Populazzi by Elise Allen

Description (from Goodreads):

Cara has never been one of those girls: confident, self-possessed, and always ready with the perfect thing to say. A girl at the very top of the popularity tower. One of the Populazzi.

Now, junior year could change everything. Cara’s moving to a new school, and her best friend urges her to seize the moment—with the help of the Ladder. Its rungs are relationships, and if Cara transforms into the perfect girlfriend for guys ever-higher on the tower, she’ll reach the ultimate goal: Supreme Populazzi.

The Ladder seems like a lighthearted social experiment, a straight climb up, but it quickly becomes gnarled and twisted. And when everything goes wrong, only the most audacious act Cara can think of has a chance of setting things even a little bit right.

My thoughts:

Once again, book I only picked up because of its cover. And I thought that this would be a nice light read to add to the more demanding readings needed for my uni course. And I was right about that; Populazzi is definitely a nice, light read, but I promise that it will keep you interested.

I really liked Cara at the beginning of the novel. When she met Archer I started to hope that she would leave the whole ladder thing and just spend time with him. But since there were like 250 pages left of the novel, I knew that she would not leave the ladder. To be honest, I did not like Claudia at all as a character. She is basically living through Cara because she herself feels like she cannot get popular anymore at her school. This whole becoming popular thing seems so distant to me. The high school I went to, had like 40 students so the idea of someone climbing the ladder just sounds hilarious. And even though there were certain groupings of people, if needed, we were able to work together. I did a year in American high school, but I think it might have been different for me, because for some reason everyone thought that I was pretty cool, probably because of the fact that I was a foreigner. 

There were points at the novel in which Cara just wanted to give up. In those points I really hoped that she would. But Claudia was always there, and I did not like the fact that Cara always tended to do what Claudia said. Towards the end of the novel, when Cara's plans do not go as she wanted, I started to see the Cara again I liked at the beginning.

And okay, Archer, he sounds like the most awesome guy ever and I just kept waiting for the moment that Cara actually admits that she has feelings for him. Nate sounded like an interesting guy, but I think that as Cara lost her interest, I lost it too. 

If you do not have all of your holiday reads chosen yet, I recommend Populazzi. It is fun and even though you would not like all of Cara's decisions etc, you want to read more just to know what happens; at least that happened with me.

In My Mailbox #26

Okay, it is like a year since I did In My Mailbox last time... so I think it is good time to do one RIGHT now! :)

These are some gems I've found in the past few weeks!

(The links take you to the Goodreads description of the novels.) 

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

The Lying Game (The Lying Game, #1) by Sara Shepard

Delirium (Delirium, #1) by Lauren Oliver

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

The Shining by Stephen King

First Step 2 Forever: My Story by Justin Bieber

Any thoughts on these books? What did you get/buy this week? 

Have a great week and remember to ReadReadRead!

The Next Door Boys by Jolene B. Perry

Synopsis ( from Goodreads): 

With her body still recovering from last year's cancer treatments, Leigh Tressman is determined to be independent. Despite the interference from her overprotective brother, physical frustrations, and spiritual dilemmas— not to mention the ever expanding line of young men ready to fall in love with her— Leigh discovers what it actually means to stand on her own and learns that love can be found in unexpected but delightful places

My thoughts:

The Next Door Boys is one of those novels I picked from NetGalley just because I liked the cover design. I've had a Samsung Galaxy Tab for a while now, but I never had given the ebooks a try. Well, now I finally did, and with positive results.

I really didn't give the synopsis much attention before starting to read. So I was totally clueless to the religious aspect of the novel. Now that I look back, I think it was a good thing because I usually pass the stories with religion included. As I read through this, I actually started to enjoy the religious aspect of the story but at the same time it make me kind of sad because I myself don't have the kind of strong belief to anything (expect maybe myself) that the main character Leigh has.

All Leigh wants it some independence. But to her cancer, she had to miss a year from school, and now, even though she is recovered, she is still under the watchful eye of her parents and her big brother. Moving out and starting college isn't really what she expected; her brother is her neighbour and it seems like guys are giving her a lot more attention than she expected. And then there's Brian, her brother's roommate who first indimitates her, but who eventually becomes closer to Leigh that she never expected.

Cancer is always an issue which makes you think about your own life and what you can be grateful for. I lost my childhood friend to cancer this summer, and I have since then avoided anything related to cancer. I think reading this novel did some good to me because it made me believe that it always does not end the way it ended for my friend. It also made me feel grateful for the time and memories I was able to have with my friend.

I don't want anyone to be taken back by the religious aspect of this novel because I feel like if you pass this one, you lose a GREAT reading experience. The characters are so realistic and all of them fragile in their own ways. The love and friendship portrayed in this novel are so pure and something I myself desire. Through the glimpses to their religious faith these characters become even more real and throughout the novel I felt like these characters became people I would love to hang out with.

This novel definitely surprised me with a big bang! 

I want to thank NetGalley for providing me the review copy!

A to Zs of Milka

I saw that Nicole from WORD for Teens had done this, and since I have had such a long break from blogging and a lot has changed, I thought that this would be a nice way to in a way introduce myself again...
So here we go:

Age: 20

Bed Size: Double bed (thanks for the amazing premium room at uni <3 )

Chore that you hate: I weirdly enjoy most of the things such as cleaning, doing laundry etc... So there really isn't one that I can figure out right now.

Dogs: No, but I really want one, I already have a name for it and everything.

Essential start to your day: Don't really need anything. Well the only thing I need is a good song as my alarm, that usually does the thing.

Favorite colors: I like dark blue... but i always tend to buy stuff on pink if they have them on pink (like I just bought a pink christmas tree to my dorm room)

Gold or silver: Silver

Height: like 165cm

Instruments you play: I can play piano a bit.

Job title: Student

Kids: Not my favorite thing.... I don't want to have children.


Live: Musselburgh (a "suburb" of Edinburgh) at QMU campus

Overnight hospital stays: I have never had had to experience one as a patient.

Pet peeves: drunk people, ignorant people, unclean places

Quote from a movie: "I am your father"

Right or left-handed: Right

Siblings: 17 year old little brother

Time you wake up: Depends about my uni courses....

Underwear: is something I always wear.

Vegetable you hate: Cannot figure out one now....

What makes you run late: I hate to be late, so I'm never late.

X-Rays you've had: head, chest, neck, ankle

Yummy food that you make: pizza

Zoo animal: Elephant

From Notting Hill with Love...Actually by Ali McNamara

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Scarlett O'Brien is in love . . . with the movies. Utterly hooked on Hugh Grant, crazy about Richard Curtis, dying with lust for Johnny Depp, Scarlett spends her days with her head in the clouds and her nights with her hand in a huge tub of popcorn. Which is not exactly what her sensible, DIY-obsessed fiancé David has in mind for their future. So when Scarlett has the chance to house-sit an impossibly grand mansion in Notting Hill ? the setting of one of her all-time favourite movies ? she jumps at the chance to live out her film fantasies one last time. It's just a shame that her new neighbour Sean is so irritating ? and so irritatingly handsome, too. As a chaotic comedy of her very own erupts around Scarlett, she begins to realise there's more to life than seating plans and putting up shelves. What sort of happy ending does she really want? Will it be a case of Runaway Bride or Happily Ever After? The big white wedding looms, and Scarlett is running out of time to decide.


My thoughts:

The first time I bumped into this books months ago in a bookstore at Finland I knew that it would be a perfect read for me. The synopsis sounds great; movies, London, handsome neighbor. Already from the cover you see that this is one of those books that you know what is going to happen in the end. But aren't you even a bit curious to see how it will happen?

Scarlett, the heroine is in many ways like me; she is completely obsessed with movies (I am reminded about my obsession daily by my friends and family). She also tends to relate everything to movies, which is something I do all the time. She is in love with Hugh Grant, she has seen Notting Hill way too many times, and she keeps hoping that a life would be a bit more like a movie. Her fiance David is a totally opposite to Scarlett and her personality. He seems uptight and annoying most of the time. It is still a bit unclear for me way Scarlett is with him in the first place.

When Scarlett's wedding is looming around, she realizes that she needs some time on her own to think. When she is offered a position as a house-sitter at Notting Hill, she cannot refuse. Her first moments at Notting Hill are (of course) like straight for a movie. She meets a gay guy, they become instants friends and she is invited to a dinner. She also meets her new temporary neighbor, who of course is steaming hot, but also a bit arrogant (Mr. Darcy, much?) And of course they meet at the dinner again... And that is just the beginning.

As the time goes by at Notting Hill, Scarlett sees that life truly is full of movie-like moments. She and Sean (the hot neighbor) also seem like polar opposites as you get to know more about them, but they at least have chemistry between them. It just takes a bit of time for Scarlett to fully realize it.

As I said before, this novel is totally obvious one. But I did not expect anything else from it. It is funny, full of nice movie mentions and the ending is SO romantic that it made me cry for good 10 minutes. I want my own Sean ASAP!

(From the end of the book you can find nice movie trivia and a guide to Notting Hill)

What I've been up to...

My absence (once again....) has been quite long. But I guess the only excuse I can say is that I have, once again, been super busy. 

At the beginning of September, I moved from Finland to Edinburgh, Scotland and started university at QMU, Edinburgh. I love my course and my new home. I thought I would just post some pictures in case someone is interested. (:

The QMU Campus

Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Castle can be seen on the background

And yes, the best moment at here so far, a Josh Groban concert <3

Best night of my life 

A bit too excited after the concert...

He was even more amazing than I expected <3

The campus overview

5th of November

Fall at Musselburgh

Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry #1) by Simone Elkeles

Description (from Goodreads):
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.  In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.


My thoughts:

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles is one of those books that has been on my reading list literally for years, but I just never managed to buy it and give it a read, probably mostly because of the fact that I never saw a copy of it in a Finnish book store. Now that I have moved to UK, it was one of the first books I bought from here. And I am so happy I did so, because it was AMAZING!

The description of the story sounds pretty familiar; a girl and a boy from totally different backgrounds are forced together. They fall in love and are the only ones who actually understand why they are together. But this novel so much more than just this quite stereotypical story pattern.

What made this story exceptional was the characterization of both Brittany and Alex. They are round characters; they have many sides to them. So Brittany isn't just a stereotypical popular girl. And Alex isn't just a bad guy from the hood. Brittany's family life sucks and she keeps up a role just to please her parents. Alex is intelligent and passionate, but he has been sucked into the gangs and thus sees that as his eventual end. But everything changes when they are paired up in a chemistry class. After actually getting to know each other, they notice they can be themselves around each other. 

I just loved everything about this novel. It manages to be funny, heartbreaking, passionate and intelligent all at the same time. It really catches the attention all the way from the beginning and you just have to keep reading. (I did the mistake of starting this a night before a morning class and kept reading it throughout the whole night.... I must say I was quite tired at my morning class).

Definitely one of the best books I have read in a long time!