BOOK REVIEW | ON THE OTHER SIDE BY CARRIE HOPE FLETCHER

Title: On The Other Side
Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
Published: 2016
Pages: 345
Rating: 3/5

"Evie's soul must be light enough to pass through so she needs to get rid of whatever is making her soul heavy. For Evie, this means unburdening herself of the three secrets that have weighed her down for over fifty years, so she must find a way to reveal them before it's too late. As Evie begins the journey of a lifetime, she learns more about life and love than she ever thought possible, and somehow , some way, she may also find her way back to her long lost love... Evie Snow is eighty-two when she quietly passes away in her sleep, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. It's the way most people wish to leave the world but when Evie reaches the door of her own private heaven, she finds that she's become her twenty-seven-year-old self and the door won't open." 

I was really curious to read this book because Carrie was the person who got me back in to reading. I used to watch every book video of her multiple times. I was so excited to find out that she had written her own novel.

I really, really like the story and the fact that this is not you average love story. It was super cute and whimsical. I really enjoyed the story, it was nothing special just adorable.

The characters were all very likeable and all characters that I would love to be friends with if I would knew them. If you are looking for a cute contemporary which you can fly through I would highly recommend this read. 

BOOK REVIEW | THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK BY CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE

Title: The Thing Around Your Neck
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Published: 2009
Pages: 218
Rating: 4/5

"This is a short story collection, set in Nigeria. In “A Private Experience,” a medical student hides from a violent riot with a poor Muslim woman whose dignity and faith force her to confront the realities and fears she’s been pushing away. In “Tomorrow Is Too Far,” a woman unlocks the devastating secret that surrounds her brother’s death. The young mother at the center of “Imitation” finds her comfortable life in Philadelphia threatened when she learns that her husband has moved his mistress into their Lagos home. And the title story depicts the choking loneliness of a Nigerian girl who moves to an America that turns out to be nothing like the country she expected; though falling in love brings her desires nearly within reach, a death in her homeland forces her to reexamine them."


This is the second short story collection I've ever read and although I didn't have a good first experience when reading 'My True Love Gave To Me', I really loved this short story collection!

All the stories are set in Nigeria, a place I normally never read about in either fiction or non-fiction but something that did intrigue me a lot. When reading the stories it felt like all stories had an important message to give when you had finished the story.

I really love the writing style Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie used and I'm really excited to read more/all of her work. I have 'Purple Hibiscus' on my shelf and I'm very excited to pick it up in the near future!

TOP 5 WEDNESDAY | CURRENT FAVOURITES THAT AREN'T BOOKS

First of all I want to apologise, again, for the lack of blogging. I have been so extremely busy; school, internship and work really got the best of me. But now I am finally in my last week of internship and although I'm sad to leave, I am glad that I will have some time for my own now. Internship just really took a whole lot of my time. Without any further do, today I decided to do a Top 5 Wednesday since my latest posts all have been reviews. These weeks T5W is: current favourites that aren't books. 

Hannibal

First of all, I am absolutely loving the show Hannibal which I'm watching with my boyfriend. It is absolutely creepy and totally disturbing but I really enjoy watching it. It also makes me very curious about the books!

Fernandes Cherry Bouquet

My favourite drink at the moment is definitely 'Fernandes Cherry Bouquet'. I think it's a drink that is only available in the Netherlands and Suriname though...

On My Way by Phil Collins

'On My Way' from the movie Brother Bear was always one of my favourite songs but one I totally forgot about. Recently I rediscovered it and once again I'm absolutely in love with this song!

Disposable Camera

Maybe the most random one; but I love disposable camera's. I really like to take pictures with these because I am for sure that I will look at the pictures a lot more than when they are on the computer.

Mamma Mia

Mamma Mia is one of my favourite films ever and recently I have watched it a couple of times again. Still loving it to bits!

What are your non-book favourites?

BOOK REVIEW | THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS BY MARIEKE NIJKAMP

Title: This Is Where It Ends
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Published: 2016
Pages: 285
Rating: 4/5

10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won't open.
10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting.

Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.


Ever since this book first got attention I was really curious to read this. This book is about a school shooting, something that nowadays happens a lot in America. Something that is very sad but in my opinion also is something that needs to be educated about. I was curious about the message this book was going to bring.

The way the story is told is quite cool. It's told from multiple perspectives, over a time spend of a couple of minutes each time. I personally found that this kept me really curious about what was going to happen.

I really liked the fact that this book had a very diverse set of characters. What I did find unfortunate is the fact that we didn't read in the perspective of the shooter. I think this could've made the book a whole lot more interesting. 

Although this was a really good read, I think that I would have liked this book a whole lot more as a 14-year old. I think this is definitely aimed for the younger audience of the young adult genre. 

BOOK REVIEW | THE VEGETARIAN BY HAN KANG

Title: The Vegetarian
Author: Han Kang
Published: 2016
Language: Korean
Pages: 192
Rating: 4/5
Translator: Deborah Smith


Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary life. But when splintering, blood-soaked images start haunting her thoughts, Yeong-hye decides to purge her mind and renounce eating meat. In a country where societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye's decision to embrace a more “plant-like” existence is a shocking act of subversion. 



I was really excited to finally pick up 'The Vegetarian' since it has been on my wishlist for so long. I am really curious to read more translated fiction and had never read a book from South-Korea. I think that the book starting with someone becoming a vegetarian is a really interesting start for a book about mental health. 

This book had plots and twists of which I never could imagine them happening when I imagined what this book would be about. What I really liked about this story is that you can see the mental illness 'being born' you see how it develops and grows within our main character.

This book is separated in 3 parts, and in the second part we also experience sexual desire, but again not as we are used to. We experience it not about lust objects and sexual desire from human to human but about the power of an individual. 

This was a book like no others.