All About Mia by Lisa Williamson

Rating: 10/10
Published: 2nd February 2017
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Pages: 361
Synopsis from Goodreads: From no. 1 Bestselling YA author Lisa Williamson, comes another insightful and unputdownable teen drama - All About Mia. A brilliant look into the mind of a teenager stuck in the middle.

One family, three sisters.

GRACE, the oldest: straight-A student. 

AUDREY, the youngest: future Olympic swimming champion. 

And MIA, the mess in the middle. 

Mia is wild and daring, great with hair and selfies, and the undisputed leader of her friends – not attributes appreciated by her parents or teachers. 

When Grace makes a shock announcement, Mia hopes that her now-not-so-perfect sister will get into the trouble she deserves. 

But instead, it is Mia whose life spirals out of control – boozing, boys and bad behaviour – and she starts to realise that her attempts to make it All About Mia might put at risk the very things she loves the most.

By this point, anyone who has read almost any of my posts on this blog or who follows me on Twitter will know that I LOVED The Art of Being Normal. It was by far my favourite read of last year (and I'll literally yell about it at any given opportunity) so when I heard about All About Mia I was super duper excited and let me tell you Lisa Williamson did not fail to live up to my expectations!

I think what I loved so much about All About Mia is that it is so honest, there's no shit here, Mia isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. She makes a lot of mistakes, she chooses to do things and you're yelling at the pages like "Noooo don't do that you plonker it's a bad idea!!" but she is so real. Everything she does in this book I experienced (mostly through other people) when I was a sixteen year old. I've watched people make exactly the same choices that she makes and her motivation for doing so is heartbreakingly accurate for so many teens.

The amount of pressure that Mia is under from school and the expectation she feels she must live up to within her family is arguably the reason for the way that she acts. Despite being only sixteen she's forced to consider her options for the future, it reminded me of how difficult I found it at that time to try and make decisions which everyone told you were life-changing, when you had no idea which direction you wanted to go in. All About Mia gives such an accurate representation of what life really is like when you're going through these things and I loved that about it!

Mia also has a friendship group that is very similar to the group that I found myself in at that age (although we drank less!), each one of the characters she's friends with I could relate to someone I know which I really enjoyed.

It seems to me that All About Mia is just an all-round truthful book. It demonstrates a great family dynamic and what seems to me (an only child with no experience) to show the sibling rivalries, but also the real love that they have for each other deep down. There are moments (I'll keep it vague to avoid spoilers!) when you see that, although all told from Mia's point of view, each of the three sisters envies the other for something and they really do rely on each other throughout the book. There are some really great moments between Mia and Audrey where she gives her younger sister advice about certain things and it just made my heart melt, because despite her own problems she's almost always willing to help out her little sister.

Overall, All About Mia is a beautiful book about the difficulties faced by a teen who feels that she isn't living up to anyone's expectations. It demonstrates wonderfully the value of friendships and the ups and downs of sibling relationships. I truly adored this and no doubt I shall be yelling about it for a long while.

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Rating : 10/10
A short summary of my reaction to this book would be:

I was so unbelievably excited when I wandered down to Waterstones after a big coursework deadline to finally reward myself with The Art of Being Normal. I had heard such good things about it and oh my was I not disappointed!

The plot follows the lives of two guys: Leo who is new the new kid at Eden Park School, trying his best to go unnoticed, and David who is struggling with identity, knowing deep down that he is a girl, but not really being sure what to do next. One day Leo stands up for David in a fight, and a friendship slowly develops between them. Leo is a mystery and rumours are flying about as to whether or not he was expelled from Cloverdale, a school which is renown for being a great deal more rough than Eden Park. Everyone wants to know who he is and what he's doing there, even though barely anyone has even tried to talk to him. Slowly, as is the way in high school, a great many secrets work their way out of the woodwork and the truth is revealed.

The Art of Being Normal has it ALL, I laughed at the characters being dorks, I squealed as the story twisted in ways I wasn't quite expecting, my heart broke and mended itself over and over but most importantly I loved every single word of it. There aren't that many books out there featuring trans people, but The Art of Being Normal covers the area so well whilst still giving the characters a chance to shine as individuals. Struggling with gender identity is tough but this book also focuses on issues that everyone has to deal with at some point regardless of their gender and it is that which makes this book so special. It isn't just a book about a boy who wants to be a girl, it's a book about two people who are struggling to come to terms with every aspect of themselves, leaning, somewhat reluctantly, on each other for support and that is so damn beautiful.

Read this book. I insist! Everybody should experience the spectacularly sensitive and enlightening way that Williams gives insight into the troubles faced by trans individuals, a topic that is not given enough time, whilst creating a story which is an absolute joy to read. Go, right away, read it!!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Rating : 10/10
The simple way to put it is that this book is ART. Honestly, it is one of the best, most beautifully written novels I have read in a long, long time. I had heard so many good things about The Night Circus from so many different people and it is safe to say that I was by no means disappointed!
It has everything you would ever want from a fantasy novel and the way in which it jumps between characters, times and locations in each chapter whilst still keeping you gripped (and un-confused) is fantastic. This is the kind of book I would recommend even if it's not the sort of thing you usually read, trust me on this one it is 110% worth it.

Put simply, it follows the movements of a circus in the victorian era; Le Cirque des Rêves is a place of mystery and just a dash of magic. However, the circus has a purpose more complicated than just to provide entertainment to guests. Characters Celia Bowen and Marco Alistair have been bound since childhood to take part in a competition with the circus as their playing field. To begin with the aims of said battle are unclear but as the rules become more evident and the pair grow closer, the true nature of their challenge is revealed. But I shan't tell you any more than that because the mysterious nature of every aspect of the book is what makes it so much fun!

Even though I'm certain you will thoroughly enjoy every page of this novel it isn't until the end, when every piece of the storyline falls gracefully into place, that you'll think "Oh my goodness what the heck that was fabulous I cannot believe!!!!" well, I mean that's the gist of the message I sent to a friend upon finishing it anyway.

Truly, if you're considering reading this fantastic book then don't just take my (and so many others') word for it, read the art for yourself! I could not recommend it more, a wonderful mixture of joy and illusion combined with a dark, twisting plot-line which will have you gripped from the start. An absolutely phenomenal piece of literature.