Top 5 Wednesday: Books featuring Mental Health

Hey guys! Today I am bringing you a post about books featuring mental health. Admittedly, I haven’t read many books that revolve around mental health but the few I’ve read I’ve really enjoyed and they have been some of my favourite reads. So I definitely need to find more books with this topic. Here’s my picks:

A World Without You by Beth Revis:

This was the first YA book I read about mental illness and I completely fell in love with the story. I thought it was such a captivating read and was told beautifully. I loved how the author combined mental illness with time travel and if you didn’t know Bo had a mental illness, you’d actually believe he really was a time traveller. That’s probably one thing I’d changed about this book because I think it would have had a bigger impact if it was revealed at the end that he is actually seriously ill and suffers from delusions. It’s heartbreaking how the girl he loves suffered from severe depression and committed suicide but he’s acting like she is still alive because he couldn’t live in a world without her. We also got to see how Bo’s illness affects his family, his sister in particular. Her whole life becomes overshadowed by her brother and everything revolves around him. But then his parents shut out his illness pretend he’s fine. It’s an incredibly moving story and I really can’t recommend it enough.

Book Covers: Hardback vs Paperback

So I’ve done two posts on UK vs US covers and now I thought I’d do a Hardback vs Paperback version because lately I have been noticing that the paperback cover is different from the hardback cover. A lot of the time I prefer the hardback cover and can’t understand why they felt the need to change the paperback one. Sometimes it’s little changes with fonts or colours other times it’s such a drastic change I’m curious as to why they did it. For this post, the hardback will be pictured on the left and the paperback on the right.

1) A World Without You by Beth Revis

This is one example of a drastic cover change for the paperback release. I just think it looks like a really dreary and dull cover. The background fits with the location in the story but it still does nothing for me. It just looks too boring and it would blend in with other books on the shelf. The hardback really caught my eye with all the different coloured string against the white and black background. I saw it and immediately I was interested. I wanted to find out what this book was about. The paperback, on the other hand, just looks like a kid was let loose with a crayon and scribbled all over the front of the cover. It’s very messy and looks quite ugly. I definitely prefer the hardback.

Top 5 Wednesday: Books to Get You Out of a Reading Slump

Hey guys! Time for another Top 5 Wednesday post! This week’s topic is books to get you out of a reading slump! It’s pretty self-explanatory, everyone gets in slumps now and again so it’s nice to see what other people recommend for escaping them!

This group was created by Lainey (Gingerreadslainey) and is hosted by Sam (ThoughtsOnTomes). If you want to participate, check out the link on Goodreads here.

When I’m in a slump, I like to read genres I wouldn’t normally read and explore new authors! I find that it helps if you read a book by an author you’ve not read in the past because it’s feels like you’re reading something new and fresh, if that makes sense? Plus I sometimes get fed up with YA books if I’m reading one after another with the same tropes: love triangles and insta-love are the worst! They’re so repetitive and annoying, I just have to take a break from these books for a bit. I also like to re-read my old favourites because I find re-visiting them is quite fun and helps you re-discover your love for books and reading!

1) The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

In October I was in a really bad reading slump, like the whole month I couldn’t read anything. I’d pick something up, read the first couple paragraphs and then put it down because I wasn’t in the mood for it. It was awful! But then I saw The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena for like £3.99 in Sainsbury’s for the hardback. It sounded really interesting and I was like, damn that’s a good buy for a hardback! I started reading it as soon as I got home and it took me about a day to read it. You could literally read this book in one sitting, it was so easy to read and it was an exciting page turner. I could not stop reading page after page because it was so fast paced, full of unexpected twists and turns. Granted, the writing was not the best and I have read better crime thriller books but it was certainly gripping because it was the only book I could read and I didn’t have any interest in putting it down to go to sleep. This got me out of my horrendous slump and I believe it is a standalone because I haven’t read anything about it having a second book.

September Wrap Up!

September has been an absolutely terrible reading month for me. I have read three books this month. Three books. I am so disappointed! It’s been a really busy month and I’ve just not had a lot of time to read. Here is what I did manage to read:

1) Demon Hunters: Trinity by Olivia Chase

I received this on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It was quite good but I just felt that I was a little too old for it and it was suited more for younger readers. There were some parts that annoyed me and didn’t really make sense. I’m not sure if I will read the next book it really depends on the synopsis. It’s about called Diana who feels that she has never really had a normal life. Her dad is an occult hunter and published author so she finds herself uprooted by investigations and this time she is moving to Edinburgh. It’s not long before her recurring nightmares start coming true and her destiny changes forever. After her dad goes missing, she becomes part of a Trinity of Demon Hunters. Along with her two new friends, she needs to face down death, rescue her dad and save their city. There’s only one question left to answer: how do you kill a dead man? You can read my full review here.

REVIEW: A World Without You by Beth Revis

Title: A World Without You by Beth Revis
Pages: 384
Published by: Razorbill
Publication date: 19th July 2016
Genre: Contemporary
Format: Hardback
Amazon UK – Book Depository

Synopsis:

What if finding her means losing himself?

Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he can travel through time. When he was ten, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at fifteen, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his worried parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he’s actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have “superpowers.”

At the Academy, Bo falls in love with Sofia, a quiet girl with a tragic past and the superpower of invisibility. Sofia helps Bop open up in a way he never has before. In turn, Bo provides comfort to Sofia, who lost her mother and two sisters at a very young age.

But even the strength of their love isn’t enough to help Sofia escape her deep depression. After she commits suicide, Bo is convinced that she’s not actually dead. He believes that she’s stuck somewhere in time – that he somehow left her in the past, and that now it’s his job to save her. And as Bo becomes more and more determined to save Sofia, he must decide whether to face his demons head-on or succumb to a psychosis that will let him be with the girl he loves.

WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. It’s a really quick, easy and fun post to do!

To take part, all you have to do is answer the questions below:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

 

Currently reading:

I am halfway through Demon Hunters: Trinity by Olivia Chase. It’s another ARC I found on NetGalley and so far I’m really enjoying it! It was recommended for fans of Cassandra Clare and that made me super curious to read it because I love Cassie’s books! This book is really interesting and I love all of the characters. I’m enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would! I have only read a little of Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi as I’m focusing more on finishing the first book. But this is also another book I’m thoroughly enjoying!

Most Anticipated Releases 2016!

There are so many great books coming out in September and I am so ready for them! Here is a list of the ones I am most excited for:

1) The Fever Code by James Dasher

I am so freaking excited for this you have no idea. I love The Maze Runner series so much and when this book was announced, I was so happy one of my favourite series wasn’t over. I had so many unanswered questions and I am so ready for this book to answer them. It comes out in the UK 27th September, is it bad that I’m already counting down the days?

You can pre-order it here: Amazon UK – Waterstones