Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

Title: Let It Snow
Author(s): John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
352 Pages.

Rating: 5/5

As a massive fan of John Green's books, this was the very last book that he's been involved with that I had to read. I have to say, it was worth the wait. For me, this was the perfect Christmas book and I loved each story as individual stories but the 3 fit together in such a perfect and beautiful way, it would have been difficult to not fall in love with it. I've never read anything by the other 2 authors and after reading it, I will definitely be reading more of their work!

The book is split into 3 different stories that all link in with each other in subtle ways. The first, by Maureen Johnson, follows Jubilee as her train gets stuck and she has to spend Christmas in a town she's never been to with a family that she's never met before.The second, by John Green, follows Tobin, the Duke and JP as they ditch their James Bond marathon on the evening of Christmas eve in the quest for cheerleaders. The third and final story, by Lauren Myracle, follows Addie as she learns that not everything is about herself and that sometimes it's important to put other people before yourself, even though you may not want to.

*SPOILERS* The first story was truly one of the most adorable 'fall in love with a stranger' stories I've ever read. I found it really endearing and I just couldn't put the book down at all. John Green's story was also an adorable and sweet story and very much the kind of romance I personally found the most realistic and the one that left me literally thinking 'awhh' after reading it. It was such a simple idea yet utterly adorable at the same time. The third story was my least favourite, however I liked the meaning behind it and I also loved the final chapter and the way that all 3 stories came together in the end so I felt it made up for it. *END OF SPOILERS*

I definitely recommend this book and I just wish we had snow here as it'd be a perfect book to read while its snowing. This book confirmed my love with all of John Green's writing and also made me develop a love for Maureen Johnson's writing too. If you're looking for a quick read at Christmas time, read this!

Merry Christmas! :)

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
288 pages

Rating: 4/5

I was a little skeptical to read this after reading The Future of Us earlier this year and not enjoying it but it was on my shelf so I thought I'd give it a go and I'm so glad I did! I thought this book was really good and I can see why it gets so much attention. Not only is it written in a way that makes it absolutely impossible to put down but I found that it also had a really original idea behind it. The plot wasn't necessarily surprising but the general idea of the book and the way that it was written made it really gripping and impossible to put down.

Clay Jensen gets home one day to find a package on his doorstep that contains 7 cassette tapes. He quickly discovers that these tapes contain the 13 reasons his class mate, Hannah Baker, committed suicide. Hannah recorded these tapes just before killing herself in order to explain to certain people the 13 reasons why she did it. Clay listens throughout the night and what he discovers changes his life forever.

*SPOILERS* The one thing I thought was a little bit of a let down with this book was the fact that Clay's name 'didn't belong on the list.' I found that a little predictable and in a way, I thought it could have been better if he had done something to Hannah without knowing it. I did really enjoy the ending as well as I thought the way it ended with him going to talk to Skye left it finished but not in a way that left everything solved. It  left me wondering what had happened to the characters afterwards and I always think that makes the book good. *END OF SPOILERS*

I really enjoyed Thirteen Reasons Why and would definitely recommend it! It's not really for younger readers as there are certain bits that might be a little too mature for people under the age of about 13 but then the nature of the book, I would have thought, doesn't really appeal to young readers any way. A fantastic book though and definitely worth the read. :)

Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

Title: Out of Sight, Out of Time
Author: Ally Carter
323 Pages

This is book five in the Gallagher Girls Series

Rating 4.5/5

I read the other Gallagher Girls books last summer after getting one of them free with a magazine and I fell in love with them, so when I saw this one a few months ago I had to buy it. I didn't get around to reading it until this week but I finished it in about 3 days, despite the fact I seem to be reading slowly at the moment. It's an amazing book and it reminded me of how much I loved the first 4 so I plan to go back and re-read them sometime next year!

This series focuses on a girl named Cammie Morgan who goes to the Gallagher Academy, a school which to the outside world is for 'exceptional young women' but to the people in the know is a school for training spies. When this book begins Cammie wakes up in a convent in Austria with no memory of how or why she got there. She soon learns that it is October, yet she can not remember anything past June. The novel follows Cammie and her friends Bex, Liz, Macey and Zach, along with her Mother and Aunt as they try to piece together the few clues they have and help Cammie remember her summer. But is remembering the summer the right thing to do or are there parts that are better left forgotten?

*SPOILERS* I have to say, at the beginning of the book I was a little confused as to what was going on when Cammie woke up in the convent but not in a bad way. I found that that confusion just made the reader feel a similar confusion as Cammie was meant to be feeling in that moment, as neither had any idea what had lead up to this moment. I found the music in Cammie's head was really clever, however all through the book I found myself thinking that it was obvious that this was going to be something key to her remembering something. Other than that, everything in the book was totally unexpected, especially the bit where they are at the castle in Ireland and Zach's mother turns up. Also, the ending where Dr Steve manages to hypnotize her into almost jumping off the roof and the fact that he turns out to be working against her I found was very clever. *END OF SPOILERS*

I would recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of YA. It's probably more of a girls book than a boys book but I still think it could be enjoyed by either. The other books in the series do need to be read first in order to understand a few little sections but it is well worth the time! I loved this book and I can't wait for book 6 to come out!