjoyed no matter how much I have tried.

But I did enjoy Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens agenda. It is not specially fun, it has its moments, and it brings up the storm of emotions in a young boys life who knows he is gay, but has yet told anyone. Except Blue. The mysterious, email friend Simon has but don’t know who it is. Blue is also gay and they talk a lot about how it is to still “be in the closet” and the big “coming out” thing. I loved that I could not predict who Blue was until he was revealed and it was a total surprise.

What I liked the most with the book was the day to day life. Simon is a great character. He is deeply developed, funny and sarcastic. He is grounded in the story and who is easy to relate to. I had some trouble the first 50+ pages since there is a lot of characters and it was hard to keep track of who talked when or did what. But as soon as I got used to the way it was written it was much easier and the book was a fast past read.

It is a great book but still a little to light and fluffy for my taste. But then again, YA Romance is not my favorite genre. I did like it and feel that this is a great book for all ages. Now in 2018 the movie on the book, Love Simon, have had a release and of course I want to see it. Haha. I love movies made on books. Usually not as great, “The Book was better”, you know, but still want to see them.

Fantasy/Paranormal · Fiction/Science Fiction · Young, New adult/College

Red Rising – Pierce Brown

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15839976.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: “I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”

“I live for you,” I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

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My thoughts: I can honestly say that I have no idea how to review Red Rising. How am I supposed to put words on all my feelings of happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, hate, joy, love, and fear without it ending up a blubbering mess? This book have it all, good, bad and it is so, soo clever written that even though it landed on a three star rating from me, I can’t stop thinking about it.

At heart, the book has a very good and clever plot, even though it is a somewhat “milked” theme by now. But I really liked the whole “low, hard and poor life, fighting for the future of their children, corrupted governments, protagonist finds out the truth, kicks ass and fights for what’s right, tries to get to the top and stop the evil of this world” plot. And it works extra good in this book since the main protagonist, Darrow, is a good guy but he does so much bad and horrible things that you at the same time as you love him, you hate him to. And he is so real and authentic in a way I cant describe. He hates what he is forced to do and he struggles a lot with sorrow and feelings of missing. He is a young guy with a hard life who gets it even harder and you can actually see him grow as a person throughout the book.

But then there is other things. There is a big part of the book that was sooo boring. I mean, “start to think about something else while reading” boring. Even “start skimming to the good parts” boring. Almost “DNF” boring! And I can’t really tell you why either since it are a big part of the plot and the books story. But I felt it somewhat unrealistic (even though we are in the future and on Mars) and it was quite hard to wrap my mind around a lot of it. I think I understand the purpose, it is just the ways that perplexes me and the performance is tedious and uninteresting. The ending was great though and now I’m more open to continue the series, than I was earlier on in the book.

It certainly has taken my emotions and thoughts on a roller coaster but I’m happy that I finally read it. The last thing I want to say is that, If we ever going to move to Mars, build a new civilization and all that. This is how I see in my mind it will be. The rich people always wins and rides the backs of the poor. Things will never change. Yes. I’m that pessimistic!

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Romance · Young, New adult/College

Finding Audrey – Sophie Kinsella

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23305614| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Audrey can’t leave the house. she can’t even take off her dark glasses inside the house.

Then her brother’s friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again – well, Starbucks is a start. And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she’d thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.

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My thoughts: It was…. okay, it was cute and sweet. A little funny, a lot heartwarming and a quick read. Something nice to occupy my mind with after the mind blowing good horror/thriller and mind blowing bad chick lit book I recently read.  It takes on a serious topic and also gives the reader a true and honest look into a young girls life while living with depression and anxiety. When I was a teenager, I had a lot of trouble with the same. I truly understands how it is and how bad it can be and how hard it can effect a family. But I also understands and knows that it isn’t the end of the world, you can get better, at least I did and life is worth fighting for. Kinsella did a great job with describing the feelings and actions in Audrey’s life. The one thing that bugged me the most was the whole Linus relationship. But that I can’t go into in detail without spoiling the story, so we will leave it at that.

The book is about Audrey who have a really ruff time and suffers from some severe anxiety. She is a young teenager who lives with her “crazy” family somewhere in England (can’t remember where). She has no friends, do not go to school and goes to therapy once a week.  What I love the most about the book is the family. They are loud and obnoxious but still a family who loves and would die for each other. I love the mother and her “old” ways of handling the family and the father who reminds me so much of Arthur Weasley (from Harry Potter series). I could really picture him in my mind. I love young Felix and his ways of playing messenger between Audrey and Linus oh and Frank. Come on, you got to love Frank. He is like the typical, modern teenager and so lovable. They all have their own character, traits and quirks and Kinsella has as always done a great job with describing her characters and I find no fault here.

I did like the book but didn’t love it. I find this whole “teenage love angst” a little too much over the top and I think i’m starting to get to old for that. And I also find the book a little too short and would have love to have some real confrontation or emotions not only from Audrey but other characters to. It is a hard topic to write about and I do think Kinsella tried to steer away so it wouldn’t be sad and depressing. But too much happy, happy, fluffy stuff, just makes it unrealistic. But maybe that is just me since I have personal experience and to this day still struggles with anxiety.

So over all a good story, quick and easy. But don’t go and expect to get to know what happened to Audrey, because that mystery is never revealed. You get hints and can pretty much build your own story from it, but it bugs me that I never got to know what “really” happened.

Suspense · Thriller/Horror · Young, New adult/College

Dust & Decay – Jonathan Maberry

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9917998| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It’s also six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny’s zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny’s best friend Lou Chong are going with them.

Sounds easy. Sounds wonderful. Except that everything that can go wrong does. Before they can even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town. But as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers and the horrors of Gameland –where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all… could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin everything wants to kill you. Everything…and not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will make it out alive.

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My thoughts: How can I explain why I only gave four stars to a book I more or less loved, without spoilers and trashing the book completely? It almost feels impossible but I will give it a try.

This is the second book about Benny Imura. The series is not an stand alone and I do recommend to read it in order. The first books name is Rot & Ruin and here you can read my review of it. I did love the first book. I have experience of Jonathan Maberry from his Joe Ledger series and this series is much easier than Ledgers. Probably because it is written more towards young and young adults. Ledger series is not. The book starts off about 8 months (or so) after the first book ended and it started off quite slow. Then it really did pick itself up on both speed and action. We get to follow Tom, Benny, Nix, Lilah and Chong when they venture out in the wasteland in the search of the flying jet. Then off course everything goes to shit, as expected, and then it is one action filled event after the other.

And it is here my problem starts. The book is action filled and quite exciting. But when you have read 400 pages of “the same thing” you are starting to get a little bored. It is bad decisions after bad decisions and events so big, horrific and hard that at some point, my mind just shuts off. I read the story but I did not feel it anymore. It is like seeing one of those really bad, cheep, slasher movies that you just cant take serious. Then it all changed again. And the ending really pissed me off. That is not how it was suppose to end. Come on! But now when I have had some time to think on it, I do see that it was the only possible end. And it only made a mystery even bigger, the mystery that is going through the Rot & Ruin. Because something is not right, and right now, no one know what or why.

So after taking everything in account, the book ended on a weak four star. I would have giving a five if not for the end. I know it was the only possible end, but still, I did not like it at all.

I do not read a lot of male authors. It is not a conscious choice, it is just because there are really few male authors who write in genres that I prefer to read. But god damn, Maberry is and probably always will be one of my favorites. I still have a lot of his books to read and I can hardly wait.

Classic/Historical · War/Military · Young, New adult/College

Goodnight Mister Tom – Michelle Magorian

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23718102| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: The gruff and surly Mr Thomas Oakley is less than pleased when he is landed with a scrawny little city boy as a guest, but because it is compulsory that each villager takes in an evacuee he reluctantly agrees. It soon becomes obvious to Mister Tom that young Willie Beech is hiding something, and as the pair begin to form an unlikely bond and Willie grows in stature and in confidence he begins to forget the past. But when he has to return to war-torn London to face his mother again he retreats into his shy and awkward ways once more.

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My thoughts: Goodnight Mister Tom is my all-time favorite book from when I was a child. I think I read it for the first time when I was around 10 years old, maybe younger and before my 18th birthday, I must have read it at least three times more. I loved it. But I have never read it on English. My copy of the book probably has been lost throughout the years or is at my mothers. So I though, since I’m going to by a new one, why not on English. And I’m really happy because the way it is originally written, certainly put some life in the story that me as an reader not could get from a translation. And it blew my mind how good it made it.

The book is a really sad story, but still a really happy one to. It takes place in the WW2 and for the most part you get to follow Will. He is an evacuee from London, who goes to live with this old and grumpy man who really do not want a kid in his house, but has to due to regulations. Mr Oakley is not as bad as everyone thinks. He just hit a ruff spot when young and never really got the help he needed to get out of it. He just found a way to survive through the years but never really live. Will and Mr Oakley finds a way to survive with each other and later on it turns to not only surviving but also living. There is a lot of characters in the book and they all have their own traits and personality’s. They are great described and funny to follow.

I don’t know why I loved this book so much as a kid. Maybe because it gave me the knowledge that in a bad situation, there is always hope. And even if they say blood is thicker than water, it has nothing to take too when it comes to friends and people who choose to be your family. Not are family just because you was born in to it. Wonderful, wonderful story!

I love Mr Tom so much and it is the book who really sparked my love for reading I even named my Kindle, Mr Tom, due to what that book has done for me. And this is such a cry story. Just saying. 😉

Do you have one of those story’s from your childhood that somehow changed you?