Ratburger

Title: Rat Burger
Author: David Walliams
Type: Paperback
Read: 29th March
Rating: 3/5
Published: 13th February 2014 by Harper Collins Childrens Books

This is the story of a little girl called Zoe. Things are not looking good for Zoe. Her hamster just died, her stepmother hates her, the school bully makes her life a misery. And now the evil Burt from Burt’s Burgers is after her new pet rat Armitage. Armitage is no ordinary rat; he can break dance! But does Burt appreciate Armitage for his talents? No. Can you guess what he wants to do with him? The clue is in the title…

I have never read anything by David Walliams before and brought this at the airport waiting for a flight home. I just wanted a book. It's a really easy read, obviously suited to kids. David Walliams is a good story teller there are some cracking pictures in here too.

There's not much I can say about the Book. It's simple. Strange. Kids will love it. I found it odd. But it was fun. I've another book to read by this author so I'm holding out for judgement yet.   

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

The Dying Place

Title: The Dying Place (DI David Murphy & DS Laura Rossi #2)
Author: Luca Veste
Type: Paperback
Read: 23rd March - 28th March
Rating: 4/5
Published: 4th December 2014 by Avon

A fate worse than death…
DI Murphy and DS Rossi discover the body of known troublemaker Dean Hughes, dumped on the steps of St Mary’s Church in West Derby, Liverpool. His body is covered with the unmistakable marks of torture.
As they hunt for the killer, they discover a worrying pattern. Other teenagers, all young delinquents, have been disappearing without a trace.
Who is clearing the streets of Liverpool?
Where are the other missing boys being held?
And can Murphy and Rossi find them before they meet the same fate as Dean?

The second book from Luca Veste. His debut 'dead gone' was brilliant and we see the DI Murphy & DS Rossi return in this book. When a boys body is found near a churh the two detectives are thrown into what first looks like a gang-related murder. But slowly they begin to notice that other kids are being taken from the liverpool streets without a trace.

I loved this story, i love reading about Murphy & Rossi in this sequal. They're a great team and the little banter between them shows how close they work. This case is crazy, Luca really gives a lot of insight to the goings on in Liverpool.

It's probably very much a book that makes you think a lot. The thing is, we see kids on the street and we do think they're nothing but pains, no gooders and set for nothing in life. But what if thats not the case for all of them. Why do we blame their parents, when they are trying their best. Some children are beyond help but others, they just need to right guidance. This book makes you think, bout how judging a book by its cover is bad. You really don't know whats going on behind the sceens.

This book wasn't as creepy as the first, so i managed to get some sleep. It's addictive, you want to know who is hiding behind the masks and secret names. Who is tourting these boys, because, they only take boys. Why has this happened, what started it all off. It's all answered. The ending, its sad. It's probably the most heartbreaking of them all.

Luca Veste is certainly one to watch in the crime fiction!  

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

Concert: Train

 

Artist: Train
Tour: Bulletproof Picasso

Location: Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham

Date: 25th March 2015

This was my first concert of 2015. I randomly got into Train about a year and half ago, maybe longer. One of my friends posted a picture of one of their albums on instagram and i was decided i needed new music and brought it. Then i brought all the older albums and never looked back since. I missed Trains last tour when they did smaller places, so when I found out they were doing an arena tour, I had to go.

Now people who know me, will know I'm a girl who loves her happy-cheesy music. American bands, that play actual instruments aren't something I'd normally choose. But Train's music is amazing. There albums are so different to one another. So they were touring off the back of their latest release 'Bulletproof Picasso'.

Firstly, I must say, the support act they had 'The Magic Numbers' were bloody fantastic. I hardly say that for support as I'm not there to see them. But this sets of brothers and sisters were great. I went out and brough their album from the merchandise stands afterwards. Truely a group to watch, their album is dark and edgy.

The opening of the set started literly with a Train, i'm a big geek with them, I love actual choo choo trains, so I adored the start of the show which went very well with the song 'Just A Memory'. The thing with Train, they are good. They don't have to try. Lead singer Pat, has a bloody cracking good voice. 

I think often with Americans in general their humor is different to that of us Brits and sometimes it can be translated very wrong. But Pat was very humourous with the audience, through one song, some random dude in the crowd caused issues and the stewards just haulled him out, to which Pat remarked, they'd just kicked out his Dad. During the song 'If It's Love' Pat decided that if people wanted photos, he'd take them. So bless the poor lad at the front, he was taking phones off people and handing them to Pat who took a photo of himself whilst singing. How he didn't mess up is beyond me. But i thought it was soo cool and wished I was brave enough to do standing! It does amuse me how artist like to play cities against each other. Pat being the same, often said in a joking way, that London was better than Birmingham, of which we brummies don't agree. We can be just as loud!

From iconic songs such as Drops of Jupiter, Drive By and the latest Give It All, this tour had everything. I often felt at times, the audience was a bit flat, especially at the start, but sometimes we're just slow to catch on. Pat Monahan, is a first class singer and a good looking one at that! At the end of the show and throughout it, Pat and the rest of the band threw drum sticks and also signed t-shirts into the crowd!

Set Listing:

1. Just A Memory
2. Angel in Blue Jeans
3. I'm Drinkig Tonight
4. 50 Ways to Say Goodbye
5. If It's Love
6. Meet Virginia
7. Free
8. Hopeless
9. Calling All Angels
10. Save Me Sanfrancisco 
11. Wonder What You're Doing For The Rest of Your Life
12. Give It All
13. Marry Me
14. Bruises
15. Hey Soul Sister
16. Drive By
17. Encore
1. Bulletproof Picasso
2. The Weight
3. Drops of Jupiter 

 

Unspeakable

Title: Unspeakable
Author: Abbi Rushton
Type: Paperback
Read: 21st March - 22nd March
Rating: 5/5
Published: 5th February 2015 by Atom

Megan doesn't speak. She hasn't spoken in months.
Pushing away the people she cares about is just a small price to pay. Because there are things locked inside Megan's head - things that are screaming to be heard - that she cannot, must not, let out.

Then Jasmine starts at school: bubbly, beautiful, talkative Jasmine. And for reasons Megan can't quite understand, life starts to look a bit brighter.

Megan would love to speak again, and it seems like Jasmine might be the answer. But if she finds her voice, will she lose everything else?

Picked this book up on a total whim, it just seemed different. A story about a girl, Megan, who doesn't speak. She can't, hasnt' for months because of some crazy secret thats taken everything away from her. I wanted to know why Megan couldnt speak, what happened, to cause this?

So, Megan doesn't speak, something happened months ago that halted it. She wants to, really wants to talk, to have someone to confind in. She only has her friend Luke,who share a mutual understanding, a bond thats pretty unbreakable since this 'mystery' thing happened. Then along comes Jasmine, she's new and total opposite to Megan. She talks, she's bubbly, she's not interested in being with the popular kids. They become firm friends, one talks, the other listens. Until bad stuff starts happening to Jasmine. Why would someone wish to hurt the new girl?

A book about the tests of friendships, about love, about falling for your new best friend. Megan & Jasmine make the cutest couple and i enjoyed reading Megans turmoil trying to figure out what was going on and how to portray everything with the power of speach taken away.

There is more to this book that Megan not speaking, theres the typical teenager-y stuff but with a darker undertone throughout. I was dying to find  why Megan stopped speaking and although the ending was good, it seemed a little untrue for who it was. I was sure it was Lindsey being the cow! But i guess this also proves, judgement in certain situations can be clouded and everyone blames themselves for things.

This book is addictive. It wants to be read, I did it in under 24 hours and I didn't want it to end. I recommend it to everyone. Really its great.  

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

A Girl Called Summer

Title: A Girl Called Summer
Author: Lucy Lord
Type: Paperback
Read: 16th March - 20th March
Rating: 4/5
Published: 17th July 2014 by Harper

Island life is just one step away…
A new start…
Bella and Andy have escaped the rat race for the sun-drenched, relaxed lifestyle on the island of Ibiza. But with a run-down house to make habitable and a distractingly gorgeous neighbour, is their island idyll all that it seems?

A holiday adventure…
Tamara Gold has been Hollywood’s most notorious car crash since she was a child star. Now clean and sober, and engaged to Tinseltown’s hottest leading man, it seems like she’s finally conquered her addictions, if not her bratty behaviour. But a summer in Europe with all the hedonistic lures of Ibiza beckons…

A girl called Summer…
Summer Larsson has always known Ibiza as home: a haven of hippies, yoga and healthy eating – and loneliness. But in Bella, she’s found the friend she always needed, and when Bella’s glamorous Hollywood friends come to visit, it looks like she might have found true love as well…

This could be the summer that everything changes…

I think this book is better read in summer time. It just makes me want to go to Ibiza now. It's a simple book, but i did find there to be so many characters, it was hard at times remembering who was who. Their background and stories. And everyone seemed to know each other.

Theres a lot of detail of the island which makes it sound really awesome to go to, i've never been. But parts of the story seemed way OTT and so extreme.

Also, some of the explicit nature at times, wasn't what i was expecting. Made me giggle then cringe in parts as it just didn't seem this kinda book. I was thinking more cute, girly summer read.

Favourite character was probably summer, typically. She's just sweet, kinda, blond and great. I even like Tamara, even her diva-ness times.

Read it with an open mind, it is a good book. 

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

The Great Fire of London

Title: The Great Fire of London
Author: Samuel Pepys
Type: Paperback
Read: 13th March - 15th March
Rating: 4/5
Published: 30th June 2015 by Penguin Classics

A selection from Pepys’s startlingly vivid and candid diary. Originally written in code, Pepys’s diary includes his unforgettable eyewitness account of the 1666 Fire.

Penguin released 80 little black classics for their 80th birthday, all for 80p each. They're cute. I adore them. This book was interesting. But so hard to understand at times. They're worthwhile to collect.  

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

The Kill Order

Title: The Kill Order (The Maze Runner #0.5)
Author: Jame Dashner
Type: Paperback
Read: 8th March - 10th March
Rating: 3/5
Published: 1st January 2013 by Chicken House

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next.

Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.

So the prequel to all other books in the maze runner series. Read them before this. Although i think you could read this and then them. But thats just my opinon.
So why did they bring a book out explaining everything afterwards. Well at the end of the third book, the imunes escape to a paradise. What we dont' really know beyond stuff called 'the flares' is how the world became what it did. What really happened and why.
We don't meet any of the same characters in the books until the very very end. Like really the last chapter. This is a bunch of new characters, ones who won't survive. But they've fought, the sun flares the world being crazy. Death.
I liked it, at first it was so-so, then it got really good kinda like ghost-buster super hero wannabes. Then it just went blah. Its interesting to find out the cause of it, but we don't find out alot of other stuff really.
It's intersting, probably worth reading if you liked the first three books. I'd not bother if you didn't.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

The Death Cure

Title: The Death Cure (The Maze Runner #3)
Author: Jame Dashner
Type: Paperback
Read: 5th March - 7th March
Rating: 5/5
Published: 5th April 2012 by Chicken House

The Trials are over. WICKED is planning to restore the survivors' memories and complete the final cure for the Flare.

But Thomas has already remembered more than they think. And he knows WICKED can't be trusted...

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine. Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

The third and final book in the maze runner series, this was where we expected everything to be clear. I was so set on giving this 4 stars as the first half wasn't as good as I hoped. It seemed to drag, go slow & you're constantly wanting something to happen. But the second half pulled it back, it was really good. It didn't disappoint and its what I wanted the whole book to be like.
Is there a cure, does Thomas get revenge, it's answered here. I think my favourite characters were Brenda & Minho. So different from each other but so crucial to the story. I still have a feeling Brenda is upto more but well never know.

One brilliant series, I'm glad I took a gamble with this.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones  

The Scorch Trials

Title: The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner #2)
Author: Jame Dashner
Type: Paperback
Read: 2nd March - 4th March
Rating: 4/5
Published: 1st August 2011 by Chicken House

The Scorch Trials picks up where The Maze Runner left off. The Gladers have escaped the Maze, but now they face an even more treacherous challenge on the open roads of a devastated planet.
And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. Can Thomas survive in such a violent world?

Not quite as good as the first book but just as addictive. We follow the Gladers as they are saved and torn apart. Teresa is seperated from the boys & moved to be with Group B, the girls who have all gone through the same maze as the boys, a practical mirror image.

This time their safe place isn't so. It's mind tripping, they're given a challenge another trial.
Make it through the scorch in two weeks and receive a cure for the flare. Anything will happen. Not all will survive & loyalties will be tested.

I got through this book pretty quickly but the start I found a little hard to understand. Parts of it was made overly complicated. It's good. I liked Brenda a new character thrown in. I liked the girls from Group B. I don't trust wicked at all.

What drama will lie in book three we will soon find out.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

The Maze Runner

Title: The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1)
Author: James Dashner
Type: Paperback
Read: 25th February - 1st March
Rating: 5/5
Published: 4th August 2011 by Chicken House

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade - a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there - or what's happened to the world outside.

I brought the boxset of the Maze Runner books in November. I knew nothing about them, just knew a friend said she enjoyed the first so figured i'd get. Its' bloody fantastic. I liked it alot. Theres so much happening you just want to continue reading, finding out more.

There are a bunch of boys, all trapped in a huge place, they're able to grow food, to survive and each night the walls close. Keeping them in. Or is it keeping whats outside the walls out. Outside the walls is the Maze. It's whats these kids, because thats just what they are, have been trying for two years to solve, to find a way out. But nothing. Until Thomas arrives, then then next day Teresa. Never has a girl been sent. Never two in two days. And so chaos ensues.

It's a page turner, you want to read why these kids were caught, you want to know why the maze changes, why the walls close each night. Why suddenly, it doesn't.

I loved it. I'm not good on series, i've only really read Harry Potter and that tested me at times. But i'm all for this. I want to know more. I want answers.

The only thing that freaked me out, and its' purely my crazy imagination, was the Grievers. Seriously, they sounded nasty.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones