Must-Read: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell – Review

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: October 6th 2015
Publisher: St-Martin’s Griffin
Point of View: 1st Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, LGBT, Boarding School, Friendship, Romance, Destiny, Vampires

BLURB:

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters. Continue reading →

Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

15745753 Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: February 26th 2013
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Point of View: 3rd Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Very slow
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, High School, Family Issues, Bildungsroman, Realistic Fiction

BLURB:

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor… Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough…Eleanor.

Park… He knows she’ll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises…Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. Continue reading →

Review: Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: February 25th 2016
Publisher: Macmillians Kids UK
Point of View: 3rd Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fandom, Short Story

BLURB:

If you broke Elena’s heart, Star Wars would spill out. So when she decides to queue outside her local cinema to see the new movie, she’s expecting a celebration with crowds of people who love Han, Luke and Leia just as much as she does. What she’s not expecting is to be last in a line of only three people; to have to pee into a collectible Star Wars soda cup behind a dumpster or to meet that unlikely someone who just might truly understand the way she feels. Kindred Spirits is an engaging short story by Rainbow Rowell, author of the bestselling Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Carry On, and is part of a handful of selected short reads specially produced for World Book Day. Continue reading →

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Monica @ Hit or Miss Books

16068905 Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: September 10th 2013
Publisher: St Matin’s Press
Point of View: 3rd Person
Recommended Age: 11+
Genres & Themes: Love, College, Family, LGBT

BLURB:

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? Continue reading →