If I Stay by Gayle Forman

(3.5/5) Stars


For the book's summary click here












Okay I'm a sucker for new plots and any book that surprises me with a fresh plot instantly gains points in my rating radar. I also would go easy on old ideas with great twists inside. However, If I stay didn't have twists and the plot itself is not new.

If I stay isn't by any means bad or not worth reading and I also love any story involving a ghost/dead person telling his story but having an old plot with no surprising twist is what stood out to me.

A lot of people said that they found the flashbacks boring but I actually didn't. It made us connect more to the characters and it didn't bore me at all.

I also like how Adam and Mia's relationship is realistic and although Adam is considered cool in school (and he totally is) he's sweet (old school sweet, the type who would give you roses and dance with no music kind of sweet.)

I love the idea of Mia playing the cello instead of the normal guitar playing protagonists and I really liked her overall.

Side characters!

Teddy (Mia's brother) : Why are you so cute?

Mia's parents: Best kind of badass parents.

Willow: Although she played a small part, I actually really like her now and loved her you-will-do-what-I-tell-you-to attitude when she wanted something for someone she knows.

So overall, If I Stay is worth a read and you won't regret reading it but don't expect any twists except if you haven't seen Just Like Heaven.

QOTD: What gives a book instant bonus points in your opinion ?

Where can you find it in Egypt?
(sometimes the book will be out of stock by the time you read the post so please check with them beforehand)

1-Diwan Bookstore
  -Branches in: Cairo , Alexandria , North coast and Hurghada 
  -Website: www.diwanegypt.com

2-The BOOK SPOT
  -In Cairo, but Ships all over Egypt 
  -Website : www.bookspotonline.com

3-Cherry Blossom Books
  -Ships all over Egypt
  -Website: cherryblossom-books.com

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (Anna and the French Kiss #1)

(3/5) Stars.


For the book summary click here











I'm sure you've already heard about this book somewhere and I'm also sure that if you have yet to read it then you already have high expectations for it due to the hype, which in my opinion is a bit overboard.

This story was really adorable which is exactly what I was looking for after reading The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. The writing is great and the characters are lovable.

And it's set in Paris so what more do you need ?!

Etienne St. Clair is the typical hottest boy in school who has the good looks and personality at the same time and the guy whom all the girls are in love with—non-fictional girls included (Me excluded. What? He's not my type..) and with a bonus: an English accent.

Anna is again the typical ordinary girl who falls in love with the hottest boy in school and things happen.

So why did I give it 3 stars and not 5 ?

There's nothing I hate more than cheap high school drama and after I saw all those great reviews I was really disappointed to find that in the book. I also hate the feeling of wanting to go into the story and shout at the main character to stop and smell the roses and I totally wanted to.

However, If Stephanie Perkins hadn't wrapped it up that nicely I would've given it 2 stars, but the ending was really what I was looking for. (update: Lola and the Boy Next Door made me give it 3 stars anyway)

I did want another chapter added, but then again I want one in all the books I ever read.


And of course I can't forget my specialty : 

side characters! (Did you see that coming?)

Sean (Anna's brother) : Adorable ! 

Josh: I like you without even reading Isla and The Happily Ever After.

Isla: you only had like 2 scenes and I already LOVE you, okay?

“For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we are finally home.”



  QOTD: Which fictional boy/girl do you wish could be real?

Where can you find it in Egypt?
(sometimes the book will be out of stock by the time you read the post so please check with them beforehand)


-Cherry Blossom Books
  -Ships all over Egypt

  -Website: cherryblossom-books.com

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

(4/5) Stars?

For the book's summary click here


"The intrigue and romance will inescapably draw you in."  - Cassandra Clare 




Me after I finished the book:

Five stars? No, no 4 stars...No five ! No...four?



You know those books that after you finish them you're torn between all the possible ratings? This is one of them.

Well I finished this book and I asked myself what the hell can I even say in a review for that book to make people go read it? Cause all that came to mind was "Just read it to understand. Read it." 

So cut me some slack while I attempt to write a decent review for this book without underestimating it.

First off my reaction to the genres:

-Romance: Hell yeah !

-Young Adult: Duh!

-Fantasy: Hmm

-Paranormal: OK...

-Horror and thriller : Not okay !

In the end, the book intrigued me and I decided to give it a chance. 

I was expecting goosebumps and shudders kind of thriller and thank God this wasn't the case because I'm not really good with horror and thriller in books.

I like that the story can fit anyone from contemporary readers like me to fantasy and sci-fi readers like Laila.

I really did enjoy this book, but for some reason i'm finding it really hard to review. Even Laila is doubtful. In my defense, I stayed up until 10 AM! to finish the book and not just any book can win that honor.

  

And the ending of this story !!! The ending is just....(PS: That's a good thing.)

Noah, Noah , Noah let's talk about Noah for a second. At the beginning I wasn't really a fan since he seemed like a player and I'm more into the mysterious and quiet/funny/seems geeky but actually isn't, guy who turns out to be really cool or known for a stereotype (like being dangerous) and then turns out to be really sweet. However, as the story progressed I kept liking him more and more and he began to fit in the "known for a stereotype but turns out to be really sweet" category.

As for Mara, what I first loved about her is her don't-mess-with-me attitude. She met Noah ,the boy that makes all girls in school go into instant fangirl mode, and called him an asshole, which made me mentally applaud her. There's nothing worse than stupid main characters and Mara wasn't even close.   

I have to mention Mara's brother Daniel for being the "I will tease you endlessly but then I'll protect you, cover for you and work things out with mom when there's a problem" kind of brother.

Overall, this story still made me confused I even went back to reread pages to try to understand and at some parts my mind went numb from thinking I was planning to read a sci-fi book after The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer but now the only thing I can actually read is a cutesy contemporary romance my mind needs a break.

Laila here. I just wanted to say something since Farah is reviewing one of my favorite books! I FREAKING LOVE THIS SERIES! I would give this book 5 stars and I'd give the second one 6! 

Seriously though this book is everything I love about YA literature.

 An awesome heroine: check (Mara is such a badass!)

A captivating plot: check (But bear in mind that you'll be mostly confused for pretty much the entire first book and the second one too, so be patient.)

A wonderful writing style with lots of humor: check (Thank you Michelle Hodkin for being so bloody amazing)

Adorable romance (even if it is a bit cliché) and a dreamy male lead: check and check! (Noah Elliot Simon Shaw is the man of my dreams. Well, one of the many fictional men of my dreams)

So I think it's safe to say that The Unbecoming of Mara is the perfect book for me. Now you have both of our opinions, but you should definitely read it yourself to decide whether or not this book is for you. Trust me, you won't regret it.


QOTD : (more like a request) what book do you recommend for us?" 





Where you can find it in Egypt?
(Sometimes the book will be out of stock by the time you read the post so please check with them beforehand)


1-the BOOK SPOT
  -In Cairo, but Ships all over Egypt 

  -Website : www.bookspotonline.com


2-Cherry Blossom Books
  -Ships all over Egypt

  -Website: cherryblossom-books.com

I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan

(5/5) stars !!


for the book summary click here


"heartbreaking, suspenseful, life-affirming, magical and yet unlike anything I've ever read" - Gayle Forman author of If I Stay and Where She went








This book, this book ! should be on everyone's to-read list okay ? 

This book simply had everything, suspense , romance , heartworming scenes , people you wanna punch (his father) and people you want to hug (Sam and riddle), but for those of you who hate contemporary romance don't worry this book is not you average romance novel it's way more then that and also the romance doesn't take a lot of the story it concentrates more on family , sam and riddle's struggles and the incredibly loving bell family.

I'd even recommend this book to Laila who hates contamporary romance.

throughout reading I'll Be There i felt all kinds of emotion , I smiled , I cried (mentally, I don't cry from books I cry inside ) , I even shouted things like : "No!" "they can't!" "mom! how could they do this ?!" and also some "awww" and finally a lot of :

“For him and his brother, he now knew, that music was real. Because all you had to do, really, was be willing to use your imagination. And listen.” 



I'll Be There is one of those books that make you see the world in a new light , make you proud to be a bookworm because you had the privilege of reading such a master piece.

Characters:

Sam: can anyone be more carrying for his little brother then him? defiantly not.

Riddle: ADORABLE ! I really felt like crying because of him a lot of times and also i wanted to hug him too

Emily: I think I was so in-love with sam and riddle that I didn't concentrate with Emily that much but she wasn't annoying.

Debbie Bell & Tim Bell : such big hearted people *happy tears*

Bobby Elis : This boy ! he just got on my nerves from the begging I knew he was up to no good.

Clarence : Aka: john smith..........YOU! you took #1 top asshole of a father prize from Grant Cooper (from North of Beautiful) 


Do you understand how good it is now, go read it.

QOTD: What book gave you a book hangover? 

Where you can find it in Egypt?
(sometimes the book will be out of stock by the time you read the post so please check with them beforehand)


-the BOOK SPOT
  -In Cairo, but Ships all over Egypt 

  -Website : www.bookspotonline.com

The Fault in Our Stars Movie Review

5/5 Stars

I actually want to give this movie ALL OF THE STARS (Get it? Of course you get it. I'm hilarious!)

If you haven't heard of The Fault on Our Stars, you're lying. You must be sick of every single teenage girl around you going on and on AND ON about it ALL THE DAM TIME! (Sorry, couldn't help the PJO reference hehe) But let me say this, this book and its movie are definitely worth the hype.

After waiting what seemed like an eternity for the movie to come out here in Egypt, and going to the cinema to find all the tickets for the movie sold out the first time I tried (I had to book tickets on the phone in advance to find seats) I finally saw this masterpiece of a movie. 

So I read The Fault in Our Stars a while back ( you can check out Farah's review here) and I absolutely loved it. John Green is a gift from the gods! So naturally, I was expecting a good movie, but I was a little bit skeptic because YA book-to-movie adaptations have been pretty depressing lately (Beautiful Creatures, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters, to name a few) So what a joy it was to finally have a book-to-movie adaptation live up to, or even exceed, my expectations. 

The acting was better than anything I could have wished for. The insanely talented Shailene Woodley proved once again that there isn't a role she can play less than flawlessly. She WAS Hazel. And the precious Ansel Elgort mastered the part of every girl's favorite amputee, Augustus Waters. He was funny, he was cocky, he was dreamy, and he shattered my heart into a million pieces. Nat Wolff was incredible as Isaac, though I do wish he had more screen time. Laura Dern and Sam Trammell portrayed Hazel's parents so beautifully they brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. (Everything in this movie made me cry, but that's beside the point) And Willem Dafoe managed to make me hate Van Houten more than I already did, which is no easy feat, so a round of applause to this great man. Long story short, this movie had the perfect cast.

The movie was almost exactly the same as the book! Of course, there were some slight alterations and omissions, but the changes weren't really that relevant. The plot was the same, and most of the lines were taken straight from the book, so as a huge fan, I was satisfied (I wish they hadn't cut John Green's cameo, though, because I definitely would've freaked out right in the middle of the cinema!) To fellow TFIOS fans, please, please don't be one of those annoying people who say, "It was good, but the book was better!" Movies are not books, they're an entirely different thing, so don't expect a movie to ever turn out better than the book, it's just not possible (except maybe with The Notebook.)

Before I went to see this movie, I was told that the movie wouldn't make me cry as much as I'd expect to. THAT WAS A LIE! I sobbed so hard I got a headache, and I wasn't the only one. All of the people who went in to see The Fault in Our Stars (95% of whom were teenage girls, by the way) came out weeping. After the movie, the bathroom was full of girls trying to fix their makeup after making their mascara run down their face from all the crying. 

Josh Boone did a terrific job directing this movie. Actually, everyone who was involved in this movie did an outstanding job. John Green must be proud! 

If you haven't seen this movie yet, then go buy all the tissue boxes in the store (they still won't be enough) and go see it right this instant. You'll be emotionally unstable afterwards, but it'll be totally worth it. Okay?

QOTD: What is the worst, most horrifically terrible book-to-movie adaptation you've ever seen? 

For me, it's probably Beautiful Creatures. That movie was so atrocious, it made me want to stab my eye with a fork! 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney

(5/5) stars!



For the book summary click here









Okay let me start by saying I was a bit unsure of this book in the beginning but the title intrigued me.


Call me a geek but if there's something I love more then funny guys it's definitely those funny+innocent+geeky but  somehow still adorable boys like Junior and Marcelo (from Marcelo in the Real World) and I can't see how anyone can hate them.

This is what you should do to them 

(And yeah, I mentally do that while reading) 

So when I finished the book I was like "I'll go check Goodreads. I'm sure I'll find everyone loving it as much as I did".....and that was a big mistake.

"It's not that funny"

"Why did this book win the National Book Award?"

me : *poker face*

On the bright side, though, there were still a lot of good reviews.


I really enjoy humor in books and when a book is in first person with a lovable character.
The book also talked about bullying , racism and poverty without stressing to much on them, so that the book won't turn out dull, which I really loved because I love books about heavy subjects like bullying. But most of them are, well, heavy so it was a new thing to find a book dealing with it in a humorous way. It's also great to just read a simple and quick book once in a while.

Question of the day:
What do you think about book with illustrations inside ? 

Where you can find it in Egypt?
(sometimes the book will be out of stock by the time you read the post so please check with them beforehand)

-the BOOK SPOT
  -In Cairo, but Ships all over Egypt 

  -Website : www.bookspotonline.com

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen

(4/5) stars 



For the book's summary click here. 






I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a sucker for contemporary romances—the realistic and the cliche (Laila will be reading this with a disapproving look) but that doesn't mean that I don't love when a book makes it clear that love doesn't conquer all and it's not everything. I even love those books more then the simple romance novels.

“Beauty—real everlasting beauty—lives not on our faces, but in our 

attitude and our actions. It lives in what we do for ourselves and for 

others.”

That's why I really enjoyed North Of Beautiful. It's a novel filled with quotes, words that can have so many different meanings that you sometimes wonder if you're not understanding their deep meanings. The characters were all so real not like the characters that are meant to be perfect for novels.

“What would it be like to look in the mirror and actually accept 

what you see? Not loathe the reflection, or despise it, or be resigned 

to it? But to like it?” 

I can't review this book without mentioning  :

Does Justina Chen write her books with an Oxford dictionary next 
to her? What's with all the vocabulary. I seriously had no idea what 
"loathe" , "trite" , "precipice" and many others even mean.

And I thought I was okay in English considering that it's my 

second language, but she happened to prove me wrong.

Justina Chen writing is absolutely beautiful and poetic. 


“Flawed, we're truly interesting, truly memorable, and yes, truly 

beautiful.” 


Characters:


Terra: I really really liked Terra. she's a control freak who 

can do anything just to hide her port wine stain on her cheek,

but she's so responsible and likable.   


Jacob: I absolutely loved everything about Jacob. I have a 

thing for funny guys, okay?


Norah (Jacob's mom) : Kick-ass mother.


Lois (Terra's mom) : Can I give her a hug?


Grant Cooper (Terra's dad): Can I kill you? Can I at least 

make  you a human punching bag for being the world's worst 

husband and father. You get the picture.


Question of the Day:

what do you think defines true beauty ?

Where you can find it in Egypt?
(sometimes the book will be out of stock by the time you read the post so please check with them beforehand)

1-the BOOK SPOT:
  -In Cairo but ships all over Egypt 
  -website : www.bookspotonline.com