The Problem with Forever Review

Spoiler Free - 

If you follow my Instagram (abibliotopia) then you probably know that I am a HUGE fan of author Jennifer L. Armentrout. Her books don't necessarily use the most advanced and challenging vocabulary, or create contemplative thoughts and leave your mind pondering...But they do entertain. I always read her books within one or two days and rarely am I left disappointed as this woman's strength is creating excellent stories with authentic and relatable characters. In this post, I will be review her latest book The Problem with Forever.

This book focuses on teenager Mallory Dodge, who struggles with talking due to her suffering from an abusive foster home as a child. Growing up silent and trying to stay hidden, it's difficult now for Mallory to speak up in her new, generous life with her adoptive Doctor parents. Taking a huge, courageous step, Mallory decides to go to school for the first time, where she meets childhood saviour Rider and discovers their unique connection has not faded over time...

Different from Jennifer's usual novels, this book is set in our world: with no Fae, Demons or Aliens. Although I naturally gravitate toward those kind of books, I had no doubt that I would enjoy this book any less as I have faith in this author. Usually I would say that JLA excels in creating brilliant characters and exceptional stories. However, for this book I'd argue differently. With a simple, basic story line, The Problem with Forever relies on the characters and the character development, but mainly, the writing. I thought the writing was hugely more sophisticated than Jennifer's other books; perfectly capturing an appropriate voice for the protagonist Mallory as well as tone. I really enjoyed exploring another talent of the author, though I'd still put the book under the teen fiction/young adult barrier.

The characters in this book are so different from any other books I've read. The book already starts with Mallory being broken, and instead of a story telling how she became that way, we were told a story of how she is gradually picking up the pieces of herself. I thought this was so refreshing for a YA book and although the book carried some serious themes, it had an overall positive outcome. I think for some this book could be a genuine help to restore faith or help build your own self. This is why Mallory is so special. Her timid approach at life and her nickname being 'Mouse' don't prevent her from anything or silence her from life. The irony in it all is inspiring.

It wouldn't be a Jennifer L. Armentrout book without a handsome, caring, brave, charismatic and loving hero; Rider. Jennifer effortlessly charms the audience into falling for him as she does with all her novels. However, this book does not fall under the boy-meets-girl, boy-loves-girl radar. Although there is inevitable romance and cliche bumps along the road, it is not the story that Jennifer is telling. This books is about finding yourself and self-empowerment.

Strangely, I relate more to Jennifer's heroines that are fighting demons or dating aliens, but that didn't prevent me from admiring Mallory. I also found the story line to be too basic. I know it's supposed to be a book of character development, but I think more deeper emotions could have been created for the readers to always keep their interest sparked. 

Hope this review was helpful for you! You can find my details below.



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Hannah

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The 5th Wave Movie Review//Discussion

This review will include spoilers for the book The 5th Wave. It's an incredible book that I recommend you read!

Hey guys! I've been meaning to write this review since I saw it so many months ago in the cinema. I was so excited for the film and I thought the trailer looked amazing and so promising. Initially, when I left the cinema I thought that it had been a success - I loved it! However after seeing it again and having so long to really look back on it...I don't think it's as good as I thought. 
All opinions here are my own, so please don't hate on it. 

Anyone who has read the book will know the synopses for the movie; aliens have invaded Earth and are taking over by unleashing 'waves' amongst mankind. Each wave progressively getting worse and wiping out more and more people. After the death of Cassie's parents, her younger brother Sam is taken away to a safety camp, only to be discovered to be run by the aliens. Cassie goes out to find him, but by doing so she runs into the gorgeous Evan Walker who helps her with her plan. 

Loads of other stuff happens, including the perfect Ben Parish and his rebellion and all that jazz. You know the stuff if you're reading this. I firstly want to approach the positives I have with this movie. The main one being the casting (most of the time). I fell in love with Chloe Grace Moretz in one of my all time favourite movies - Kick-Ass. Her acting in everything is exceptional and she makes no exception in this movie either. She was a fan favourite to play Cassie and she didn't disappoint; she perfectly captured the determination and love she had for finding her brother whilst also still being a normal teenage girl. When reading the book, I always thought Cassie to be one of the most relatable heroines ever, and although it wasn't to the same extreme in the movie as the book for me, it was still pretty damn good. I also loved the casting of Nick Robinson as Ben Parish. After finding him dreamy and lovely in Jurassic World, I was super happy with the casting of him as our charming and endearing Parish. The final (main) character I was uber happy with was Zachary Arthur as Sammy; I'm usually very sceptical of child actors, often finding them to be really annoying but not this guy. I actually found myself sympathising with him and thought he did a great job of presenting the innocence and vulnerability of the children during the tragic times.

I'm unsure of the casting of Alex Roe. I think he's physically perfect and he also had the capability to act, however I don't know if it was him or the directors but I don't think they captured the personality of Evan right. He is a difficult character to play as he has several intricate characteristics. One minute he's manly and intimidating, the next he's vulnerable and shy. Most importantly, however, is his adorable awkwardness around Cassie which was a huge loss in the movie that was hilarious in the book and gave the audience an enormous step with loving the relationship of Cassie and Evan. In the book, for me, there isn't a lot of romance. It's so well laced with the desperation of reaching Sam and the fear of the new world. However, in the movie it's so heavily, and badly romanced that it ruined the chemistry between Cassie and Evan for me and just made the entire second half of the movie a cringe-fest. 

I was surprised to see the casting of Reznik being female. I had no issue of this initially however when watching the movie I didn't find her to be intimidating or scary enough so the entire threat that Ben was put under was completely lost. I also thought her wearing bright red lipstick was stupid. Like, why? My last complaint about casting was Maika Monroe. I thought the actress was great and everything but similarly to Evan, I think the interpretation of Ringer was wrong somehow. I mean, when reading the book, I never envisioned her to be this emo chick who's just super moody. She has a serious backstory and is the only one who's sceptical about everything. 

Another positive I had with the movie was that it had a higher age rating. Something that had always troubled me was books aimed at young adults/adults being made into movies for young teens and kids. However, I thought that this could have been embraced more with more bad language (I remember Cassie swearing a lot more) and more violence. I thought the first half of the film was actually quite strong. The explanation of the waves was done well and I also found the shooting of the crucifix man to be quite potent. However, when the sloppy romance and the story of Ben Parish at the camp was introduced, I thought the film started to become messy and unfortunately...boring. There was no eerie threat that I felt when reading the book. There wasn't even a great balance between seriousness and humour like other films similar often have. This is necessary in order for the audience to favour characters. I felt everyone lacked so much life and character which kind of made the film feel deflated in comparison to the book. 

I'm aware that it's so difficult for movies to be an accurate portrayal of a book as it can't include all the detail in a short time frame. However I feel if this is the case, don't bother making a movie as it just leaves us fans disappointed. I'd love to know your thoughts on this film, whether you did or didn't enjoy it and why below! 

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Hannah

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P.S I Still Love You Review!

To All The Boys I've Loved Before must have been read before reading this review to avoid spoilers for that book. This review will not have spoilers for P.S I Still Love You. 

Hey guys! Another review of a Jenny Han book; P.S I Still Love You, the sequel to the book I previously reviewed, To All The Boys I've Loved Before. As you know from that review (you totally should read it!), I had very mixed views on the first book and had a few things that I wanted to be improved in the second book...And they were! I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book and was a huge step up from the first for me. Everything had improved: the character development, the relationships, the story, the writing. This is still not a favourite series of mine or anything, but I'm definitely glad to have read it and I'm looking forward to complete it with the final book, Always and Forever, Lara Jean. 

In this book, we continue immediately from the events of the first. Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever. When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once? 

-Goodreads synopses- 

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

 A request of mine from the first book for this series was to make it more romantic. Oh boy was this met! In this book, we receive a letter that Lara Jean sent to John Ambrose McClaren and it was exactly how I expected all the letters to be; so humiliating and personal to Lara Jean, professing her unconditional and irrevocable love for these boys. I thought this made the severity of the letters more surreal and overall made the relationship between the two more significant to the readers. 

More potent, shocking and important events happen in this book which affect Lara Jean. This generally, for me, made the book more interesting than the last. I thought protagonist Lara Jean reacted to these events realistically which made the reader relate to her and like her even more as a character. I thought the story was super gripping and I basically read the book in a day as I couldn't put it down! However my main big thumbs up for this book was the improvement of the language and the way it was written. Complex and sophisticated vocabulary was used as well as interesting metaphors to explain how Lara Jean was feeling. For me, this was the main thing that made me enjoy this book so much more than the last. I'm so happy that the readers can so clearly notice the progression of Jenny Han's writing and I'm really interested to see it develop in the next book.  

This book, as Jenny Han had written it to be, was a great end to the expected duology. However, the news of a third book makes so much sense to perfectly end the story of Lara Jean. I hope that it does not let my expectations down and I hope Han stays true to the characters and the story. I gave this book 4.5/5 stars on Goodreads, and if you had problems with the first book, I definitely recommend giving this one a go as it's so much better!

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Hannah

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To All The Boys I've Loved Before Review

Spoiler Free -

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han is a super quick and easy romance novel following the life of Lara Jean Song. After her eldest sister leaves for college, Lara Jean is left to take on the responsibilities of the house and younger sister Kitty due to their hard-working dad and deceased mother. One day, the five love letters Lara Jean wrote over the past few years are mysteriously sent out to the boys. Mortified over her neighbour and sister's ex-boyfriend receiving his letter, Lara Jean must disguise her love for him by creating a false relationship with young love Peter. 

Before I start this review, I must say that I went into this book with incredibly high expectations as my friend has read it and won't shut up about it. Perhaps this was a mistake as it was not as good as I had hoped. My main issue with this book was how simple the writing was. I was confused whether I was reading a young adult book or a children's book at times. As someone who is always wanting to read sophisticated and challenging books to strengthen my own vocabulary and writing, it took me a while to get used to the easy and straightforward writing of this book which was a step down from the books I usually read. Bearing that in mind however, it was nice to have a super quick, day-long read. 

The premise of this story was one that I found intriguing. However I don't think it was approached as well as it could have been. I mean, I'd be totally mortified if letters that I had poured my heart out in were sent out. I didn't feel like protagonist Lara Jean showed us her suffering enough. Also, I thought the severity of the letters' content would be more dramatic, not petty things such as 'you eat the last slice of pizza'. I thought the potential each letter had to make this book so romantic and heart-warming were lost with the childish idiocies. I know some of the letters were written when Lara Jean was very young, so the silly things she had written were expected, I just felt that there was no balance whatsoever. I know I sound harsh, I just thought if it were different it would have been more effective. 

Though I've mostly been negative, I don't mean to make this sound like a bad book that I didn't enjoy. I've already ordered the next book as I'm interested in where the story will go. I thought Lara Jean was a lovely and relatable protagonist as she was super quirky and awkward at times which often brought a smile to my face. The obvious love triangle involved was kind of cliche and predictable but sometimes a girl needs a cheesy, stupid but entertaining read right? I thought some of the decisions that Lara Jean makes were so stupid and frustrating at times, but couldn't help chuckle at the outcome. Because come on seriously Lara Jean, it obviously wasn't going to end well!

My favourite thing about this book was the relationship between Lara Jean and her two sisters. I don't have a sister, but I thought the meaningless bickering between Lara Jean and youngest sister Kitty were totally realistic and entertaining. As well as the irrevocably strong relationship between them and their oldest sister Margot. 

Although this book didn't include a sophisticated writing style, or a complex story-line, it was enjoyable nonetheless. Especially about half way through. Admittedly I was thinking of giving up on the book toward the beginning; thinking perhaps it was a waste of time. But as I started to get to know the characters more I started to get engrossed in the book. The second book arrives tomorrow for me, and I've heard that it's better than the first. I'm interested to see if I will be gripped quicker by the book than I did by this one. 




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Hannah

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My Top 5 Book to Movie Adaptations

During the past few years, more and more books are being made into movies. This is often a controversial topic in the book community as it arises many questions amongst us; will they capture the message the book conveys? Will they cast the right people? Will they stay true to the book? Often enough, many people are left disappointed. Now this may be because it's impossible for film creators to please everyone, or because the creators often misinterpret the book. I believe it's usually a mixture of the two. 

However, rather than weighing out the bad book to movie adaptations, I thought I'd write a post on my favourite. In this post, I'm judging these movies on the casting of characters, the loyalty the film has to the book, and my enjoyment. I have not read all the books of these films, so perhaps this may be an inaccurate judgement. However, all the books have been attempted to be read. So, here are my top 5 book to movie adaptations... in no particular order as I like them for different reasons. 

1. The Harry Potter Saga
It comes to no surprise that this series is a favourite of mine. Though I have not read the entire series (yet), I have read the first two so can get a sense of all the characters. First of all, the casting for this series is excellent. I don't know whether it be a fluke or superb casting directors who managed to find actors who could portray characters for 10 years perfectly with the development of themselves and their roles. 
Only two books in I have deep connections and protectiveness over Harry, Ron and Hermione. Though I'm just too young to have read all the books and seen the movies as they had come out, it still feel as if their story will live on with me as it will (hopefully) for future generations. 
One of my favourite things about this series is how the movies matured and darkened over the years as the books did, perfectly capturing the fate of Harry and the inevitable battle of the Dark Lord. However this change only strengthened the relationship between the audience and the characters. 
I don't know how many times I've watched this series; too many to count. Whenever I'm feeling down or just as a family tradition at Christmas time, these movies always entertain me. As I haven't read all the books, I don't know how accurate they are, but I don't think they have misinterpreted the story and the world that J.K. Rowling created, which is a success in itself. 



2. Love, Rosie
I've done a full review of Love, Rosie (you can find it here), the film adaptation of the book Where the Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern so I won't ramble. The film isn't completely accurate to the book but for me, it doesn't matter. It captured perfectly the relationship and the struggle between protagonists Rosie and Alex. 
As a fan of Lily Collins and Sam Claflin, I was incredibly happy to learn of their casting as was really excited to see how they played the characters I'd gotten to know and love from the book. Though Lily hasn't appeared in many good films before in my opinion, I loved her in one of my all time favourite movies Stuck In Love and hoped she would bring her powerful yet adorable qualities to this movie. I think she did, and managed to put on a believable English accent as well. Sam Claflin as always was faultless and brought charm and humour to the movie but could also bring tears to my eyes in the serious scenes as well. 
Though the book was set over several decades, I thought the movie managed to present the story just as well in the much shorted time frame. This proves that a movie doesn't have to follow the book completely accurately as long as it has talented writers on set. 
If we were talking serious cinematography, this film wouldn't be judged highly. But based on creating a good, entertaining and enjoyable film, this one ticks all the boxes.

3. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
As I had been doing this play to death for the past few years, I watched several adaptations of the famous Shakespeare text. My favourite has to be the 1996 version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Directed by one of my favourite directors Baz Luhrmann, the film portrays the Renaissance period play so uniquely and intriguingly yet still manages to use the Shakespearean language alongside the modern world without a clash. 
One of the amazing things about this particular Shakespearean play is how people envision Romeo and Juliet differently. Personally, I see Juliet to be quite mature and intelligent, whereas Romeo to be very naive and fickle. I think DiCaprio and Danes portrayed various characteristics of their characters well to please a wide range of people due to the various interpretations of the characters. 
Though the movie isn't completely accurate, I think it's the most enjoyable adaptation of this play which makes studying it more enjoyable as well. However, I would still enjoy this film if I hadn't read the play and studied the texts for so long. The ancient tongue used in such a modern environment is so refreshing and yet makes the story more relatable and consequently enjoyable. 



4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
One of my favourite films that I find so heartwarming and always leaves me thinking about it is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Unfortunately, it is the one book here that I haven't read as I didn't particularly like the writing style. However I LOVE the movie. I think the casting is incredible. Logan Lerman portrays the fragile, shy and vulnerable Charlie so well that the audience instantly adores him. Emma Watson impresses us all again with her kind and charismatic personality. And Ezra Miller blows us away with his vivacious, hilarious and kind charm. The time period and music used in this film makes it so much more unique and right up my street as I love the music featured. 
I think this film is a perfect example of the importance it is for the author of the novel to be as involved with the film as much as possible due to the author being the director. The movie portrayed the struggle and hardships that Charlie has to face so well without bluntly telling us his history. I also think the film balances the humour and sadness exceptionally. The serious issues are presented respectfully as well as the common and relatable problems that we all face and understand of going to school. This is a movie that I will always say yes to watching and will always laugh and cry over.    
With a perfect cast of actors who can actually act, an incredibly written script, undeniable friendships and chemistry, and a properly budgeted film, it is worthy of a place on this post but also as being one of my favourite films ever. It's an inspiring and unique film that I definitely recommend. 

5. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Last, but certainly not least, is the second instalment of the Hunger Games series; Catching Fire. This film is by far my favourite of the series as the story progressed so much more from the first. I think Katniss developed so much in this movie and we really got to see J-Laws capability of playing the role. I also, obviously loved seeing more Katniss and Peeta! I think this may be the most accurate book to movie adaptation as I remember being so overwhelmed with how perfect the script, the actors, the set and the story was when I watched it in the cinema. The emotions experience every time I watch it when we hear that Katniss must go back in the arena are heart-wrenching. The design of the actual Hunger Games; the island and the Cornucopia were just as I had imaged, as well as the threatening mist, the jabberjays and the lightning tree. 
This was, for me, the strongest book in the series and also the strongest film. The story became so much more intriguing and fascinating and my connections with the characters become so much stronger. I loved meeting my favourite character of the series; Finnick. I thought that Sam Claflin, again, portrayed the character so well with his effortless charm, attractiveness and arrogance. 

That's it! Those were my top 5 book to movie adaptations. I'd love to know your thoughts and your favourites! 


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Hannah

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