Published - January 2014
Publisher - Scholastic
Format - Paperback
Synopsis -
Life, love and everything in between...Lila Murray is determined to leave behind the drama of her old life and make a fresh start in Heartside Bay.
But
when she falls for Ollie the hottest boy at Heartside High, she makes
an instant enemy of Eve, the school's Queen Bee. Eve wants Ollie for
herself and now she will do anything to keep them apart...
Cathy Cole is a new-to-me author and I hadn't heard anything about this book before picking it up! It's super short, barely reaching 200 pages and was super cheap too!
I had no expectations about the book as I hadn't heard of it or the author before, other than I assumed it would be a teen-romance book, which is pretty spot on! However I did find that despite the series name and the synopsis, the romance was the least thing I was interested in. The mystery surrounded Lila, who has recently moved home and changed name in order to make a new start, is what really prompted me to keep on reading.
Though the mystery was kind of explained in the book, not in any great detail and as this is going to be a pretty big series of books, i'm hoping that gets expanded later on! Lila is a really interesting character. She's outgoing, a bit of a smart-mouth and has bundles of sass - all of which she is trying to cover up with an innocent facade. I think we all know that isn't going to last! I'll touch on the romance briefly - it's pretty generic and obvious. Though Lila falls for the Hottie i'm pretty sure that's not where this romance is heading and i'm glad about it! I'm looking forward to catching up with the teens of Heartside Bay when the next book is available.
Published - 30th September1999
Published By - Scholastic
Format - Hardback
Goodreads Synopsis - Dear Reader,
I'm
sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely
unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children.
Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead
lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book
when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing
on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might
say they are magnets for misfortune.
In this short book alone,
the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy
clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold
porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these
unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this
book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort
of thing.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket is a well loved collection of stories for (I imagine) a younger audience. Honestly, it was never a series that I was very interested in reading. I was 11 when The Bad Beginning was published and in the 13 years since then I had completely forgotten about it. However, I've just moved into a shared house and thanks to my housemate the collection is now partly mine and I have reconsidered. (Mostly because they are short and I wanted some 'light' reading inbetween university books)
As seems to be the case just lately - I was pleasantly surprised by The Bad Beginning! (I'm on a great streak of 'good' books.) Though not really 'light-hearted', the book was fun, uncomplicated and a really quick and interesting read. Throughout the book, the narrator Lemony Snicket, explains various words that have been used and gives their meaning in this particular instance. Granted, at the age of 24 it's a little patronising but considering the target audience, I think it's great!
What surprised me most were the snippets of information that genuinely felt like I was learning something or reading something truly meaningful. Just a few things I picked up on were:-
- "First impressions are often entirely wrong. You can look at a painting for the first time, for example, and not like it at all, but looking at it a little longer you may find it very pleasing."
- "It is a sad truth in life that when someone has lost a loved one, friends sometimes avoid the person, just when the presence of friends is most needed."
- "By immersing themselves in their favourite reading topics, they felt far away from their predicament, as if they had escaped."
Snicket's writing style is brilliant and the first book is both funny and thoughtful. The Baudelaire children are brave and intelligent and a pleasure to read. I feel terrible about not reading these books sooner but now i've started...keep an eye out :)
