Five Feet Apart by Rachel Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis

Rating: 4/5
Age recommendation: YA/15+

Hello, for my second post today (wowzers, considering I haven't done anything in a while) I'm going to review Five Feet Apart, which is now a major motion picture!

First, we meet Stella, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. She's been in hospital most of her life because of CF, and she always needs to be in control of everything else. Her biggest rule is never be within six feet of another CFer. 6 feet, if she ever wants the chance to get a lung transplant. No less. Then there's Will, another CFer, only he also has B Cepacia. He hates the endless trips to hospitals and wants to be in control of his life, which'll happen when he turns 18. If Stella wants to stay safe and be able to get her new lungs, she shouldn't hang around Will. One touch could be enough to jeopardize everything she's been working towards. But as they get to know each other, Stella starts to wonder, is everything, all the rules and restrictions, really worth it? What if they changed six feet to five, would it really ruin everything?

This book hit me hard. It's made me so grateful for everything I have, including my family, friends, freedom and perfectly good set of functioning lungs. It was a good book, which filled me full of emotions as I read. I had a good laugh, cringe and a bit of a cry, and suspense for the next chapter. If you enjoy contemporary YA romances with a roller coaster of emotions and friendships, this is for you! I read the whole thing in two days! It's defiantly a shorter book than I normally read, but was still well written and structured all the way through, and didn't seem to fast paced or like things were happening to quickly. I'm so looking forward to watching the movie!

This book really helped me to understand something like what it must be like for people who are stuck in hospital, and do have less freedom as most of us do. Most of us can be friends with whoever we want to be friends with, and we can hug them and do things with them without worrying about all the troubles which Stella and Will faced in Five Feet Apart. A wonderful, insightful love story which is short and sweet, this book is bound to make you unable to do anything else other than read and wonder about it! This book will teach you to be grateful for even the littlest things in life. I don't normally read a lot of contemporary, but Five Feet Apart was defiantly a good one, which should be added to your TBR pile as soon as possible!

I hope that science is able to find a cure for cystic fibrosis, and I can't believe the amount people who have to live with it, and anyone else with a life threatening disease. Best wishes to anyone who is stuck in hospital like Stella and Will, I hope you get well! Have any thoughts on Five Feet Apart? Post in the comments below!

Happy Reading, and don't forget to wash your hands!
Maddie xoxo

Undercover Princess (the Rosewood Chronicles bk1) by Connie Glynn

Rating: 5/5
Age recommendation: 13+

Hey, it's been a while!
So today, I'm going to introduce you guys to the amazingness (I know that's not a word) that is Undercover Princess, first book in the Rosewood Chronicles by Connie Glynn.

Undercover Princess follows Lottie Pumpkin and Ellie Wolf, as they begin the start of the school year at Rosewood Hall, a prestigious boarding school which is incredibly hard to get into. All her life, Lottie, a sweet, fairy tale loving girl,  has always dreamed about being a princess, and Ellie is a rebellious, free spirited princes who has always wished that she wasn't one. Hardly a few days into the school year, a rumor spreads around the school that Lottie is the undercover princess of Maradova. Unable to stop the rumors, Lottie and Ellie decide to switch identities after Ellie tells Lottie that she is the real undercover princess. Everything is perfect, and with a growing friendship between the two girls, everything is just as they dreamed it would be. Only, someone seems to know Ellie and Lottie's deception, and with growing threats, they realize that their life at Rosewood is not as wonderful as it may seem. The girls need to find out what is happening, or else their lives could be in danger. Undercover Princess is a fun, mystery filled, cute and mysterious read for anyone who likes princesses and adventures. 

I really enjoyed this book, and was constantly surprised with new twists and never found the book dull. If you enjoy Harry Potter and Disney, you should like this book because it is inspired from those franchises, but was in no way a rip-off version of either. I really enjoy books which are set at a school and have lots of fun characters each with their own traits. And while Rosewood isn't a magical school, with wizards or powers and other magical, fantasy stuff, it has a bit of a whimsical feel. As Connie Glynn says herself, "It is not the magic of fantasy books and wizards - it's the magic you feel when you find a person or place with which you feel an explainable affinity." It makes the story interesting and fun to read.

As an aspiring writer myself, I love the way that Connie writes and picked up a couple of good techniques she used, and she makes each and every sentence interesting and meaningful. The whole story is whimsical and colorful. There are a lot of lessons to learn in the Rosewood Chronicles, and the characters are relatable and funny and filled with their own quirks and traits. The story is inspiring and full of mysteries I couldn't wait to solve, and had me guessing and waiting in anticipation for the next chapter. I read this book last year, and decided to re-read it when I got the third book for my birthday, and it was just as exciting and mysterious as the first time I read it. I finished the third book yesterday, and am eagerly awaiting the fourth!

So that's Undercover Princess, book one in the Rosewood Chronicles by Connie Glynn. Definitely a five stars out of five read, and great for anyone who likes Disney or Harry Potter! All in all, it's a cute and fun, mysterious story. If you want to find out what house you're in, I found a quiz on the Penguin website: https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/children/2018/the-rosewood-chronicles-sorting-quiz/ . I'm in Ivy!!

Just before I go, I also thought I'd say that Connie Glynn is also the voice of Moxie Dewdrop in the Dreamworks animation Trolls. That's kind of completely off topic, but a fun fact anyways! Also, Connie has her own YouTube channel, which I enjoy watching. She also has a vlog where she was writing the book. So yeah. I thought it was cool.

Also! While reading is heaps of fun and the thing that I do every singly day without fail because I love it so much, with the Corona Virus going on and quarantine, it might be fun to do other things to! My friend Jasmine has her own blog, where she posts drawings, recipes, short stories, poems and more! It's lots of fun, and right now she's been blogging about what she's been doing stuck in quarantine, so check it out! Here's the link:   http://jasminesnotsosecretjournal.blogspot.com/ 

If you've read Undercover Princess, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you haven't add it to your TBR pile right now! Have any thoughts on Undercover Princess or your own recommendations? Post in the comments below! We're in a trying time right now, so remember to keep positive, wash your hands and read books!

Happy Reading,

Maddie xoxo 

Review: Akarnae (The Medora Chronicles book 1) by Lynette Noni

Rating: 5/5
Age recommendation: 13+

Hey guys,
So, for my first book review, I've decided to tell you about the amazingness that is Akarnae, book one of The Medora Chronicles by Lynette Noni.

First off, for those of you who haven't heard of this amazing series, Akarnae follows 16 year old Alex, as she begins her first day at school. However, instead of handing in her enrollment forms, Alex is shocked when she steps right into a fantasy world: Medora. Stuck in this new world, and desperate to return home, she finds out that the only person who can help her is a Professor, named Marselle, only no one knows where he is. Assured that he'll return soon, Alex begins her school year at Akarnae Academy, Medoras school for people with extraordinary gifts. As Alex meets new friends and starts to enjoy her strange new world, discovering secrets and quirks of the Academy and its library, she can't help but suspect something sinister is happening. Unwilling and unable to turn back, Alex finds herself drawn into a deadly situation, her shoulders carrying the heavy load of the survival of an entire race. Only Alex can save the Medorans, but what if this means she can never go home? Will she accept this challenge, putting her own life and world on the line?

Akarnae is beautifully written, and there's never a shortage of laughs through the whole series. Noni is an amazing writer, and once I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down, finishing it in two days! The characters are all filled with their own amusing traits, and there's never a dull moment with Bear and Jordan (you'll find out who they are). The plot is engaging and exiting, and filled me with anticipation and excitement for the next chapter.

I think that one of the reasons that I love these books so much, is because it is set in a different world with different rules which would normally seem impossible, but the way the story is written makes everything seem believable. I don't know about you guys, but in some fantasy novels, I notice that sometimes the magic really doesn't make sense, like one minute one thing is happening, the next something completely different with no explanation. I never felt like this while I was reading Akarnae, as everything had some kind of explanation and I always understood how or why something 'magical' was happening. There were no moments where I didn't know how or why something was happening (unless it was intentional for the plot). The book made sense the entire time.

While there was lots of magic and characters with powers in the book (which I love), I also liked how there were also futuristic and technological aspects to Medora. Overall, I couldn't find a fault through the whole series (because if you read Akarnae, you need to read the rest of the books), and it made me laugh, filled me with joy and buzzing anticipation. I could always really feel and understand the emotions that Alex was feeling, which is something every good book should do.

I loved the entire series so much that it is definitely my favorite YA series (I say YA because nothing could ever replace Harry Potter for me). I probably lost a couple hours of sleep to this book as well, unable to stop wondering what was going to happen next, as I waited for sleep to come. I read this book pretty quickly, and soon enough I'd finished all the books and was like: oh. It's over. What now? It can't be over. What am I supposed to read now?? Why did you have to end you amazing book??? (When you want to know what happens in the end, you get there, then realize it's over. Sadness...)

Please note that when I say I would recommend these books to people 13+ years, I don't mean it's for younger teens. There's a reason it's classified as young adult, and that's because any teen or adult should love it if they like books set in fantasy worlds, with friendship, adventure, laughter and excitement. I would definitely recommend Akarnae to anyone who likes Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.

I hope you plan on reading this book now, and if you have I hope you loved it as much as I did! Keep safe and well during this trying time known as the Corona Virus and remember to wash your hands! Have you got any thoughts on Akarnae? Post in the comments below!
Happy Reading,
Maddie xoxo

1st Post!

Hello!
Welcome to my blog! On this website I'll give you my true and honest reviews, ratings and recommendations on YA and children's books! I sincerely apologize for any of the many spelling and grammar mistakes I am sure will happen.  Watch this space for more!
Happy reading,
Maddie xoxo