The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson - Paige Toon

Paige Toon has recently released her first young adult book and I, of course, as a huge fan of Paige Toon and her wonderful writing, must write about the awesome read that is The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson. 

Jessie's life changed in a heart-breaking instant. Grieving and confused, Jessie goes off the rails while her stepdad tries to discipline her but feels helpless. Soon, Jessie finds herself in another world after her stepdad reveals that he knows who her real dad is... the rock star Johnny Jefferson. Things get awesome, crazy and just that bit more confusing.

I feel like I need to start this review by saying this: The fact that it was young adult fiction didn't faze me at all. I enjoyed it all the same - and realised a craving to go back to that awesome section of the bookshop. Young adult fiction rocks. Paige Toon portrayed a young fifteen year old girl's thoughts in a believable and enjoyable way and I loved going through her adventure alongside Jessie.
 

Jessie is awesome. Although with many lessons to learn throughout the novel, I adore that she is almost always honest with herself - and when she's not (for example, about her feelings towards a good friend she has drifted from), she knows it. Despite seeming stubborn, her want for a relationship with her real father is lovely to read about and when he returns the want to get to know her, my heart is happy.

 

The storyline is very exciting and also sweet. Not only does Paige mention McFly (a lot of brownie points are heading your way, Paige!), but she leaves us in that dilemma that makes my heart hurt: Tom or Jack. There's also another dilemma: Jessie soon has a life in England and America. I'm glad about Jessie's realisation of her need for Stu but I'm also ecstatic that she gets on wonderfully with her new family.

There are a couple of relationships that mean a lot to me from this novel. There is the relationship between Jessie and her stepdad, Stu. He obviously cares and loves Jessie in never ending bucket-fulls and, despite Jessie's rejection of a father-daughter-like relationship, it's made clear that she loves him too. As well as her friendship with Libby, I adore the relationship that is formed between Johnny and Jessie. It's sweet and compelling to read about.

I want to write a short but very important paragraph about my favourite quote from the novel: "...but I know better than to let my pride get in the way of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies."

The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson is a fabulous read.

Inflatable Toys & Dodgems,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

P.S. My Q&A with Paige Toon can be found HERE!

A Singsong Around the Campfire

I rarely write about music on my blog but for my challenge of blogging seven days a week (that you can read about HERE), I wanted to talk about two of my favourite new albums! Both of them are albums that I had been eagerly waiting for and so, to have them in my hands is a happy feeling!

♡ 



Peroxide - Nina Nesbitt

After enjoying all of the EPs and singles she has released on iTunes, I was so excited to purchase Nina Nesbitt's debut album Peroxide and I, as I knew would be the case, wasn't disappointed. It's a summery, sweet album as well as being full of meaning and Nina-soul. I have listened to this on repeat since I bought it the day it came out and it's time well spent. It's such an awesome album that has sad, angry and happy songs.

My favourite tracks from the album - although I can't fault one of the tracks as I love them all - are Two Worlds Away, He's The One I'm Bringing Back, The Outcome, The Hardest Part and Not What Your Dad Wants To Know (which is on the deluxe edition).  Kodaline (who I absolutely love) feature on Peroxide on the track Hold You which is a gorgeous song and also one of my favourites.

You can find the deluxe version of the album on Amazon HERE. You can also find it HERE as well as the "average" (it doesn't feel right calling it "average"... So, another version that oozes absolute awesomeness, gorgeousness and Ninaness) version HERE on iTunes.

I adore this album in abundance.

Cavalier Youth - You Me At Six

Cavalier Youth is You Me At Six's fourth album and it's a fabgreatawesome progression from Sinners Never Sleep. I cherish Cavalier Youth and I have serious sing-song-singing-like-I'm-Josh-Franceschi-sessions with it. It's an album that deserves to be synonymous with oh-my-goodness-gracious awesomeness and I've enjoyed seeing people being impressed and happy with it.

It should be noted that I, like Peroxide, can't fault any of the tracks but my favourites are Too Young To Feel This Old, Win Some, Lose Some, Be Who You Are, Carpe Diem and Wild Ones.

You can check it out HERE on Amazon and HERE and HERE on iTunes.

If Cavalier Youth had a definition it would be this: sheer quality.

I just want to "asdfghjkl". These two albums are incredible and in my elite favourite albums!

♡ 

Selfies & Little Stars,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

My little blogging challenge:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah

I finished Firefly Lane a while ago and I'm excited to talk about it today. This book saw me through a busy time in November and I have been thinking about it ever since.

 

Please excuse the poorly executed photograph. It has one of the most gorgeous front covers I have even seen and the beauty does, as much as we shouldn't judge a book by the cover, completely symbolise the sublime words that make up the pages inside.

 

Narratively following two best friends through decades, Firefly Lane contextually sets up the music and news of the time - something that particularly excites me. It allows the reader to travel through their adventures, relating to the girls easily. It's a novel that really deserves the title "beautiful".

Tully and Kate are dissimilar and yet the same. This is obvious from the start of the novel. As their lives progress their differences change but the similarities stay the same. With Tully focused on her career, fame and success and Kate wanting a family, love and security, eventually they realise a slight jealousy they possess at each other's lives. They go through high school, college and their work lives as best friends, taking on the world the only way they knew how: together. That's what triumphs the jealousy. My favourite thing about the novel are the two best friends. Tully and Kate. Their friendship is the most relatable relationship for me out of any book I've ever read. In so many ways, they are my best friend and I; their trust in each other; their plans for the future together; the way one will always be there fore the other.

But will their friendship survive the test of time? The test of love and ambition?

It's a story of two best friends. It's also a story of love, betrayal and happiness. It's a story of a daughter and her mother; a story of family. It's a story of learning things too late.

I really loved this book and it has become an elite favourite of mine. My mum read it afterwards and said that she thought it was fantastic. I believe it's a book for different generations for so many different reasons. *Sighs.* I didn't want it to end.

I'm really bad for sticking to the same authors. I fall in love with an author and then I'll read all of their books. I'll every now and then pick up a book by a different author and then read all of his/her books. For this reason, I'm trying to be open to different authors and I'm loving doing so! (Although I will still read all of their other books!)

Are there any good books you've read recently? I love suggestions!

Bike Rides & Dreams,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

Blogmas

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

*Many traces of spoiler... Like, seriously, some real spoilers. This may be more like a retelling of the novel than a review.*

You know when people claim to have not been prepared to experience something so mind-blowingly amazing that they now see the world as a more meaningful sphere of metaphors? I experienced it and I experienced it oh so much. When I purchased The Fault in Our Stars I knew I would have my heart taken away from me on a rollercoaster cart, ready for the ride of Hazel Grace's life, but I didn't know my eyes would rain quite so much. (Oh, Mr. Green, my love for metaphors has increased).

Oh, and hold on tight because this is going to be a long post.
























Let's start with the characters.

 

Hazel Grace is one of my favourite characters ever. She's courageous, funny and so selfless. She always seemed to be protecting other people's feelings and although it broke my heart because she didn't have to, she did all the same. She was also so outrageously, inappropriately funny and it made some really sour parts of the book lighter. She had an attitude that made horrible truths easier to take in. "Even cancer isn't a bad guy really: Cancer just wants to be alive." This quote just epitomises Hazel Grace, her justifying the destructiveness of her own illness.
 

I'm not going to talk too much about (one of) the love(s) of my life Augustus Waters because I will soon be posting a Fictional Fantasy post about him but he is just awesomeperfectlovely. From the moment he was mentioned in the novel, I knew he would tattoo my heart with his every organism. The way he saw things as a metaphor and his view on life lit my heart with wonder. Oh, and he's so gosh dang charming.

The parents of Hazel Grace played such a big role in the novel with setting up how heart-breaking the novel is." As Hazel stated, the thing worse than being a sixteen year old with cancer is being a parent with a sixteen year old child with cancer. Throughout the whole novel, whenever one of Hazel's parents was mentioned, this would play through my head, making every tear from her father sting me all the more. I, like Hazel, felt the best relief near the end of the novel when it was made certain that her parents would eventually be okay after she was gone.

 

I had built myself up to meet Peter Van Houten, this wonderful author, the image of him in my heart mirroring Hazel's and so when May came, I felt Hazel's pain with her. Her one wish, her one real wish turned out to be horrendously disappointing. I turned to my brother after I read it and complained about how he ruined Hazel's dream and then he reminded me, it's fiction. Still. What's more, Van Houten, by the end of the novel is still an alcoholic. That's raw and as much as I would have loved for him to be okay (I hope, beyond the pages, he is - I really want to email John Green about this), he wasn't and, well, that added to the realism.

Augustus and Hazel's relationship is at the top with all of my favourite romantic relationships because of one thing: their differences and similarities made a coherent whole. Everything about them worked so well; they understood each other and they wanted to understand each other. What was even more touching was how in love with each other they were before they were together. Hazel didn't want to be with him so as to make sure he never ended up hurt and Augustus wanted to be with her so they could be happy together.

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly and then all at once."    

 

Augustus's fear of oblivion is a part of the novel that made me think. He feared being forgotten because, in time, there would be no one alive to remember.
"Almost everyone is obsessed with leaving a mark upon the world. Bequeathing a legacy. Outlasting death. We all want to be remembered. I do, too. That's what bothers me the most, is being another unremembered casualty in the ancient and inglorious war against disease."
No matter how strong Augustus appeared, how sure of everything he was, he was vulnerable and he had fears. He wanted to make a mark and he feared not making it. Well, he made a mark on my heart, that's for sure.

The part of the novel that broke my heart the most about the novel was this: "...I was beginning to suspect that even if death didn't get in the way, the kind of love  that Augustus and I share could never last." I don't like to believe it's true, but, in my head I linked it with oblivion: nothing ever lasts. Although when I read the quote it caused me to dampen the top of my top, tears not staying at the bay for anything, I know it's exactly what I love about the novel. I really love how honest it is.

I've not felt sadness at a novel like the day I read of Augustus's exit. I went to bed and Augustus was alive and charming Hazel and me. I woke up to read and before long he was dead, gone from the pages of the novel. There's some sense of realism there. That's why my throat was caught and my eyes pricked for a second before I really began to sob.

I'm glad that the book was left where it was because, despite the novel spelling out Hazel's death and what happened after, without the "scratches on a page", we know that beyond Hazel's death, her mom's happiness will exist despite the pain and her parents stay together. I just know it. Mr Green, I thank you.

I've never been so touched by one novel before and heck, not many novels have made me cry quite like this one. I was left with a muddle of thoughts and sadness but enlightenment. Not only did this novel bring me great joy with opening my eyes quite so much, the tears it created meant some really moisturised cheeks! The Fault in Our Stars is full with lines that made me stop, re-read the sentence made up of everyday letters that formed something so special and let the words make my heart pound until I was ever so slightly over the hauntingly perfect or beautiful words. Every special line is in my memory, etched with the romance and the tragedy of it all. True, the overwhelming sadness I felt was genuinely heartbreaking, but it's the most raw, true and touching novel I've read.

I could ramble on (as I've done above) about how amazing this novel is for a days and days without thinking I've not covered everything. The Fault in Our Stars is a love story, a fight, a tragedy. The Fault in Our Stars is a masterpiece, a tear-provoking work and a story that will never leave me.

John Green, this novel was more than "scratches on a page."

Crooked Smiles & Metaphors,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY!!!!11!!1!1!!

Being a teenager in my generation means I was a young child - but old enough to remember watching it too often - when Monsters Inc. was released. It was my favourite animated movie without a shadow of a doubt and now, at 17 years of age, after having waited for Monsters University for months and months, the day finally arrived.

*Contains traces of spoilers.*

I have one thing to say about the smaller (if that's possible!) version of Mike: AWWWWWWWWW, I want to have a squishy monster hug with him and put him in my pocket. AW. I just had to "aw" out loud when he was being pushed around. Poor 'ickle Mike. I loved how eager little Mike was and how his ambition still shone through at University too. Three cheers for Mike.

Now, Sulley... When he first appeared, all cockey and cheeky I fell a bit in love but then he treated Mike badly and I was on the little fella's side, despite Sulley always being my favourite character (and he still was and is). However, the Sulley we grew up with was made at Monsters University and I felt so happy and excited to watch their journey. They are the best of friends.

The film was funny and heart-warming, sweet and scary! Watching animated films a fair few years into one's life, I've found they become funnier! I love the little jokes that make so much more sense than they would have years ago and so, although it maybe should have felt like I was too old for the film, it didn't and no one else my age has thought that. I went into the cinema knowing I'd love it and hey, I loved it!

Obviously, this isn't the best written post of mine but Monsters Inc. was my childhood and I went back to be six years old again when I was sat in that cinema. I wish Sulley and Mike were my best pals (even though they would have scared the life out of me - even you Mike!).

RAWRs & Screams,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

My 7 Favourite Nicholas Sparks Novels

Picking my top seven favourite Nicholas Sparks novels was literally one of the hardest things I have ever done. It should be known that the novels not mentioned were obviously all close to being in my top seven as I often changed my mind! There may be what you consider spoilers in this so do not read on if you haven't read the magic of these novels. I seriously spent time scratching my head and wanting to cry but here you go!

1. The Lucky One is based around Logan and his search for a girl that he believes saved his life as well as his life when he found her. I love The Lucky One because Logan is probably my joint favourite Nicholas Sparks male character. He is so caring and sweet and when I finished the novel I had to remind my self he's not real. Yes he's perfect, but he's not real. Beth is so strong but vulnerable, that these two together made my favourite novel that I return to if I have nothing to read. It is the perfect love story.

2. Safe Haven, a very gripping novel about the beautiful Katie overcoming her ex and finding peace with the lovely Alex never fails to have me up throughout a night reading. I have already raved about before: http://thegirlinthemoonlight.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/safe-haven.html and I just love Alex (my joint first favourite).

3. A Walk To Remember, I read in a night because I was so gripped with the characters of Jamie and Landon. The fact that they were polar opposites and yet their relationship was so fairy-tale-like gave me those goosebumps that can only be produced from books. I love how, when reading it, you see Landon change in front of you and how his love is so big for the lovely and selfless Jamie. "You have to promise you won't fall in love with me." When I first read Jamie saying this, I knew Nicholas Sparks was going to make my heart weep, and I thank him for it because this novel is just fantastic.

4. The Choice has to be in my top seven because I love the development of the characters in this novel. I fall in love with each male character in Nicholas Sparks novels too quickly, but I love Travis for different reasons. I love him for how he is with his friends as well as how lovely he is to Gabby, his neighbour who didn't return it straight away but yet he was still somewhat besotted with her, at first not knowing why. Reading the change in Gabby was incredibly sweet as, in her eyes Travis went from being someone who "knew" he was "really good-looking" from her being able to "imagine spending the rest of [her] life with [him]" and that's what makes this novel perfect to me.

5. Best of Me is heart-breakingly beautiful, not only because two teenage sweethearts regretfully went their separate ways, but because of the moral, yet incredibly needed ending. I loved the book so much that I wrote a song about it because, out of all of Nicholas Sparks' novels, Best of Me touched me in a really different and solemn way.

6. Message in a Bottle is based around Theresa Osborne, a journalist who becomes interested in a charming, but heart-breaking love story from a letter that washed up onto a beach in a bottle. I love this novel because I feel like the two main characters, Theresa and the lovely Garrett find some kind of calmness after overcoming events that happened before in their lives. Garrett, to me is charming and sweet and his troubles with moving on from Catherine make it all the more tragically beautiful.

7. True Believer really is joint sixth because I could not choose between this and Message in a Bottle. This novel is just an endearing and lovely story about a seemingly "cynical" man, Jeremy and one of my favourite of Nicholas Sparks' female characters, Lexie. She is so seemingly strong and independent that when her walls break down - so to speak - she becomes even more awesome. There's something about the way Nicholas Sparks presents small towns and even how some of his characters resent characteristics of them that makes me want to live in one all the more and this novel certainly captures why I do so much! The ending to this novel is my favourite ending ever...I genuinely was in tears for an hour.

Dear Nicholas Sparks,

Please can you write me my story?

x

Books & Hot Chocolate,

The Girl in the Moonlight.