Let's talk about: On the Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher

"A love story like no other, this is the debut novel from Carrie Hope Fletcher, author of the Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller All I Know Now.

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.

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 . . " (Goodreads)

I pre-ordered this book through Book Depository months ago so that I wouldn't have to wait for it to be released in the United States. 

As I have mentioned before, Carrie Hope Fletcher is one of my favorite YouTubers. She is adorable, talented, and seems like a very nice person. I read her non fiction book for teenagers, All I Know Now, last year and enjoyed it. You can read all of my thoughts on it here.

I wasn't sure what to expect from her debut fiction novel. 

First of all, the book is beautiful. The dust jacket is beautiful and the hard cover underneath it is just as pretty. I love a pretty book. 

I gave it four stars on Goodreads but really it was more of a 3.5 star review for me (when are they going to start having half stars!?) and there were moments in the book that would have only been three stars. But there were also four star (and more) moments for me as I found it to be very unique and engaging. I thought about it when I wasn't reading and I really enjoyed the story. 

It is strong on the magical realism which I didn't realize going in so that caught me off guard at first and there were times when I had a hard time with staying engaged through the "magical" elements. 

I compared it to Alice in Wonderland meets Somewhere in Time mainly because there were times when reading Alice that I asked myself, "What the?" and I did the same with this book. And there were things that reminded me of Somewhere in Time that I won't go into because... spoilers. 

If you are looking for diversity/ representation in a book this is a good one to go to. There are three characters that are LGBTQ+ (one bisexual, one pansexual, and one gay). 

I think that, just like her first book, this story will really appeal to her teenage and early twenties audience but it really is for all ages.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I think that Carrie is a strong writer and I think she will only improve over time. 

3.5 stars ***

Read-a-thon Days 4-6

Friday I was able to get a bit more reading done on Far From the Madding Crowd. 

I still didn't get to as much reading as I wanted that day but I was able to get to about the halfway point of the book. 

I took my daughter's to the park after school and took that time to do some reading while they played. 

 

Saturday I was able to spend almost the whole day reading and in so doing was able to reach my goal of finishing this book! 

I really enjoyed it. 

There were some parts that were a little harder to get through, a few descriptions that went on a little too long, a few conversations of the locals that caused me to zone out while reading...

but for the most part I really loved Thomas Hardy's descriptions and ideas. 

In chapter 17 ("Boldwood in meditation: a visit"), I loved when he was describing Mr. Boldwood's home. 

"His house stood recessed from the road, and the stables, which are to a farm what a fireplace is to a house, were behind, their lower portions being lost amid bushes of laurel."

After reading the book, I feel that they did a really good job on the recent film adaptation. It was very close to the book and the things that were changed, to me, enhanced the story. 

I will definitely read more Hardy. 

Sunday I tackled All I know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher.

I loved the inscription at the beginning. 

"This book is for those who said I'd never get anywhere in life and those who never doubted for a second that I would. Without either of you, I wouldn't be here."

This story was a collection of stories from Carrie's pre-teenage and teen aged years. 

She is still in her early twenties so it is really aimed for those kids that are still struggling through those years. 

I would venture to say that the best audience for this book is 13-17 years old. 

It was broken up into sections with each section broke up into chapters. 

For example, the first part or "Act 1" as she calls it, is titled, "How to Make Friends Without Vomiting on Their Shoes.. and other school stories."

We read about the way she was bullied and how she dealt with it, how she wish she would have dealt with it, and the things that she has learned from those experiences. She also was very candid about the things that she did wrong. The mistakes she made, the times she wasn't as kind as she should have been, the ways that she wished she would have appreciated her parents, etc. 

It was a fun and quick read. She is a talented budding writer and I will be interested in reading the work of fiction she is working on now. 

However, I don't think this was as good for pre-teen aged girls as say the American Girl books about growing up. It is not a masterpiece or a piece of work that I would recommend that everyone read or gift to young women. 

As a mother I found that there were things in her youth that I wouldn't want my daughters to do or that in our family we wouldn't necessarily encourage until they are older, but I think it is very realistic to what teenagers are going through in today's world. 

 I think Carrie is a good role model. 

She believes in being positive and kindness, and I think that is lacking in a lot of role models for young women these days. 

With my daughter's I do plan on letting them read this when they get to be about 14. And we can discuss it as they read it. 

As I read, whenever I thought that something might not exactly be appropriate for a young teen, I then thought back to when I was 13-15 years old and realized that I would have loved this book then.

She does a really good job of coming across as a big sister or friend trying to help the younger girls find their way. 

*Did you get any reading done over the weekend?

 

Let's talk about: Jonny Vickers (I Read Books in Nightclubs)

Last week I found another YouTuber that has quickly become one of my very favorites!

His name is Jonny Vickers and his channel is called I Read Books in Nightclubs.

I first saw Jonny on a video with Carrie Hope Fletcher on It's Way Past My Bedtime. They were on tour together doing War of the Worlds. He is instantly likable but he didn't have a YouTube channel at the time. 

Recently he made another appearance on this video on her channel: 

Because of this video, I found out that he now has his own channel. 

They made a video together for his channel as well. I will link it at the bottom. 

I spent the week going back through all of his videos. He is awesome. 

He is in his late twenties, an avid reader, very funny, and silly. 

He is known for his cheebopping (playing music by hitting his cheeks), his glasses, sweater vests, and bow ties.  His videos usually feature a new enemy (something bothering him), a book recommendation, and random musings.

He just seems, like Carrie, to be someone that you could just hang out with in real life and have the time of your life. 

He is from Aberdeen, Scotland and now resides in London. 

 

Here are some of my favorite videos from his channel to give you an idea of his personality:

 

The TMI tag:

 

 

 7 Things you didn't know about Jonny Vickers:

All Hail the Mattress King:

Oddballs Unite: 

Housemates (his video with Carrie):

 

 

 I hope you will enjoy his videos as much as I do!

 

 *Do you have any favorite YouTubers?

Let's talk about: Carrie Hope Fletcher

I have recently discovered the world of you tubers.

That led to finding the world of British you tubers.

I have enjoyed watching videos of packing, makeup, store hauls, and book reviews. 

But my favorite find is Carrie Hope Fletcher. 

Her channel is called It's Way Past My Bedtime.

She is in her early twenties and yet I feel like we would be friends in real life. 

She is optimistic, funny, adorable, kind, and smart.
She is an actress, singer, and author. 

And she is currently starring as Eponine in London's West End production of Les Mis. 

She is extremely talented. 

I know I will share her videos on here occasionally but I thought today I would give a little introduction to her and post one that I watched yesterday. 

Her friend Pete has been told he looks like Flynn Rider from Tangled and people tell her all the time that she reminds them of Rapunzel so since they are both singers they decided to put together a video for a song from Tangled.

Enjoy!