BookTube-A-Thon Catchup

So I kind of epically failed with the BookTube-A-Thon challenge reading 4 of my 7 chosen books. However, I am now on summer holidays so the good news is I have weeks of reading time  ahead of me!

I really enjoyed The Year Of The Rat by Clare Furness which I would give four out of five stars. This book tells the story of Pearl and her sister Rose, who Pearl refers to as 'The Rat'. Clare Furness writes beautifully and explores Pearl's grief following her mother's death over the course of a year. During these twelve months, Pearl sees, hears and speaks to her deceased mother as she slowly comes to terms with what has happened. Blaming her new baby sister for her mother's death, Pearl struggles to bond with 'The Rat' - a concept that Clare Furness deals with delicately. This book is both funny and heart wrenching and will leave you captivated throughout. 



I also managed to read The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. Unfortunately, I watched the film before I read the book. The two are soooooo different and, as expected, the book is a million times better than the film. I won't say too much about the differences as I don't want to give away any spoilers. This book is excellent and explores the theme of mental health exquisitely. Both the relationships between Pat and his father and Pat and Tiffany made the book a real success and the story entirely believable. If you have yet to read it please please please do so without seeing the movie first.  


 
My graphic novels I devoured very quickly and will upload separate reviews ASAP.
As soon as I finished Saga I rushed out to buy the next two episodes in the series. This series is amazing and a must read for all lovers of sci-fi and fantasy fiction. 




One thing I have learned from attempting BookTube-A-Athon is that I don't like audio books. I downloaded the audio version of Mockingjay from my local library service and could not get past the first chapter. The narrator's voice was whiny, mono-tone and dreary and hurt my ears!! I will definitely give another audiobook a try but this experience has certainly put me off for the time being!!