Book Reviews By Sophie McC

Hello everyone! First of all I would like to apologise for the inactivity. Due to COVID -19, I have had to focus my time on other aspects, but now I am trying to dedicate my time back to the blog and Instagram page. So, in this blog post, the book I will be reviewing is, Forget Me Not written by Ellie Terry. General Information Page Length: 330 pages (Depending on the edition, this may vary). Genre/s: Poetry, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade  (However this book is just as suitable for Young Adult). Age Recommendation: 10+ Synopsis Calliope June has Tourette Syndrome, this causes her to make some unusual faces and say some noises, sounds or words unintentionally. Ellie is constantly moving to new locations due to her mother's love life (up to number ten to be exact). This means that Ellie will be attending her tenth school, trying her hardest to hide her tourettes from others. However, the student body president, Jinsong (who lives next door) knows Calliope as her true self...

Hello everyone! This blog post is a book review on the first book in the series: The Pineys. This book is, "The Pineys: Book 1: My Cousin, the Piney" written by Tony DiGerolamo. *I was kindly asked to read this book in exchange for an honest review* General Information Page Length: Depending on the edition, the page length is around 193 pages. Genres: Horror, Action/Adventure, Legend. Age Recommendation: 16-17+ *Swearing and sexual content, gruesome themes* Synopis In the year of 1732, Mother Leeds gave birth to the Jersey Devil, but many people believe that Mother Leeds was a witch that opened up the portals to Hell, causing hundreds of devils to roam in the woods of Pine Barrens for years. In the village of Abe's Hat, cousins after cousins of the Galloway family had formed a secret hunting society to hunt down the devils and close the portals to Hell forever. To the current day, the Galloway family have still been hunting the devils in secret. In book 1, ...

Hello everyone! I hope you are all safe and well. ♡♡ This book review is on the book: Of My Many Years Of Youth written by Emma McNamara and published when she was 17-years-old! (How amazing to have wrote and published a book at that age!) General Information Page Length: Of My Many Years Of Youth consists of 244 pages (depending on the edition, this may vary). Themes/Genres: Youth, Accepting yourself, Coming-of-age, Young Adult, Teen fiction, Magical Realism, a bit of Romance too! Age Recommendation: I would recommend this book to ages 13+  Synopsis 16 year old Jessica is lost in her many years of youth. Dreading the reality of high-school, she longs to be in kindergartener again. To be a little kid again. The kindergarten just over the fence of the highschool seems like torture, all the highschoolers doing work, whilst the kindergarteners are free to play and enjoy their youth. Jessica wishes that she can go back. Go back to the days where she was stress-free i...

Hello everyone! I hope you are all safe and well. ♡ In this blog post, I will be reviewing the book, 'A Guide Girl's Guide to Murder' by Holly Jackson. General Information Page Length: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder has roughly 433 pages. (Depending on your edition) Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult. Themes: There are mature themes in this book including: murder, rape, drugs, relationships and swearing. Age recommendation: I recommend this book to mature audiences, 15+ Synopsis Straight A-student Pippa (Pip) decides to do an Extented Project Qualification (EPQ) to help earn a qualification to achieve high grades. The EPQ can be done on anything, Pip's friend chooses to do her EPQ on mouldy bread. But Pip however, she decides to do her EPQ on something a lot more serious; a research investigation on the murder of schoolgirl, Andie Bell, five years ago in 2012. Everyone in the town Little Kilton believes and has their mind set that...

Hello everyone! Yes, I am back! I took a small break because I needed to focus on a bunch of schoolwork. But, due to COVID -19, school is cancelled. (which means more reading and more reviewing!) I hope you are all are safe and well. So, from that note, this blog post is about a new book review on, "I Am Sasha" by Anita Selzer. Read along to read about my review, and a synopsis. General Information Page Length: "I Am Sasha" is told within 323 pages, including a glossary, timeline and "The Story Behind The Story" section. Genre: History, Non-fiction, World War II. Themes: World War II, Family, Romace, Friendship. Age Recommendation: This book is suitable for any age group, Minimum, 15+. Synopsis I Am Sasha book "I Am Sasha" is based on the true story of mother Larissa, and her son, Sasha/Sala during World War II. It is about the struggles of the war, and the remarkable story of what a mother does to protect her childand, even if that ...

Happy holidays everyone! A few days ago, it was my one year anniversary of book reviewing!! It has been a while since I have posted a book review, but school is done for the year so that means more reading time and more reviews! I hope you all are enjoying the holidays and had a Merry Christmas In this blog post, the book I will be reviewing is Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart. General Information  Scars Like Wings is roughly 373 pages. (Depending on the edition/type of book you have). Scars Like Wings is a fiction novel, suited for teens and adults. Genres/Themes: Friendship, Family, Real Life Drama, High School, also a little bit of body positivity. Age Recommendation: Young Adult. (13-14+) Synopsis Sixteen-year-old Ava Lee used to have a "normal" life. She had a family, a group of friends and a boyfriend. But that was all before the fire. Ava plus her parents and cousin (a.k.a Ava's best friend) were all involved in a house fire. She loses pretty much everythi...

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another blog post and review! In this post, I will be reviewing Skeleton Creek   by Patrick Carman. I am on school holidays! (Yay!) which means I can do some more reading and reviewing! Synopsis Ryan is forbidden to visit and communicate with his friend Sarah. Why? Because he almost died. Sarah and Ryan went exploring and came across "a terrible machine" called the Dredge. Something about it is not right. Something about Skeleton Creek is not right. There are secrets that are not meant to be found. Although banned from contacting each other, Ryan and Sarah secretly communicate via email and together they continue to solve the mystery of Skeleton Creek and the Dredge. Ryan documents in a journal of what he discovers and what he remembers. (The journal is the book) Sarah documents what she finds by video. (Included in the book)  What will they discover? General Information - Pages: 186 (Depending on the edition) - Author: Patrick Carman....

Hello everyone! In this blog post, I will be reviewing the book, You Must Be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied. General Information You Must Be Layla has around 277 pages. Genres/Themes -  Real Life, Self-Identity, Self-Perception, Robotics/Engineering. Age Recommendation - 12+ You Must Be Layla Book Synopsis Layla Hussein is a young Sudanese girl who has a dream on becoming a "full-on adventurer, travelling the world world, exploring new horizons, bejewelling wherever she went" (page 6). To achieve this goal, she needs to work hard to earn a scholarship for a private school,  Mary Maxmillion Grammar. Layla's hard work had paid off. On her first day of attending her new school, Layla stands out from the crowd with her headscarf and long skirt. However, things do not go Layla's way. Lots of drama happens and it turns out (SPOILER ALERT) that Layla gets suspended on her very first day! To earn her scholarship back, Layla must prove that she is capable and well-d...

Hello everyone! I have been extremely busy with school work and have not had time to write a review. But today, this blog post and review is on the book White Night  by Ellie Marney. General Information White Night   is roughly 367 pages long. Genre: Real Life, Drama, Romance, Thriller. Age Recommendation:  White Night is a Young Adult Fiction book. My recommendation is for ages 15+ *Please Note* There is strong language. Synopsis Bo Mitchell lives in a country town and does not have much on his mind apart from focusing on school, football, cooking, friends and family. But when a family secret uncovers, Bo needs a place to resort. The Garden Of Eden is a secret cloistered community and Rory Wild lives there. When Bo and Rory meet, it is sort of like love at first sight. Rory has never been to a proper school before so she is trying to fit in. A "White Night" show fundraiser is organised by Bo and his friends to raise money to save the local skate park. Bo is int...

Welcome back everyone to a new blog post and review! This review is a bit different to others as I will be reviewing an Audio Book. The title of the book is: "Flux Destiny: Fortuna's Rings" written by Chris Moujaes and performed by Todd Haberkorn. *I was kindly given this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. If you are interested in  F lux De stiny: Fortuna's Rings you can pre-order the audiobook. Details at the end of review*  General Information Flux Destiny: Fortuna's Rings has 10 chapters ranging from 10 minutes, 19 seconds listening time  - 1 hour, 01 minute, 20 seconds listening time.  Genre - Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Fantasy. Main themes - Coming-of-age, and a little bit of Individual vs Society. Age recommendation - 14 + Synopsis Marco and Hugo are two teenagers that live in a dystopian world where destiny can be controlled by human hands. Together, they are sent on a mission to try and solve the situation about biomechanical creatures...

Hello fellow readers! In this blog post, the book I will be reviewing is "What I Like About Me" written by Jenna Guillaume. General Information "What I Like About Me" is 250 pages long. Genre: Real-life Drama, Romance & Comedy. Main Themes: Coming Of Age & Courage. Age Recommendation: Teen (around 14+). *Note - There is some course language* Synopsis Set in Australia, Maisie Martin is a sixteen-year-old girl who is spending the Summer hanging out with friends and family. Sounds great right? Wrong! Maisie's dad is away for the holidays and Christmas, embarrassment is everywhere for Maisie, her crush is spending the Summer with Maisie and her best friend is acting strange. There is also a beauty pageant that is being held, Maisie Martin never thought she would enter it, but sometimes, you have to let go of your fears and believe in yourself. My Review "What I Like About Me" is such a sweet book! It has a strong message about body ...

Hello everyone! Welcome to another blog post! On this post, the book I will be reviewing is: 'Beyond A Mysterious Journey' by Madhuparna Suman. *I was kindly given this book as an eBook in exchange for an honest review* General Information 'Beyond A Mysterious Journey' has 213 pages. The genre is Fantasy and is fiction. Main themes include: Travel, Love/What you do for love, and a little bit of Battle and Adventure. Age Recommendation: Tween-Young Adult Brief Description 'Beyond A Mysterious Journey' is a Fantasy novel based on two adult characters that are husband and wife. They both work extremely hard and want to go on a vacation together to take a break from their work. They choose to travel to Georgia. While travelling around Georgia, odd things happen to the couple. They visit a historic palace and strange things happen to the wife: Nandini. It's up to the husband: Neelkand to save his wife. A good spirit comes and helps to save his wife a...

Hey everyone! Welcome to another book review by 'Book Reviews By Sophie McC.' In this blog post, the book I will be reviewing is, 'The Travel Adventures of George and Paolo Ireland Special Edition' by Valerie Van Ballaer. *I was kindly given this book as an eBook in exchange for my honest review* General Information & Brief Description This book has 64 pages that explore parts of Ireland including some general information about each place, a mini checklist, illustrations and includes information on certain things that make Ireland famous such as Irish Sports. With the special edition part of the book, it comes with special bonus sections that include: Fun Facts, colouring-in pages and travel photographs taken by the author herself. The book would be great if you are going on a family holiday to Ireland as there are certain pages with checklists that are the top recommended things to do and see and spots to write where you have been in Ireland. Al...

Welcome back to 'Book Reviews By Sophie McC.' The book I will be reviewing in this blog post is, 'The Tattooist Of Auschwitz.' General Information 'The Tattooist Of Auschwitz' is Fiction but based on a true story. The author is Heather Morris and the book was published last year in 2018. 'The Tattooist Of Auschwitz' is telling Lale Sokolov's story as being one of the prisoners in the Auschwitz concentration camp at the time of WWII There are 270 pages. Age recommendation - Because this book is based on real events that happened, it may affect many people. My age recommendation is around 14+ but keep in mind that some of the reading may be distressful. Brief Description 'The Tattooist Of Auschwitz' is telling the story of real-life Holocaust survivor, Lale Sokolov. The book tells his story about when he was on the train to the concentration camp, when he entered the camp, how he became the tattooist, the story of his love life plus ma...

Welcome everyone to 'Book Reviews By Sophie McC.' In this blog post, the book I will be reviewing is 'Runner' by Robert Newton. General Information 'Runner' is a Juvenile Fiction book. Friendship is a key theme. 'Runner' has 217 pages.  Age Recommendation = 14+ (Possibly 13+) Brief Description 'Runner' is set in 1919, Richmond/Fitzroy Melbourne Australia. There is an Australian slang accent throughout the whole book. The main character Charlie Feehan is 16 years old and has a passion for running. His father has died and he lives with his mother and baby brother Jack. The Feehans and the rest of the families in the neighbourhood are quite poor. To earn some money for his family, Charlie skips school to try out for a runner job to work for a popular criminal by the name of Squizzy Taylor. Charlie gets the job and starts to work at night as a runner to earn money for his family. Throughout his time as a runner he makes a frien...

Hello new and fellow readers! This post is my first proper Young Adult (YA) book review. The book I am reviewing is 'The Sun Is Also A Star' by Nicola Yoon. General Information 'The Sun I Also A Star'   has 344 pages. It is a Romantic with a bit of Adventure YA Fiction book. Age Recommendation: 15+ or possibly 14+ if a strong reader and okay at understanding romance. NOTE: There is strong language and romance. My Review I was at a library waiting for a bus and had left my current book that I was reading at home. I had a long wait so I was looking at some books and this one caught my eye. I thought I would just read a little bit of it then leave but I was wrong indeed. I borrowed it and just read it and read it. I couldn't stop! Honestly though, I personally found it a bit boring in the middle. The start will definitely catch the reader's attention. Throughout the middle it gets quite boring as it drags out so much in one day. Almost the whole book is...

Welcome back! Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas! In this post I will be reviewing the book 'The Secret Garden' by 'Frances Hodgson Burnett.' My Review As a child I was a confident reader so for one of my birthday presents I received 'The Secret Garden' and fell in love with it instantly. The plot is so beautifully set. Also, I love how Frances has expressed the characters and their personalities as well as each "scene." When reading the book I could easily picture the characters and the events that were happening. 'The Secret Garden' is such a delightful old classic that will make the reader turn each page with joy. Frances Hodgson Burnett My Overall Rating is ⭐⭐⭐⭐ STARS. My reasoning is that I remember reading the very beginning of the book and found it quite boring but as I keep reading each chapter the book became more and more interesting and joyful. My recommendation for who should read ...

Hello! Welcome back to 'Book Reviews By Sophie McC.' This review is a bit different from the others reviews I have done as I am reviewing a magazine. The magazine I am reviewing on this post is the 'Teen Breathe' magazine. (Issue 6 Australia) My Review 'Teen Breathe' is my favourite magazine. I found Issue 6 this year and have just fallen in love with it. Something that makes 'Teen Breathe'  better than other magazines is that there is no advertising of other products. There is only two advertisements which is to subscribe to their magazines and to purchase their daily planner. That's it! No silly advertisements! Also, 'Teen Breathe'  has helpful and inspirational articles. Here are my top 3 favourite articles in the magazine: 'Don't Be Sorry' article as it made me realise and understand that instead of saying 'sorry' all the time, there are other phrases you can say instead depending on the situation. ' Attitude o...

Hello! Welcome back to 'Book Reviews By Sophie McC.' On this post I will be doing my second book review on the 'Once' book as well as some brief notices on the rest of the books in the series. ( Once, Then, Now, After, Soon and Maybe ) All of these books are written by the fabulous 'Morris Gleitzman.' Firstly, I will begin with my review of the book, followed by some general information and finally a brief description of what the books are about. My Review Oh. My. Gosh. 'Once' and the rest of the books in this series are pretty much my FAVOURITE books ever! I received the first three books for my birthday this year and I have absolutely devoured them. These books are written about World War II and reading them made me feel extremely grateful of what our world is today. This is something that I guarantee every reader will feel. Something that makes the books unique and different from other types of books is that in 'Once'  every ...