The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

This is a review if the The Carrie Diaries BK1 by Candace Bushnell
I chose to read this as I watched the TV and enjoyed it and wondered about Carries life as a teenager (not sad) and it seemed like a good book.
Well the book cover is shiny cold with a clutch bag and Carrie written in pink writing. (see right)
This book is set with Carrie in her senior year of High School. We see Carrie trying to peruse her dream of becoming a writing and dealing with issues with boys.
Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda are not featured in this book. (Samantha is on the last page not really a spoiler).
The story starts with her in school and a boy named Sebastian Kydd comes to the school and Carrie falls for him. The story talks about her friendship and what her friends are going though with issues such as sexuality being included into the story as it is a coming of age story.
My favourite character in the book was Carrie however at points she did not seem like the carrie that we know from the TV show but the overall feel of Carrie is there and as she was in High School the following books in the series will probably bring out the Carrie from the SATC original book.(Summer in the City the second book is out around the 26th April 2011).
I enjoyed the story but if you are an older fan and maybe watched the programme when it came out in 1993/4? then the writing style is very teen so if your after a mature book I would not recommend this book if your a teen I would recommend this book.
I will give this book a 3.5 out of 5 as I feel the writing style could have been improved and made to appeal more to the original demographic of SATC however I will be buying the second novel and see if it has improved.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

This is a book review of Beastly by Alex Flinn

I checked out this book because I saw the trailer for the film a while ago and wanted to read the book before the film came out.
The cover is simple with the single white rose and the words 'BEASTLY' written in capitals with the connotations of thorns on the letters which the rose is connected to. the rose is obviously used as it is a flower mentioned a lot in the story and other retelling's of this fairytale.
The book is written in modern day New York City and follows Kyle as he becomes a beast and how he and his family react to the transformation of him becoming a beast (yes a beast not someone covered in tattoos and some scars like the film portrays but a real beast that 'not quite wolf or gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature with fangs,claws and hair springing from every pore') 
I liked the pace and the concept of the story and felt the writing style was good. The chatroom added before each part of the book I enjoyed (the book is written in 5 parts) and these included other fairytale characters such as the Little Mermaid (SILENTMAID). These added a few extra characters and was a nice touch to the book which definitely was enjoyable.
At the beginning I was hooked on the book and finished it in one setting (304 pages with quite a large font) as it was a very quick easy read.
The character of Kyle at the beginning of the book annoyed me but as the book progressed I began to like Kyle as a character. My favourite character in the book was Lindy as I loved her attitude and how she developed as a character and towards the beast.
This book is definitely a quick and easy read. I would recommend reading it before the film (or after as i think it will be quite different) for a quick summer read and very enjoyable.
I will give this book a 4 as it was very enjoyable and the pace was good but not a book that will stay with you or one that you could talk about much with your friends. My favourite part was the ending but as the film does not use Kyle as a real beast will be interesting to see how this is filmed. 

Jenny Downham Before I Die

This will be a book review of Before I Die by Jenny Downham.

I felt that I was going to enjoy this book as many of my friends had read it and told amazing things about it so I decided to check it out. The cover I feel is really nice and gives a scene of peace and a feel of sadness with her alone lying on the grass (see left).
The book is about a girl named Tessa who is Sixteen. We know that she is going to die and before she dies she has a list of things that she wants to complete before she passes.
From the first page the book had a gripped and was more graphic than I thought it would be when reading it. the font was a nice size and easy to read.
The pace of the book was fantastic and is didn't want to put the book down. I think that the character developments were amazing and you got a clear idea of all the characters.
My favourite character was Tessa as you really felt what she was going though and could really empathise with her and what she feeling. I also think the issue of cancer was executed enough in the book and gave you the information that you needed to know without every fact and boring the reader. Tessa also I feel gave a good representation of what someone might think about when there in this condition and how she grew up during the book. My only dislike in the book was Tessa's best friend Zoey but think that she did add to the story and with out her I don't think that Tessa would have been written in the same way.
I also loved the way in which the end of the book was written and gave you an idea in her head with the construction of the paragraphs.
I will give this book a 5 as it was perfect and would recommend everyone to read it. It is a book as said on the front cover as a quote that will make you 'happy to be alive' and also feel for people in the condition that Tessa is in. A book that will make you happy and sad and one that you could read again and again and still feel the emotion you did the first time.

First Book Review

The first Book that I will Review is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

I felt that the concept of the book was great and it was not a type of book I have read before and was looking forward to reading it. I liked the look of the cover with the girl in the right side of the book alone looking slightly sad and it does correspond with the book (see left).
The main plot of the story is that a girl named Hannah Baker had committed suicide and two weeks later her friend Clay Jenson received thirteen video tapes that was recorded by Hannah Baker before she died. The video types are each aimed at a specific person who had caused her to commit suicide and  then once each person had listened to the types they had pass the type on to the next person.
I liked the pace and the writing style of this book however at times the text between the video type of Hannah speaking and Clay were hard to differentiate between but apart from that the book flowed well with stories linking to each other and kept me interested.
At the beginning I felt the reason for her committing suicide was petty and something that most people will go though in their school live some of the reasons got more shocking in later types however I still do not feel that it was enough to commit suicide in my opinion.
My favourite character in the book was Clay as you really felt sorry for him and emphasized with him throughout.I felt more sorry for him at the end of the book than Hannah which I'm not sure the author intended us to be positioned but I still at the end of reading this book don't see a stand out moment that made Hannah kill herself as some of the other characters had worse done to them and Hannah just witnessed these events.
I will give this book a 3.5 as I would recommend this book to read and I enjoyed it but it seemed to me that Hannah wad after attention and that's the only reason I can think of for her killing herself as the events she goes though many other people will but will not commit suicide because of this (I wouldn't think). I was a bit disappointed which is why it does not receive 4 stars as I feel there could have been deeper issues for Hannah to die and this would have made the book more (enjoyable?) and hard hitting/effecting to the audience.

My Review System

I will review books and at the end of the review I will give a rating out of 5.
1-Terrible -Did not enjoy the story at all, couldn't finish the book and would not recommend.
2-Not a book - I enjoyed only just managed to read the whole book and wouldn't recommend .
3-Okay- a book with a good story but could have been more developed or could have been cut down in information would recommend.
4-Good- This book had a great story line and plot structure would recommend. 
5-Excellent- This book had everything to keep me engaged and want to keep reading (couldn't put it down) would recommend to everyone and would re-read it again and again.