Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs|Book Review

 Title: Forgive My Fins
Series: Fins
Genre: Fantasy
My Star Rating: ★★★★☆
Blurb:  
Seventeen-year-old Lily, half-mermaid and half-human, has been living on land and attending high school, where she develops a crush on a boy but is afraid to tell him of her true destiny as the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Thalassinia.

I had been tempted to buy this book, literally for years a) because of the pretty cover and b) because the idea of mermaids has always interested me but I've never really given my self the opportunity to explore the genre.
When I finally decided to buy it I did have this nagging fear that I would be disappointed after all this time, thus ending the fantasy. I did however have reason to believe that I might not like it. From what I had heard the book was a mermaid romance and after watching the occasional mermaid film (okay I've seen aquamarine like five times!) I gathered that mermaids were pretty serious when it came to love, the problem being that I'm not big on romance.
It was more than just a romance though, Forgive My Fins was a lovely story about a young girl dealing with all sorts of problems and having to make some difficult decisions and on top of that she has royal mermaidley duties to fulfil. 
It's the kind of book I read for fun rather than a really intense read that I fangirl over. There where lots of really likeable characters that we got to know quite well and that really developed through out the story.
The world was really interesting and well thought out and I would love to go into it even deeper in the next two books. One thing I did think was a bit odd was that the mermaids in this book practically ate nothing but fish. A mermaid eating fish is like a centaur eating a horse. Also the reactions people offered when Lily told them she was a mermaid weren't entirely believable as they kind of just shrugged and were like "seems legit". I would recommend this to those who like a nice romance or who are particularly interested in mermaids. 
Love Always,
Freya

Goose by Dawn O'Porter|Review

Title: Goose
Series: Paper Aeroplanes
Genre: Contemporary 
My Star Rating: ★★★☆☆

Blurb: Renee and Flo are eighteen and on the brink of their adult lives. But while Flo is determined to get into Uni and take Renee with her, Renee can feel her sense of independence soar.
As Flo turns to the church for support, Renee embarks on a seductive and perilous relationship with an older man...
In there final year before leaving their home on Guernsey, will Renee and Flo still be each other's soul mates, or is this the end of their friendship?

Goose is a sequel to Paper Aeroplanes, you can see my review of that book here. I actually managed to get my copy of the book two days early as I went to a signing. Meeting Dawn was lovely, she was so nice and funny. The picture next to this writing shows me and my friends meeting her.
I would have given Goose three and a half stars but I don't have an emoticon for that unfortunately. It wasn't quite as good as Paper Aeroplanes, Goose didn't give me the urge to go out with my friends and live my life but it was still enjoyable.
One thing I really like about Dawn O'Porter's work is how truthful and real it all is and I find this tends to be the case in British YA. In American YA it tends to skip the bits about periods and sex and family issues. This book would definitely appeal to older women as it would help remind them of their experiences from that age. Dawn's writing is the kind of writing you can't stop thinking about for a few hours and is quite a big impact.
Because this is a sequel it is really hard to talk you through the plot without ruining things so I'm going to leave it here.
Love Always,
Freya

Divergent|Film Review

Title: Divergent
Genre: Dystopia
My Star Rating: ★★★★☆

So yesterday I went to see Divergent in the cinema. After the traumatic experience with City of Bones I was expecting the worst. I was however, pleasantly surprised. The pacing was great, they included a lot of important information and scenes. The only things that did disappoint me where the missing scenes that I had more of an emotional connection with, for example the muffin scene and the lack of Uriah also upset me very much. 
I don't know if it was because I'd seen the Divergent trailer before reading the book, but I thought Shailene was the perfect Tris and Theo was amazing as Four. I thought it was very unnecessary for them to change the faction colours. Why where the dauntless wearing red? The amity where wearing blue and green as well as red and yellow! I did get over this fairly quickly though as it is only really a minor detail.
So many of the characters were so different to how I imagined them yet somehow they were utterly perfect, especially Peter and Will. I liked that they added a few of the funny lines from the books but it was a shame that they didn't include Tris saying "Did I shoot him in the leg? No. He'll walk" which was the best line in the whole book although she did say something else nearly as funny in this scene. 
The soundtrack was beautiful, it fit perfectly with all the scenes, often a soundtrack will be kind of forced on a film but with Divergent it worked so well. The whole time I wasn't quite processing that I was watching one of my favourite books come to life in such and amazing way and I was totally overwhelmed by how well it was made. I loved all the little details they added like Tris's hair falling to the floor etc. I wouldn't know because I already knew the world but I felt like an outsider would be able to understand the world as at the start they explained the factions to us and gave us a look inside their compounds. It is so difficult to write a proper review when all you can do is ramble about how good it was so I'll leave it here. I really liked Divergent and I can't wait to see what they do with Insurgent!
Love Always,
Freya