Blog Tour · Book Review · Books

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard [AMBASSADOR BOOK BUZZ]

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I am so excited to be part of the Ambassador Book Buzz for The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard. Thank you to the amazing team at LoveReading and Corvus for this opportunity. 

Needless to say, this book made me stay up all night, just to find out how it ends. 

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I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man.
Now I am the woman who is going to catch him…

You’ve just read the opening pages of The Nothing Man, the true crime memoir Eve Black has written about her obsessive search for the man who killed her family nearly two decades ago.

The Nothing Man starts when Jim is at work, walking through the supermarket, and he notices that a girl has a book with the name “The Nothing Man” with her. His heart starts racing – because he knows what it means. The Nothing Man is a mysterious man that has assaulted and killed many people in the area, and even after twenty years, no one has found him yet. But Jim knows the truth – because he is the man who did all these crimes. 

Eve Black is one of the survivors, that managed to escape his attack by hiding in her bathroom. She writes a book about her experiences and the experiences of the other victims. With her whole family dead and nothing to lose, she is set to find out, once and for all, who the mysterious man is.

I loved the writing style – the book within the book – it was unusual and very interesting for me to engage with. I was so intrigued and invested, and that did not change at all. There are many twists and turns in this book, and you will enjoy them all, especially the very ending, where everything just comes to a big climax. It kept me glued to my seat, and I want more. 

I loved the difference between Jim and Eve – their different recollections to how things happened, and why they did. In her book, Eve is explaining how the attacks and murders took place, and right after that, we also witness Jim’s reaction to Eve’s writing, and whether he agrees or not with how correct her facts are. It was very scary at times, to read from the killer’s perspective, and the reasons of why he made some choices. 

The more Jim reads, the more he realizes how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth. He knows she won’t give up until she finds him. He has no choice but to stop her first… 

Usually, in our standard crime books, we have a crime scene, then suspects, and then we figure our way to finding the murderer. But here – we already know who the murderer is at the beginning of the story. But the rest of the world doesn’t. And this is a concept that I haven’t encountered yet, but really enjoyed it. Because this is something we don’t think about often – when we have a crime, and we don’t know who did it, the person that is guilty is out there somewhere, and knows he’s deceived us. 

The other important message from this book is to remember the victims.

Everyone remembers the name of a serial killer – but only few remember the victim’s names. 

“It’s fine to be fascinated by serial killers,” she tells me in her office after the lecture. “I am myself, obviously. They are fascinating because even though they look just like the rest of us, they do things the rest of us would never, ever do. But they are not especially intelligent. They don’t outsmart authorities. You know David Berkowitz? Son of Sam? They caught him because he got himself a parking ticket at the scene of one of his crimes.

They are boring, ordinary, failures of men – not always men, of course, but predominately – who can’t even manage to live, love and process their feelings in a world where the rest of us have all managed to master it by the time we’re in our teens. These are no dark magicians. They have no special skills. People seem to forget that we know their names because they got caught. In fact, the only remarkable thing about them is what they took from the world: their victims. It’s their names we should know.”

Eve’s book and her investigation behind the book had some powerful psychological lessons, and I enjoyed learning everything. If you already love true crime, and psychological thrillers, you have to absolutely read this and soon. This book is too good to be skipped.

Purchase Links:
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Blog Tour · Book Review · Books

Far From Perfect (The Valentines #2) by Holly Smale [BLOG TOUR]

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I am extremely happy and excited to be part of the blog tour for Far From Perfect by Holly SmaleThank you to the team at Harper Collins and LoveReading– for sending me a copy of the book.

Far From Perfect is the second book in the Valentines series. Read my review of the first book – Happy Girl Lucky.

Synopsis:

Being born in a family that is considered Hollywood royalty is not easy. When all her family is expecting perfection form her, Faith just wants to be normal. 

Instead, paparazzi follows her everywhere. She needs to rehearse everything she says and does. She needs to be herself – but, you know, someone else… at all times. 

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🎉 I am so excited to be part of the Blog Tour hosted by @kaleidoscopictours for this amazing book! 🌺 Far From Perfect by @holsmale is the second book in The Valentines series, published by @harpercollinsch 💖 I loved the first book in the series, Happy Girl Lucky. I am also a huge fan of the Geek Girl series that Holly has written. If you have a copy as well, join me in reading this book in the first week of August! 💖 🍾 Have a look at the other bookstagrammers participating in this tour as well – they will be tagged and some will be in the comments! 🍾 Share the love! 💖 📖 SYNOPSIS: 📖 Be yourself but, you know, someone else . . . Enthusiastic but not desperate; calm but not dull; funny but not try-hard; sparky but not crazy; feisty but not aggressive; beautiful but relatable; elegant but not icy; confident but not arrogant; feminine but not girly; nice but not boring. Faith Valentine has it all – fame, money and extraordinary beauty. But what she wants more than anything is a quiet life away from the cameras. Except nobody ever asks Faith what she wants, and her family’s expectations are crushing her. The world thinks she’s perfect, but is there is more to perfection than meets the eye?

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My Thoughts:

Far From Perfect manages to portray an unwanted life in the spotlight of a girl that simply wants to be normal. I was very satisfied to see how the media was presented in this book. They push famous people’s boundaries, twist stories and stir waters, causing dramas. And while I understand this is their job, I am grateful to see someone write about the negative impact they have on famous people.

I loved Faith as a character and I was so proud to see her stand up and fight. It was so easy to put myself in her shoes and experience her anger and frustration of not being listened to. I loved the friendship Faith has with Scarlett. It is real and funny and strong. But most of all, I loved the sister bond that Faith has with Mercy. It is so pure and emotional, and it made me think of my own little sister and how much she truly means to me. 

The story Faith tells us is a story that will touch every teenager. The struggles of love, family, friendships and finding purpose in the world. We have all been there, we have all fought the same battles and we understand. Even though some problems may seem trivial as a grown up, I remember how important those moments were to me when I was young, and how they shaped me today, and I was glad this was not underestimated in this book. 

And sometimes, life makes us forget. Time passes by, and we are lost for a bit. Until a book comes in our hands – to remind us what really matters. This is that book. A beautiful continuation of the series. I recommend it to the teenagers – to find your purpose; and also to everyone else – to remember what that purpose is!

Purchase Links:
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Book Review · Books

Geek Girl: All Wrapped Up – Holly Smale [BOOK REVIEW]

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Geek Girl: All Wrapped Up is a Christmas special and a spin-off from the Geek Girl Series, written by Holly Smale. It is cute and full of Christmas spirit and I only have one regret – I wish I read it in December.

In this book, we follow the lovely and geeky Harriet again. She is stressed about her first date, but her friends come to the rescue. They have an action plan on how to make this boy fall in love!

As I have already mentioned in my Geek Girl review – I love Harriet’s personality. Her geekiness is something that I didn’t read much about while growing up and it makes me happy that it slowly starts to be available to teenage girls.

Geek Girl: All Wrapped Up features Christmas and I loved all the facts about different Christmas traditions all over the world, all the Christmas jokes and recipes in this book. When reading, I could feel the Christmas Spirit on every page and it was wonderful.

There isn’t a big story line or any twists happening, but Geek Girl: All Wrapped Up is a lovely festive addition to the original Geek Girl series. I can’t wait to read the next book and see what Harriet is going to do next. Something mischievous, I am sure!

I have also written review for a few other books by Holly Smale. Check them out on the link below:

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Blog Tour · Book Review · Books

Happy Girl Lucky (The Valentines #1) by Holly Smale – Blog Tour, Exclusive Book Extract, Competitions and More!

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BLOG TOUR, EXCLUSIVE BOOK EXTRACT AND COMPETITION

The first time I found out about Holly Smale was when my sister came to visit me and she gave me all these Geek Girl books and said I must read them. After reading the first one (click here to read my review of Geek Girl), I knew I loved the writing and I was a forever fan of Holly Smale. And now, a few months later, I was so lucky that I got the finish off this amazing blog tour, give you my thoughts of Happy Girl Lucky, share an exclusive extract of the book with you and have a competition for you to win 5 signed copies with 5 ‘The Valentines’ pop sockets.

To enter the competition, all you have to do is go over on my Instagram post and enter!

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GIVEAWAY TIME! I have the amazing opportunity to be a part of a blog tour, and finish it off with this amazing giveaway. The book: Happy Girl Lucky by Holly Smale, the first book from The Valentines series The prize: 5 Signed Copies with 5 pop sockets! (5 winners in total) HOW TO ENTER: Follow me – @diaryofdifference Follow Holly Smale – @holsmale Comment on this post, tagging three of your friends. (you can do this unlimited number of times) Additional Entries: Share this on your Stories (don’t forget to tag me, so I can note your entry) Share this on your Feed (don’t forget to tag me, so I can note your entry) Competition ends on 22nd February 2019, and I will announce the winners on 23rd February 2019. This competition is open Internationally! Good Luck Everyone! <3

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BOOK REVIEW 

★★★★★

Happy Girl Lucky is the first book from The Valentines Series. This is a story about a famous family, The Valentines, who have been Hollywood stars for ages. Hope is one of the daughters of the famous couple, but she grows up without all that paparazzi attention and hype. It is a family rule not to involve their children into the famous world until they are sixteen. Hope can’t wait to turn sixteen and start living this amazing life.

Hope spends her teenage years as a normal girl – she steals clothes from her sisters and makes movie scenarios in her head. She reads her horoscope every day and knows what the magazines say is true. She is naive and funny and so unique. And when one day, her horoscope says she is on her way to finally meet her true love, she has to make everything possible to make this come true.

And when she meets this boy, we follow Hope’s adventures from touring London, to travelling to the US, to making decisions she never thought she could make. I loved how we are with Hope every minute of her journey and we watch her slowly grow and make us giggle.

Even though Hope gives the life of this story, and makes us all want to be friends with her, all of the other characters have their own little unique spark, which I loved so much.

A wonderfully written story, but also a very meaningful one.

Holly Smale managed to perfectly capture some of the issues that some teenage girls are facing today. Living their own reality while their family lives a completely different world is not so uncommon, and girls need to know this. Sometimes, we wake in a reality we don’t know and think we are the ones to blame, but there is nothing wrong with you. All you ladies out there, you need to hear this. There is nothing wrong with you. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You are unique, and you should believe in what you are, who you are, and what makes you truly happy. And through Hope’s story, we can understand this so well, and I am forever grateful!

A fun and entertaining story, meant to capture all the teenage hearts out there. This is definitely a must-read for every girl out there, to find her true self and be happy for what she truly is.

My favourite scene in this book was the moment when Hope meets her ‘’dream boy’’ in the train, and I am sharing an exclusive extract of that chapter with you!

Click Here To Read The Exclusive Extract

I would love to chat with you, so let me know in the comments:

  • Is Happy Girl Lucky a book you might enjoy?
  • Have you entered the competition on Instagram?
  • Have you read any of Holly Smale’s books before?

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Book Review · Books

Geek Girl (Geek Girl #1) by Holly Smale [BOOK REVIEW]

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★★★★

Even though I kept hearing great things about Geek Girl, I never really happened to read it. A month ago, my teen sister borrowed the whole Geek Girl series and told me this is something I must check off my list. And here I am one month later – loving the first book!

Geek Girl tells the story of a young teen Harriet, who is a geek and gets bullied at her school. She might know all the science answers, but she has no clue why people are laughing at her when she goes outside with a cartoon hoodie.

But when Harriet gets discovered by a modelling agency,she realises how things can get different, and she has to choose whether she wants to risk losing everything by changing who she really is.

A very funny and geeky read, where I couldn’t stop but giggle a few times. One moment really got me though:

‘’If somebody offers to shave your legs,’’ she snaps, ‘’let them.’’

Harriet is a typical geeky high-school character, and you can’t help but love her weirdness, her silliness and the ways she believes in.

The read was somewhat predictable from the beginning, and there wasn’t any big plot twist or cliff-hanger, but I believe that this book didn’t really want to achieve that anyways.

This was a perfect read for me to relax and enjoy reading – reminded me of my high-school days and made me remember a lot of similar moments.

I am recommending it to all of you out there – that love being different and are not afraid to stand up for yourselves, no matter how much people laugh at you.

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