Book Review - Swimming Pool Sunday

Swimming Pool Sunday - Madeleine Wickham
On a shimmeringly hot Sunday in May, the Delaneys opened their pool to all the village for charity. Louise was there, so were her daughters Amelia and Katie - and so, glaring at her resentfully, was her estranged husband Barnaby. This was supposed to be his day with the girls. But Louise ignored his angry glowers - it wasn't her fault they'd wanted to come swimming with her, was it? While the children splashed and shrieked in the cool, blue waters, she lay blissfully back in the sun and dreamed of Cassian, the charismatic new lawyer in her life. The day seemed perfect.

But suddenly the perfect day was shattered, as tragedy struck. And the consequences of a terrible accident develop into a dram of recriminations, jealousy and legal power-play, in which Louise found herself pulled in three directions at once. Friendships crumbled, the village was split, and the needs of a child become secondary to a dangerous contest in which the grown-ups were engaged.
 

I have literally been reading this book on and off since my last book review, and I have only just realized that the front cover is meant to look like a swimming pool with the reflection of the diving board :')

Anyway, I will start off by saying that Madeleine Wickham has written my favourite books ever, the Confessions Of A Shopaholic series but under the name Sophie Kinsella, so I was expecting this book to be really great. I was actually rather disappointed with it if I am honest.

This was Madeleine's first ever published book so I wasn't expecting anything as good as the COAS series, but I still thought it would be better than it was.

After reading the blurb before I started reading the book, I had already guessed what happened in the book. And to the most of it, I was right.

Things I like about this book: The storyline on the whole is great. The little twists add a great atmosphere to the novel. The court case (I can't really say why I like it...otherwise it will ruin it incase after reading this you still want to read the book...dayum!)

Things I don't like about this book: The fact that I figured out most of what was going to happen within reading the blurb and the first couple chapters. The whole Alexis and Daisy storyline, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REST OF THE BOOK!?!?! I DON'T GET IT!!!! The fact that after the accident, Amelia isn't mentioned for like 5 chapters. The whole ending of the book.

So yeah :/ I don't really know how to review this book as I didn't really like it. At parts I did find it hard to put down, it did pull me into the story at times, but at other times I didn't really care less. It might have also been to do with the fact I've been doing a lot the past few weeks and so haven't had time to read so much and so have been reading a chapter like every few days, so haven't got pulled into it as much.

I'm not going to say 'STAY CLEAR OF THIS BOOK, IT IS AWFUL' because that's not the truth. I have read worse books in my life but this just wasn't as good as I had wanted it to be.

Sorry Madeleine :/

Baa.

Found my blue clip in hair thingy :D Was happy :')

Going to London Zoo tomorrow with Amy, her cousin and her mum :D
Excited apart from the fact that I have had to set my alarm to 7:30 on a blooming Sunday morning :O
Oh well :P

Staying over at Amy's afterwards, will be a laugh :)
Will come home somewhen on Monday.
But I bet you if it is nice on Monday Amy and I will play swingball.

:')

So yarsh, speak soonies

xoxox

McFly - Above The Noise

You know what I have only just realised? I never blogged about the McFly gig. And so I am going to, even though it was nearly a full 3 months ago. 

April 1^st 2011.

I had to go to school during the day due to having an art exam. So I went and had the first half of my exam which went rather well actually…my art final piece was about McFly so I had a near enough full McFly day, was exciting :P I normally finish school at half 3 but my mum sent me in with a note saying that we had a wedding to get to up in Manchester so I had to leave at 3. Well I couldn’t exactly say that I was going to a McFly gig could I? And I could have stayed till half 3 seeing as we got the 4:09 train to London Waterloo, but still :P Got ready at home before going to the train station and then getting on the train. Raved silently to McFly all the way there and then turned my music off so I could make sure we got on the right tube, just in case my mum got it wrong :P 

Anyway we got off at Wembley and we walked to the arena and it bought back so many memories of when I went to see them end of 2008 on the Radio:ACTIVE tour as I had seen them there and walked the exact route, it was just a lot lighter now then it was then! We got into the arena and went to buy a tour book and top…and they take the lids off your bottles when you enter for some reason (stupid seeing as you can buy drink in the arena with lids…) but me and my mum always have spares in our purses…because we think like that…but I put my bottle without the lid on the counter whilst I got my money out and my mum turned and wacked it onto the floor, soaking someone. I actually was trying not to laugh to be honest. We got my stuff anyway before gathering in the crowd and waiting to be allowed to find our seats. We got to our seats and I grinned. We had an amazing view. I changed from my skirt into my tutu and put on my new McFly top and sat and chatted to my mum. After about half an hour my friend walked over so I got up, gave her a huge hug, before going and sitting with her and talking to her. I had met Silke on twitter though another friend and yet we had met first due to going to the same gig and the fact that she was sat 3 rows behind me. I was so nervous yet happy to meet her! She didn’t realise at first how small I was until I stood on the same step as she was stood on. She laughed :’) Was really nice meeting her, she’s such a lovely person <3 And for the first McFly friend of mine which I’ve met, it was great :D

Anyway, I then went and sat back with my mum and put on my glowsticks :D She has 3 of them too :’) The support acts came on and the first band were okay, but my mum pointed out that the lead singer looked gay due to his hand movements, and I couldn’t stop watching him :’) it was annoying! The second band were better, but the last band, The Struts, were my favourite <3 Apart from at first I didn’t like the lead singer but by the end I totally loved him due to the fact that he wore what he wanted to wear and didn’t really care what anyone else thought, just like me. And he was just mental :’)

And then McFly came on. I was actually on the verge of being sick because I was screaming, so hot and near enough hyperventilating. Usually when I feel ill I start singing McFly songs to myself to get me to calm down and take my mind off of things so I put all of my energy and thoughts into screaming the words which Tom, Danny and Dougie were singing to us. I don’t really remember the set list and at the other gigs I spent a lot of time taking photos and videos so I could remember the day better but to be honest I hate watching the videos back as it makes me sad that I can’t remember the gig without the videos. But that’s the thing, I never remember the best days of my life really…well I do…but it’s all blurry due to the amazingness of it.

Anyway! I let my mum have the camera and she took quite a few photos and thought she was taking videos but she wasn’t :’) bless her heart! But I have the live stream to always watch so I can relive the gig, just like I can with R:A.

We had to leave early due to wanting to actually get home that night so I missed them singing The Heart Never Lies and Shine A Light but still :’) We left the arena and I could hear it outside so was skipping along singing The Heart Never Lies whilst my mum laughed at me. 

We managed to get the last train home and I just listened to McFly through my buzzing ears and nearly fell asleep.

I know a lot of this wasn’t actually about the gig itself, but I truthfully can’t remember much of it as it was all above amazing. At random times I suddenly remember something which happened and I find myself randomly grinning at the memory. I will however never forget Tom’s dad coming on stage and singing Smile with them, Tom’s hip thrust whilst singing Star Girl, Danny’s guitar…thing…whilst singing iF U C Kate, Dougie introducing Bob onstage (and his ‘holy jeans) and Harry showing off his left (I think) nipple <3

Oh I love McFly.

And after writing this I just want to see them live again.

Yes I felt ill at the beginning due to my hyperness but that all adds to the amazingness of the whole gig experience.

I also received many lovely texts of my McFriend Kat during the gig, was lovely <3

I love all mc McBuddies <3 They are all lovely and I can't wait to meet the rest of them :)

IT'S NOT ALWAYS EASY. BUT MCFLYS HERE FOREVER

So true.

.

I love Jimmy Carr's laugh.

That's all :')

Tonight consists of 8 Out of 10 Cats, King Of... and then flicking between Eastenders and Alan Carr Chatty Man <3

This Week

This week has been pretty darn good.
On Monday I stayed at home and then Olivia came down and we went into school to give our photography teacher his present. We had bought him a Red VW Campervan mug which was pretty darn lucky seeing as he already had the blue and orange one :') (he likes VW Campervan's btw...) and then I came home and didn't really do much.
On Tuesday I went to the beach with Sheena and Jade. It looked sunny in Liphook but got down to Portsmouth, as soon as we got out of the car it started spitting with rain. Cheers! It didn't last long and we walked through the swan boats to the seafront and then along to the first pier and then to the castle where we sat and ate lunch before carrying on walking down to the second pier. I was wearing flipflops and hurt my foot though :( But still walked back :) Oh and on the walk back it poured down for like 2 minutes and my aunt said I looked like Ozzy Osbourne.
On Wednesday I had an exam in the morning and then I came home and played on Sims for most of the day. I then played on the Wii for a bit before going round to my nans in the evening to play some games with Sheena and Jade.
On Thursday me, mum, Sheena and Jade went to London. It was amazing, despite my feet being in agony. We got the underground to Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum which was pretty darn amazing <3 And then we got the underground to the portrait gallery. Well, we ate lunch outside before heading inside. We then got the underground to Buckingham palace before walking down to the London Eye where we sat an admired the world going by. Well I was trying to take photos of bubbles...I am still fascinated by bubbles, despite being 16. I don't think I will ever outgrow that fascination. Anyway...oh! When we were outside Buckingham Palace, we were stood near the gates when these police men came over and told us to go stand opposite, near the big monument thingy so everyone did and me and my aunt were like 'omigod the Queen is coming out!' but no. Someone had just abandoned their rucksack. It was a bomb scare. Pretty funny though :')
Today Amy and I went into school to get my leavers formed signed and handed in before heading back to mine. We then went over to Sainsburys for two hours to help collect money for Cancer Research. There was this crazy woman who came and stood in front of us (gave us no money mind you) and went 'I can never find my blue car here. Never have the problem anywhere else. I come here to Sainsbury's and it takes me ages to find it but I go to London and it takes me no time at all' before she walked outside and went straight to her green car. Totes made my day though :')

Anyway, that was my week :)

xoxoxox

100 Truths

1. Real name → Laura Jade Pay

2. Nickname(s) → Lolli, LJ, Lolster, Betty, Lau

3. Zodiac sign → Taurus

4. Male or female → Female

5. Elementary → Liphook Infants

6. Middle School → Liphook Juniors

7. High School → Bohunt School

8. Hair color → Reddy Purple atm

9. Long or short → Midlength but too long.

10. Loud or Quiet → Quiet if you don’t know me, but once you get to know me I won’t shut up

11. Sweats or Jeans → Jeans

12. Phone or Camera → Cameraa

13. Health freak → Pffffffttt nope

14. Drink or Smoke → Neither

15. Do you have a crush on someone? → Yarsh

16. Eat or Drink → Eatt

17. Piercings → 2 on each ear :)

18. Tattoos → Nope

HAVE YOU EVER? 

19. Been in an airplane → Nope

20. Been in a room → Yes…what sort of question is this!?

21. Been in a car accident → Nah

FIRSTS: 

22. First Word → No idea

23. First piercing → My ears

24. Best Friend → Amy :)

25. First award → No idea tbh

26. First crush → My old next door neighbour most likely

27. First big vacation → Erm unless you count Disney Land Paris then I’m still waiting

28. First school → Liphook Infants

LASTS:

29. Last person you talked to → Olivia

30. Last person you chatted → isn’t that the same thing as ^^? Olivia

31. Last person you watched a movie with → my aunt

32. Last food you ate → Aero bar :D

33. Last movie you watched → Kung Fu Panda

34. Last song you listened to → *goes onto iTunes and onto ‘recently played’* Circle The Drain by Katy Perry

35. Last thing you bought → McFly That’s The Truth CD’s

FAVOURITES: 

36. Food → Lasagne probably

37. Drinks → Cream Soda

38. Clothing → McFly tops or Wicked hoodie

39. Books → All of the Confessions Of A Shopaholic books and Handle With Care by Jodie Picoult. Oh and House Rules by Jodie Picoult :D

40. Music → McFly…obviously…but I also love: Alex Day <3, Bruno Mars, Busted, Cascada, The Fratellis, Get Set Radio, Green Day, Jessie J, Katy Perry <3, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Lissie, Scouting For Girls <3, The Script, Sceondhand Serenade, Son Of Dork :D

41. Flower → Lily

42. Colors → Black and bright pink

43. Movies  → Finding Nemo, Confessions Of A Shopaholic, Just My Luck…

44. Locations → Home

45. Subjects → Photography :’) And I liked Maths and weirdly Biology…

HAVE YOU EVER- 

46. Kissed in the snow? Nope

47. Celebrated Halloween? Yes

48. Had your heart broken? Nope

49. Went over the minutes on your cellphone? No

50. Had someone questioned your sexual orientation? nope

51. Came out of the closet? Don’t need to

54. Done something you've regretted? Nope

55. Broke a promise? Yup, but everyone does

56. Hid a secret? Yup

57. Pretended to be happy? Yes

58. Met someone who changed your life? Yup

59. Pretended to be sick? Yup

60. Left the country? Nope

61. Tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it? Yeah overall probably quite a lot of things

62. Cried over the silliest thing? Yup

63. Ran a mile? Nope

64. Went to the beach with your best friend(s)? Yup

65. Stayed single the whole year? Yeah

66. Crashed your dad's boat? My dad doesn’t have a boat…and even if he did theres no way he would let me drive it

CURRENTLY: 

67. Eating → Nothing

68. Drinking → Nothing

69. I'm about to → Write part of a story

71. Plans for today → eat, wash hair, sleep, write, read…not in that order

72. Waiting for → me to finish this

YOUR FUTURE:

73. Want kids? → I think so…

74. Want to get married? → Yeah

75. Careers in mind? → Phtographer or something to do with photographyyy

76. Lips or eyes → Eyees

78. Romantic or spontaneous → Both :) 

79. Nice legs or Nice arms  → Arms :)

82. Cute Or Sexual → :/ probably bit of both in someone else

HAVE YOU EVER:

83. Lost glasses/contacts → Yes lost my glasses 

84. Ran away from home →  Nope

85. Held a gun/knife for self defense → Nah

86. Killed Somebody → Nope

87. Broken someone's heart → Nah 

88. Been arrested → Nopee

89. Cried when someone died → Yes

BELIEVE IN-

90. Yourself → Not enough

91. Miracles → No

92. Love at first sight → Yes

93. Heaven → Nope

94. Santa Claus → Nah

95. Sex on the first date → No

96. Kiss on the first date → Depends how well it goes

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

97. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Yes

98. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life? At the moment, yes.

99. Do you believe in God? No

100. Title as 100 truths and tag 16 (22 is too many) people and the person who tagged you originally and they have to fill out this out – Blogging this so no.

Chapter One

I started writing a McFly fic about a year ago. Well, I wrote a chapter of it and couldn't think of a name so just named it Chapter One. I've worked on it at odd times over the past year and it's only nearly finished but I am actually incredibly proud of it if I'm honest. It's a bit confusing in places so every time I write something new to it, I have to re-read half of it so I remember what has gone on etc. I've enjoyed writing it though. It's different from what I normally write, for one thing it's a 'homosexual' fic with the guys dating each other, without having me or another character involved or anything. The guys aren't in a band and it's told all from Danny's POV which I've also never written a full story in, not even a full story in Tom's POV or anything before.

Practically to sum it up, Danny joins the school and meets Tom straight away. Tom is engaged to Harry but that doesn't stop Danny falling for him. Tom and Danny flirt and Tom falls for Danny. But he finds it hard to leave Harry and he can't decide what to do. So Danny and Vicky come up with a plan which involves playing Dougie and stealing Harry.

So yarsh.

Oh and the story is still called 'Chapter One' as I still can't think of what to call it and because I've decided that I am going to write a follow up to it, probably called 'Chapter Two' or something. Different chapters in the life of Danny Jones.

I find it weird that it's told from the POV of Danny, seeing as he's probably my least fave member of the band...

Oh and Emily has kept up to date with what I'd written and kept telling me that it was good, so I do owe it to her that I'm near to finishing this. I kept thinking that parts were crap and that I didn't know what to write next and stuff and she kept saying that it was great and that I should carry on :) So thanks Em! :D

xoxo

Question.

Formspring Question Of The Day: What Was Your Favourite Childhood Toy?

Answer: I loved Bratz dolls. I was literally crazy about them when I was younger, I had 24 in total. My friend Forest used to live just on the same estate and she used to bring hers over (I think she had about 8...) and we used to share them out and make up stories and how they were related and who was friends with who and such :') we made it so serious that we even designed a whole house and each individual room on paper! :') And we used to lay out my blue towel and pretend it was the ocean :') That was probably my all time favourite childhood 'toy' despite not actually being young when this all went on...I was a barbie girl when I was a lot younger, but can't really remember that...apart from having a HUGE barbie house :') Oh and I ADORED Polly Pockets! And I had dolls...well I had two but HATED the hell out of one of them....I had a Baby ChoCho who I adored <3 She was called Stephanie...and I had a Baby Annabel called Annabel...but I hated her and used to chuck her down the stairs and jump on her and stuff...and I always, ALWAYS, wanted a Baby Benjamin doll but he was so expensive and I never got one :( But I used to play make-believe games more than anything when I was a child...I used to play mums and dads ALOT...and strangely I was more often than not, the dad...No one usually wanted to be the mum and neither did I, so I either offered to be the dad, or to be the older sister and our parents had died in a car crash...that was a pretty frequent story....(wow this answer is pretty friggen long but I can't stop writing now :'))...I also had this game with a friend...we were always on her trampoline and everyone else had gone in and we used to play this 'Harry Potter' spell sisters weird game...I've never got into Harry Potter but she was and so we made it more 'us' and fun...we were awesome :') I was such a cool kid!

I think I went into detail a bit too much...

Tattoos

I've wanted a tattoo (well tattoos) for the past 2 or 3 years come to think of it, but I still have another 2 years to wait. My mum really doesn't want me to get any I don't think, but she can't really talk, she has one.

Okay so I want more...and probably ones that are going to be on show more than the one on her back but still. It's my life, it's my body. I want something which will be mine, and I know I'll have to live with it for the rest of my life, one reason why I want them even more.

I want a star. A star like Tom Fletcher's, yes. McFly are, have been, a huge part of my life for the past 3 and a bit years and I know that I will never forget the times, I would love something which will always be there. And lyrics are too hard to think about. Yes I would love a lyric which would be more personal to me, but there are so many and not just one stands out (apart from maybe 'We've got no worries in the world' which has stood out for the past few months...if I still like it...then maybe)...and it has to mean something to me. The line I mentioned does, apart from I have far too many worries in the world which I know I shouldn't have! Stupid little things worry me. I also don't know where I would have the lyric, but I also don't know where to have the star.

I want a tattoo on my left wrist which says 'Dream'. I don't know why I want it my left wrist to be honest, maybe because I have an idea of something I want on my right...and I don't know :L But yeah, I want dream tattooed onto my wrist. I have far too many dreams and I want to accomplish as many of them as I possibly can in my life. I want to live my life doing what I want to do and being happy.

I want 'smile' tattooed onto my (I don't know finger names...or like '3rd' finger or whatever...) finger next to my thumb on my right hand. It's hard to explain like that, but basically I want it so that when I click the capture button on my camera, the smile can be seen...like this...

Those are the three at the moment, but I want my best friend to design a tattoo for me. Obviously I will have say on if I have it done or not, but I would love her too design one for me. She's amazing at designing things like this and also I've known her nearly all my life and would love her too...so yeah :)

The Cube

I want to write about Tom on The Cube.

 

 Tom was fucking amazing on the show if I'm honest. And I fell in love with him that little bit more. I haven't actually got much to say, I was amazed though. I honestly didn't think he would have done that well, I need to have more faith in him.

So what makes you think you can beat The Cube?
I don't.

Don’t try and catch the ball. Relax and the ball will come to you - Dougie Lee Poynter

:')

Laura
xox 

Things I Love About You

I'm making a list, of things that I miss, whenever we're far apart...

• Your hair
• Your smile
• Your eyes
• Your laugh
• Your dimple
• Your voice
• Your amazing talents - writing, musical, artistic, photography...need I go on :P
• Your ability to make me smile without even trying
• Your tweets
• Your style
• Your love for disney
• Your love for cats
• Your tattoos
• Your eyebrows...seriously
• Your fans are so lovely
• Your beautiful
• Your fit
• Your not the most loved one
• Your geeky sense of humor 
• Your love for your fans
• Your brotherly love with the others
• Your weird obsessions

Just everything...

Book Review - Marshmallows For Breakfast

Marshmallows for Breakfast - Dorothy Koomson
How do you explain those unexpected moments of love?
When Kendra Tamale returns to England from Australia she rents a room from Kyle, a separated father of two, and begins a new job. She's looking forwards to a fresh start and a simple life. 
Kyle's six-year-old twins, Summer and Jaxon, have other ideas and quickly adopt Kendra as their new mother - mainly because she lets them eat marshmallows for breakfast. Kendra eventually becomes a part of their lives, even though she's hiding a painful secret that makes her keep everyone - especially children - at arm's length.
Then Kendra bumps into the man who shares her awful secret, and everything falls apart: she can't sleep, she can't eat, she's suspended from work, and the kids are taken away by their mother. The only way to fix things is to confess to the terrible mistake she made all those years ago. But that's something she swore never to do...

The first thing I am going to say about this book is that it was nothing like I had expected it to be. I had expected the obvious chick lit with the obvious ending but it wasn't. It was more 'girly' than the recent books which I have read, I wanted that, but it didn't have the amazing love story like most chick lits do, of which I'm glad as they are near enough all exactly the same. The only thing I was actually expecting to happen in this book, never happened.

The book starts off with a prologue which I thought was the reason to why she left Australia. But then I read on, and she reveals why she did leave Oz, which has nothing to do with the prologue. This actually confused the hell out of me and it wasn't until the 3rd to last chapter where I figured out the prologue...

I actually really enjoyed this book. Okay so it took me a few days to get into it, but I've spent the past two days reading it (mainly as the weather has been AWFUL and I've had nothing else to do...) but if I didn't enjoy it then I wouldn't have read it. The problem is I haven't actually got much to say about it unlike the Jodi Picoult books. I can't compare this book to other books by Dorothy Koomson as I haven't read any others by her. But I will be in the future as I did enjoy this book.

The book is told mainly from the POV of Kendra but it also includes flashbacks from both her life, and from Kyle's and also his 'wife' Ashlyn's. One thing which I don't actually understand about the book is that even though it is chaptered, it has almost like different sections. Like after 5 or so chapters, there is a new 'section' which has a new 'title' almost, which is a different type of breakfast food (or something obscure which you might eat for breakfast in most instances) but I don't truly get it.

I just had a quick look at the reviews of this book on Amazon and Play.com and they don't seem that good. I don't get it though, I really enjoyed it. Okay so it did take a few chapters to get into it, and okay so the ending did 'fizzle out' as someone said, but I did LOVE the ending and the choice which she chose. Another person said that they guessed the main part of the story before being told about it in the book, I had too...but I don't think that was, is, overall the main part to the novel. It is (you'll see if you read it) the actual main part as that's why Kendra is like how she is...buuuut I think the main part is more to do with the kids and the ending of the book...yeah this is a bit of a lame book review but it's half 9 at night, I'm tired and ill, and I'm finding it hard to review this book :')

The way the book is written, the way the children are portrayed, does make you fall in love with them. I think this is the thing which made me carry on reading from the beginning, I wanted to know what happened to the children. Chick lits don't usually concentrate on the children and such, that's why I wouldn't class this as a full blown chick lit.

Oh I didn't get 'excited' by this book, there were no twists and major surprises which did put a bit of a downer on it though...apart from the ending was a little surprise seeing as I didn't think that was how it would end.

I'm going to wrap this up now, a great book but it might take a while to get into. I can't compare to other books by Dorothy Koomson as I haven't read them, but I would give it a try.

There's This Guy Called Elliott.

It's actually been about a year that I've known him. My mate Emily introduced him to me. Well actually, she had this rubber duck and said that Elliott and her were it's parent's and then I married the duck so technically Elliott was my father-in-law and so Emily got him to add me on Facebook. We didn't talk for a week and then we talked on Facebook Chat and he thought I was younger than him when in fact I am a year older.

Anyway I added him on msn and we talked and shizzle and now he's a great mate :) Annoying, but great.

But I have a theory to him.
And I would like to share this theory with you.

My theory is that Elliott is gay.
Simple as that :P
I have no problems with gay people, in fact, I would love it if he was gay as I want a gay best friend. So in other words, I want him to be gay for my selfish wants :')
But he is adamant that he isn't.
But oh well...he can just be my 'not gay' gay best friend.

If you knew him you would say the same.
Trust me.

Laura
xoxo

What I Want To Do Within The Next Year

Just thought I would make a list :)

• Do some scrapbooking so I finish (nearly finish) my McFly scrapbook.
• Buy a guitar and learn to play...atleast learn something!
• Stay at college.
• Get a job.
• Try and persuade my mum to let us get another cat...which is mine...
• GET AN OWL CUSHION!

That's it at the moment, but if I think of anything else, I'll add it :)

Book Review - The Pact

 

The Pact - Jodi Picoult 

The Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other for eighteen years. They have shared everything from family picnics to chicken pox - so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more.

When the midnight calls come in from the hospital, no one is prepared: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head, inflicted by Chris as part of an apparent suicide pact. He tells the police the next bullet was meant for himself. A local detective has her doubts And the Hartes and Golds must face every parent's worst nightmare and question: do we ever really know our children at all?

I don't usually read two books by the same author in a row (unless it is a series) but I started another book after reading House Rules and decided that I wanted a quick read before going back to school so chose a different Jodi Picoult book. Overall it was a great book, however there were a few things which I didn't like about it, compared to House Rules. But it also has similarities to House Rules (and also Handle With Care and My Sisters Keeper, both books by Jodi Picoult which I have read in the past).

Similarities include the fact that there is a court case in the book. This ANNOYED the hell out of me as all four of the Jodi Picoult books which I have now read have all contained court cases, can't she think of anything else? Also I didn't like the ending to the book, I thought, just like I did with House Rules, that the ending was too quick and sudden. However a difference was that unlike the other three, the main character of this book isn't ill unlike the other three, he is completely normal really.

The book starts off with the two sets of parents out having a meal and then separating off to do there own things. Then there are the hospital calls which tell them about there children. I liked how this happened within the first chapter, taking us straight into the action. However I got a bit confused with all the names within the first few pages. The Golds consist of Michael and Melanie, and there now dead daughter Emily. The Hartes consist of Gus (Augusta) and James and their two children, Chris and Kate. It took me a while to remember that Michael and Melanie were together, and Gus and James were, and not mix and match the lot. However, I soon got the hang of it and was into the book within a few chapters.

I started this book on Saturday and finished it today. I however think that I rushed this book, as I do not understand why a few of the things which occurred...happened. For example, Emily want's to commit suicide and I do not fully understand why she is unhappy with her life. I understand the deal with her feelings for Chris, so if that is the only reason to Emily's actions then okay...but I'm sure there would have been something else, and why couldn't she have spoken to Chris?

The book is told in 3 parts altogether, however there are different 'chapters'. This book, unlike the other three which I have read, isn't told in POV's which I liked the change. It is told 'Now' with what is happening at that moment in the book, the death of Emily and the stuff which Chris faces. And also 'Then' which is more about the kids growing up together and the events leading up to the death of Emily. The 3 sections to the book are labelled 'The Boy Next Door', 'The Girl Next Door' and 'The Truth'. The Boy Next Door, when it goes to the 'Then' sections, is more about Chris and how he felt growing up around Emily. The Girl Next Door is the opposite, and you see more about Emily and she gives her feelings about Chris and her reasons (which I don't fully understand) for not wanting to be alive anymore. I like this format as it gives us an insight into their lives in a different and unusual way.

For example, the main point to which is shown through this layout is when the kids are about 10 and Chris dares Emily to go into the mens toilets in McDonald's and she does, but we don't find out what actually happened until we get into the 'The Girl Next Door' section of the novel. I didn't fully get the importance to that part of the book as nothing came of it in the end (apart from the fact that she doesn't want to/like to do stuff with Chris) and I wished that Emily had left messages or something to Chris explaining her feelings and what had happened beforehand which made her want to die, so that Chris could have a rest of mind.

The ending of the book was a disappointment if I am honest, too quick and it didn't make any sense as that's no way what would have really happened. I won't go into detail as I'll give away the end of book but let's just leave it at: great book apart from the ending. I would recommend you read it, but don't get your hopes up about the end. Not the most amazing book in the world...