This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl

Goodreads summary:

A collection of the journals, fiction, letters, and sketches of the late Esther Grace Earl, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 16. Photographs and essays by family and friends will help to tell Esther’s story along with an introduction by award-winning author John Green who dedicated his #1 bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars to her.

My review:

5/5

Dear Esther,

I do not know you, and you certainly don't know me. I mean, I was born four years later than you were and during all our lives, we've been separated by miles and miles, even by borders. I wasn't part of Nerdfighteria when you were and I don't even know if I had a Facebook account when you were still alive, let alone a Youtube account. However, your story touched me so, so, so much. 

Life is unfair, we all know it. Some of us, like me, have been blessed enough to have a relatively easy life so far and to only see illnesses and death from a very far away perspective. However, reading your journals, watching your videos, and hearing people talk about you has made me realize how unfair your life was. How could a person so radiant, so cheerful and so smart like you have to go such hard times? I know from your own words that you became okay with the fact that you had cancer and that your faith has helped you a lot with that. This is a truly fantastic thing, especially from the point of view of an atheist like me. I have always envied people who belong to a religion, because I can imagine how much easier it can be to think that everything happens for a reason. This book proved my thoughts, because you made it sound so easy.

I loved the person you were, or at least the idea I got of the person you were. I know that I could never get to know you as much as I want to, because I've only seen a glimpse of the person you were, but I do know that everyone around you was lucky to have you. I don't know what you would think of people like me, who read your book, your journal, even, watch your videos, hear your friends talking about you and end up loving you. I hope you'd like it, because everyone has described you as a 'welcomer', a loving person who accepted everyone. I love that about you. That's the way more people should be. In a way, you're a bit like how everyone should be:  caring, passionate, intelligent, confident. I'm not saying you were perfect, but I do think you were an awesome person. 

My thoughts go to your friends, your family, your cats. As weird as it must be for them to see you become some sort of celebrity, I hope they accept the support we are willing to give them, because your book has truly made my eyes open. From Heaven (because I know that's where you are, even though I am in no way religious), I hope that you're happy that your cause has brought so many of us together to make the world a better place to live in, even though you will never have this chance again and it's breaking my heart. Don't forget to be awesome, Esther, while we'll never forget how bright a star you were.

Girl Online On Tour (Girl Online #2) - Zoe Sugg

Goodreads summary:

The sequel to the number-one bestseller Girl Online. Penny joins her rock-star boyfriend, Noah, on his European music tour.

Penny's bags are packed.

When Noah invites Penny on his European music tour, she can't wait to spend time with her rock-god-tastic boyfriend.

But, between Noah's jam-packed schedule, less-than-welcoming bandmates and threatening messages from jealous fans, Penny wonders whether she's really cut out for life on tour. She can't help but miss her family, her best friend Elliot . . . and her blog, Girl Online.

Can Penny learn to balance life and love on the road, or will she lose everything in pursuit of the perfect summer?


My review:

4/5

This book is cute, sweet and very much like Zoe, so I think that her fans will, like I did, enjoy reading it a lot. 

I liked how realistic the tour life is in this book. While Zoe has never really toured herself, it's evident that she knows a lot about this life and I'm glad it wasn't too good-looking. Penny's reaction to it was realistic, too, because anyone would be confused and have a hard time adjusting to this train of life, especially someone with anxiety. This part reminded me of Zoe a lot, because she's known to have difficulties when she's under a lot of pressure or surrounded by many people. As someone who can get panicky sometimes, I could relate to Penny when she started panicking, especially since it's well depicted. 

Penny's character is nice, funny and relatable for teenage girls. I enjoyed reading about her and I liked seeing her grow in this book, even more than in the first one. She matured a lot and by the time the book ended, she was more of a young adult than a teenager, which I thought was very nice, since I'm older than her and there were times when I couldn't really relate before. I did think she was too forgiving and didn't stand up for herself at the beginning and I hated seeing her keep quiet and then pity herself when she was alone, but I think it's where she grows the most. In fact, I was proud of her at the end of the book, when she realized she had to live for herself and say out loud what she really thinks instead of bottling it all up. 

I really disliked Noah at some point in this book, because I thought he acted like a complete asshole. He was part of the reason why Penny couldn't enjoy her life on tour with him, which I thought was really sad, seeing as he's the one who invited her. However, I'm glad he tried to make up for it, because it shows how deeply he cares about Penny and their relationship. I enjoyed seeing them together (which wasn't often, I must admit) and I think that overall, they have a cute relationship. 

It's great that we get to know more about Elliot's life, because he's an adorable character, although I must admit he's quite stereotypical. His importance in this book shows how close he and Penny are, even though they're both in a relationship. Their constant texting was heartwarming and I absolutely hated seeing them sad because they're such nice characters. 

The only thing I truly dislike about this series is how there's always a "bad guy". I don't find this very realistic, especially since I can't see the motives behind their actions most of the time. I may be too positive, but I don't think there are that many truly horrible people out there, so the fact that Penny, and sometimes Noah, are always assaulted made me cringe a little. 

I don't know if there will be another book in this series, but I will buy it if there is. Sorry, haters, but I truly like it!

Web Series Wednesday - The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

If you're new to this YouTube world, or simply to web series, you might not know about this amazing channel. However, it's definitely one of the best and most famous web series out there, and for many reasons.

I discovered this web series, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, from Hank and John Green's YouTube channel, vlogbrothers. Hank posted a video back in 2012, when I wasn't subscribed to their channel ( or to anyone's, to be honest, because I didn't know YouTubers were a thing. Can't imagine living without YouTube now!). When I did subscribe to their channel, after having finished The Fault in Our Stars later in 2013 and discovering that John posted videos with his brother, I started watching all of their videos before I subscribed, because of how good they were. I wasn't that fast, so it took me a while to get there, but in late 2014, I watched this video and wondered: "does this really exist?" I was thrilled to find out that the series was entirely posted by then and I immediately started watching every single episode - which surprisingly didn't take that long, since I was so obsessed I preferred watching these to sleeping. I still do, to be honest.

The first reason why I like this series so much is that it's inspired by an amazing novel, Pride and Prejudice. It's the first Jane Austen novel I read and the first classic I actually chose to read, so this book has a special place in my heart. In Austen's book, there is an amazing romance, even though there's absolutely nothing explicit in it. It's just the fact that you know how the characters feel and you feel their love with them, which is just amazing. I watched as many adaptations of it as I could, so this series was no exception.

My second reason for loving LBD is the way it's adapted into a modern life story. I loved seeing all the little détails altered to make the story realistic and as dramatic in our society, because many things that were considered bad in the 19th century are simply normal today. The amount of work that must have been put in the creation of this web series is insane, which is why I admire it even more. If you've read the books and then you watch this web series, you'll realize how smart its writers are.

My final reason for watching this series instead of sleeping is how they represented each character. When you read a book, you create a precise idea of the characters and their surroundings that can be completely different from another reader's idea, which is why adaptations can be tricky sometimes. You could think a character's a real sweetheart, while someone could think he's actually calculating and evil. Sometimes, the author's writing or the main character's opinion influence our thoughts about a character, like it did for me in Pride and Prejudice. I thought Lydia was an annoying, irresponsible and self-centered girl because it's kind of how Elizabeth sees her little sister. However, in LBD, Lydia's character is taken very differently, which made me realize many things about her I had simply ignored. Her character in the web series quickly became one of my favorites, especially with the amazing actress who plays her, Mary Kate Wiles. I loved her videos, since she creates a channel of her own during the season, and I wish there had been even more of them. She's endearing and her way to talk and move cracked me up so many times that I wouldn't have believed you if you had told me I would react this way to her character before watching these videos.

I also loved the chemistry between the characters, the decoration, the music, the concept and the extras. I think this is a wonderfully well organized web series and I am glad I discovered such a universe. I read The Secret Diary of Lizzie, which is more personal than the videos, and I really liked it. I'm incredibly excited for the new novel that the writers are publishing, The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet, since it's about a character I grew to love. I can already recommend both novels!

 

 

I highly recommend this series!

Web Series Wednesday - Green Gables Fables

Hi everyone! I just thought of a new series of blog posts I could do once in a while called, as you probably saw in the title, Web Series Wednesday. As an avid fan of YouTube videos, I was delighted when I discovered, less than a year ago, that web series inspired of popular books actually exist. Since my blog is all about books, I thought some of you might be interested in web series, just like I am, so I wanted to share them with you through this series of blog posts. The first show is still updating at the moment and I absolutely love it, so here it is!

My initial reaction was complete shock when I found out that there is a YouTube adaptation of my favorite book ever, Anne of Green Gables. On the first video of Season 1 of Green Gables Fables, you can probably see my comment, describing my schock at discovering that there is something about Lucy Maud Montgomery's works that I didn't know of, especially a web series. I flew through the first season, crying and giggling at times, and I must admit there are many videos I watched twice, three times or even four times. I absolutely love Anne's actress, Mandy Harmon, and her chemistry (or lack of, for a big part of it) with Gilbert in the show is incredibly good and accurate. The cast is great and I follow most of them everywhere now, because I'm really glad I discovered such talented people through a web series. I would recommend having read the books before watching the web series (or even if you don't plan on watching the web series - the book series is plenty enough, it's awesome), but I think it would still be a good web series to watch without knowing what it's about.

The show portrays the first book of the popular Anne of Green Gables series, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, in the 21st century. If you're a fan of the series, you'll see all the little details the production worked on to make the story work in our era instead of one that was over a year ago. Anne (with an E!) is an orphan going from one foster family to another until she meets Matthew and Marilla, two siblings who welcome her in their family. Going to Avonlea, she meets new people, makes friends and enemies, starts a video blog and experiences many beautiful and not-so-beautiful things. With her imaginative mind and love for beauty and poetry, she makes her way in the world, never ceasing to make herself remembered to everyone soul she touches, including the viewer's.

I love how it's filmed, how it's cut, how it's created and how it's divided. Every episode has its load of content and drama, since Anne can be very dramatic, but it's only making you want to watch more and more of it. There are also other videos than the ones from Anne, such as videos from Gilbert, Ruby, Jane, etc. I loved this part, because it made me see the characters in a different way than I do when they are with Anne or simply in the novel. Anne's energy is contagious and the biggest fans and most attentive viewers will quickly realize things about herself and the people around her that she could never imagine, creating the perfect amount of anticipation for the future.

Right now, the first season is completely finished, but the second one is planned to begin on September 2nd. There are already videos about it, such as trailers, Q&As and videos from Anne, all very exciting. It's supposed to be about the third book, I believe, which is Anne of the Island. In this season, Anne is starting her first year of university, which means she'll meet plenty of new kindred spirits while staying in touch with her oldest ones.

You can also donate money to the production on Kickstarter to help them with the web series, which I encourage you to do, since they all work so hard to come to this result. You can click on this link to get to their Kickstarter page for Season 2.



Extraordinary Means - Robyn Schneider (Trailer)

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider : Trailer

Recently, I watched this trailer and I was amazed. As far as I know, book trailers are fairly new, so I'm always happy to Watch some, whether I've read the book or not. Most of them are fan made or of bad quality, but this one definitely impressed me. I had already heard about this novel, because some people on BookTube or Goodreads had mentionned it and I knew the author, but I had no idea what the book was about. Well, let me tell you this : I wasn't expecting a story like that, but the trailer looks amazing and covers the general idea of the story, at least for someone who hasn't read the book yet. I read The Beginning of Everything a few years ago, under the title was still Severed Heads, Broken Hearts. I really liked it, so I'm more than ready to read anything else by this author. I was already planning on reading this book when I first watched the trailer, but it's so intriguing that I want to read it as soon as possible now.

From what I've seen, it looks a whole different genre than The Beginning of Everything, but I'm not complaining, because the concept sounds really interesting and special. I'm not sure if the trailer represents the story well, but if it does, I think I'd love this book! I like how professional the trailer looks and how it could be a movie trailer, from the actors to the way it's filmed with the voice-overs. Well done!

I'm hoping to see more professional-looking book trailers in the future, because I think it's a great way to promote a novel and it helps the readers visualize the story. If you know some good book trailers, leave them below so I can check them out!

Also, if you read this novel, I want to hear your thoughts! I can't wait to read it now. Also, its cover is gorgeous. Everything about this book looks awesome!