Shouting at the Rain Blog Tour

Published on May 2, 2019May 2, 2019 by 💫Ava💫Leave a comment

Welcome to my itsy-bitsy corner of the web, I am super excited because I am apart of penguin’s Shouting at The Rain Blog tour! I cannot wait to share this wonderful book with you all!

Shouting at The Rain

Author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Publisher: Penguin Middle Grade

Publication date: May 7th, 2019

Rating:

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Fish in a Tree comes a compelling story about perspective and learning to love the family you have.

Book Description

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Fish in a Tree comes a compelling story about perspective and learning to love the family you have.

Delsie loves tracking the weather–lately, though, it seems the squalls are in her own life. She’s always lived with her kindhearted Grammy, but now she’s looking at their life with new eyes and wishing she could have a “regular family.” Delsie observes other changes in the air, too–the most painful being a friend who’s outgrown her. Luckily, she has neighbors with strong shoulders to support her, and Ronan, a new friend who is caring and courageous but also troubled by the losses he’s endured. As Ronan and Delsie traipse around Cape Cod on their adventures, they both learn what it means to be angry versus sad, broken versus whole, and abandoned versus loved. And that, together, they can weather any storm.

Check it Out on:

amazon Goodreads

Author Bios

Lynda Mullaly Hunt is the author of New York Times bestseller Fish in a Tree and Bank Street Best Book One for the Murphys. She’s a former teacher and holds writers retreats for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two children, impetuous beagle, and beagle-loathing cat.

Before I start the review, I just want to thank Penguin for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing book!

The Review

disclaimer: I received a physical copy from the publishers for free. This has in no way influenced my review. Everything that I am stating is my honest opinion.

I really loved this book! It is one of the most well written middle-grade books I have read! Hunt expresses feelings and emotions so vividly and it is so amazing.

One of the first things I loved about this book was the cover and the title. I am usually someone who judges a book by a cover and this cover is exceptional. It’s so beautiful and poetic. The colors on the cover match perfectly and look amazing. The art is really pretty and I think it really relates to the book.

I also was really shocked while reading this book because I wasn’t expecting it to be this great! Writing a book from a Middle-Graders perspective can be really hard because they are no longer kids but they also aren’t quite yet full-fledged teenagers. Especially if its a contemporary book. Most middle-grade books I have read have been huge disappointments, so it was refreshing to finally find a contemporary Middle-Grade book that represents its characters the right way.

Around the middle-grade age range, kids go through lots of changes and feelings, and sometimes books don’t represent it in the best way, it’s either a stereotypical ‘tween’ whos moody and has a bad attitude or a kid with no feelings at all, But Hunt finds the perfect in-between and its really awesome to see that.

my favorite characters

Delsie: Delsie is a sweet girl that is obsessed with tracking weather, going barefoot and making fairy houses with her best friend. But then her bestie decides to stop being friends with Des to fit in with another girl. We live in a society where girls (and boys, but especially girls) feel like they need to ‘grow up’ so fast. And by growing up they don’t mean physically, but looking grown up and feeling like they should have a right to do more “grown-up” things. Like dating and stuff. I love Delsie because she doesn’t let her friends change her and make her ‘grow up’ instead, she stays true to herself and her personality.

I also love that Delsie lives with her Grandma. I never really see that in modern books and It’s really interesting and probably nice for kids that live with there grandparents. In the beginning, Delsie feels like an orphan and wishes she had a real family, but in the end, she realizes that she has all the family she needs, her grandmother, her caring neighbors, and her new found friends, and even though her family may be different, she still is loved.

Ronan: Ronan, a well-known trouble maker in Cape Cod, also is somewhat orphaned, His mom left and he is now struggling to adapt to living without her. When Delsie’s friends ditch her, Ronan helps Del and becomes her friend.

I really love Romans personality and how he overcomes being judged in the past and becomes a new person who is not always causing trouble.

Amiee: Amiee is Delsie’s theatre obsessed friend who just got cast as Annie in her theatre’s play, which causes her to not be around for Delsie that much. With her bubbly personality, she always finds a way to cheer someone up.

little things i loved

Hunts writing style, it’s really amazing.

Del’s quirky neighbors

Del’s grandma

Delsie and Ronan’s duo! I loved how they were just friends and the author didn’t push them being in a relationship.

The town- All the shop names and restaurants sounded really cool

the cover and the title

Del being obsessed with the weather, It’s a really unique and great character detail.

little things I didn’t love

Honestly, there wasn’t really anything I didn’t like!

I love the characters and would love to have a sequel which is set in the same town with the same characters but the main character is like a different person from the town.

Final Thoughts

This was a unique and incredibly written book and I am so happy I had the chance to read it!

Final Rating:

MoodBoard

I was able to make a mood board for the book!

I love how this turned out! It’s so cute!

Thanks for reading! Make sure that you check out this incredible book!

Bye for now,

five feet apart book review// feat. laughter, tears, and fluff

Published on April 23, 2019April 23, 2019 by 💫Ava💫12 Comments

two kids, chilling in a hospital, five feet apart so they won’t dieee

(sorry I had to)

Welcome to my itsy bitsy corner of the web! Today I am going to be reviewing this amazing book called Five Feet Apart.

Five Feet Apart

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Click here to learn how you can get your book featured on my website.

Genre: Contemporary, YA, Romance, Illness

*triggers: death, some language, mental illness, illness, sadness*

Published November 20th, 2018 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

“…Don’t think about what you’ve lost. Think of how much you have to gain. Live, Stella.”

check it out on

Goodreads Amazon Book Depository

This book broke me. It whipped my back in half and shattered my heart. I was expecting a happy ending and I got a sad one. This book made me cry, and not many books do that.

The story is about a girl named Stella and a boy named Will that has a condition called Cystic fibrosis (CF)

Cystic fibrosis is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. In people with CF, mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene cause the CFTR protein to become dysfunctional.

People with CF have to be at least six feet apart from other CFers or they could catch the bacteria and die. But of course, Stella and Will fall in love, which leads to a lot of distress for the readers.

Since the movie came out I decided to read it! It’s such an amazing book and I really recommend it for anyone who wants a sweet and sad read.

⭐Meet the Characters⭐

Stella: Stella is a smol and adorable girl who has CF. She is very positive and makes no second thoughts about taking her medicine and doing her treatments. She makes vlogs to help her stay content with her not so exciting life. All that changes when Will comes along.

(ISNT SHE ADORABLE??)

Will: Will is an edgy risk-taking artsy boyo that might as well wear a trenchcoat. He doesn’t care at all about taking his medicine or doing his treatments. He’d rather just die instead of living in the constant pain of his illness, but when he meets Stella everything changes.

(his hair tho, its beautiful)

Poe: Even though Poe is a background character, he still is a pretty great character. Sadly his story ends near the end of the book (my poor boy.) Poe is one of Stella’s CF friends. He and Stella are like siblings.

(couldn’t find a gif for Poe sorry)

“but it’s his smile that catches my eye more than anything else. It’s lopsided and charming, and it has magnetic warmth to it.”

⭐things I loved⭐

⭐I loved the writing style. It really seemed like it was a real teenager and it didn’t seem forced or stereotypical. I really felt like I could feel all the characters feelings.

⭐I adore the cover! It’s so beautiful the way the flowers form lungs. I JUST LOVE IT!

⭐will and Stella: they were just so adorable. It makes me so sad that they couldn’t be together. :C

⭐ Abby: Abby is Stella’s sister and she is so sweet *spoiler* s h e di e s

⭐ literally almost everything

⭐ will: aka cole sprouse ( in the movie)

⭐things I didn’t love⭐

⭐ the sad ending

⭐ poes thead (read backward if you want to find out the spoiler)

⭐ the sadness

⭐Some people said that it didn’t truly show what CF is and I can understand that it’s not that accurate

⭐ how the authors killed me with their writing

⭐literally almost nothing

⭐final thoughts⭐

this is an adorable book about two kids chilling in a hospital five feet apart so they won’t die. It’s beautiful and amazing. Even though the ending is sad, it’s still a great book.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a soft and adorable book.

Have you read Five Feet Apart? Have you watched Five feet apart? Would you rather own Cole Sprouse or This book?

top five Tuesday-Top 5 books set in space

Published on March 26, 2019March 25, 2019 by 💫Ava💫3 Comments

Welcome back to my itsy-bitsy corner of the web! I am so excited about today’s post because I am participating in Top Five Tuesday! T5T Is a fun book meme/tag for book bloggers to participate in every Tuesday! This tag is created by Shanah

I haven’t read too many books set in space, but the ones I did read, I highly enjoyed!

1. Brightly Burning

Brightly burning is an amazing book based off of jane eyre set in space! IT IS SOO GOODD

2. The Lunar Chronicles

TLC is an amazing fractured fairy tale set in space THAT YOU NEED TO READ. get ready for cyborgs, androids, kickbutt gals, and soft romance!

3. A wrinkle in time

this is a work of art, please read it.

4. These Broken Stars (review)

I read this a while back, I didn’t like it too much.

5.Dare Mighty Things

I remember reading this like two years ago…? I forgot most of it lol.

This was so much fun! I cannot wait for next months categories!

What are your favorite space-themed reads? Do you do TFT? Recent reads?

becoming a book hunter// how I bought my favorite books for only 25 cents!

Published on March 19, 2019March 19, 2019 by 💫Ava💫10 Comments

Welcome to my itsy-bitsy corner of the web! I am so excited about today’s post because I am going to share with you all how I was able to buy some of my favorite books for little to no money!

Books are one of my favorite things! But buying books can be quite expensive and sometimes I want to keep books on my shelf longer than how long the library tells me to! So I recently started visiting my library’s book store and hunting for books that I love.

After a few unsuccessful visits, I found The Mysterious Benedict Society Book 2 in the free basket. Yes, THE FREE BASKET! I was soo happy and I realized that I may end up finding books I want at the book store after all.

Recently, after searching the Library’s Bookstore’s YA section I stumbled across Scarlet. YES SCARLET FROM THE LUNAR CHRONICLES! It was the full hardcover edition.

For only 25 cents.

I screamed in the bookstore. ( if you are interested in buying scarlet you can use my affiliate link 🙂 click mee)

This is why learning how to become a book hunter is one of the most important things to learn if you are a bookworm. It teaches you how to have a sharp eye for good books at thrift stores, yard sales, library bookstores, ANYWHERE!

So let’s begin my very important training on how to become A BOOK HUNTER.

Lesson One: Free First

The first lesson to learn is to always check the free section. I have found many great books in the free section (LIKE THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT socIETY) so ALWAYS CHECK IT.

Lesson Two: speed is the key

Ya snooze, ya lose. Race right over to the section of books you are looking for and make sure you get there before everyone else. ( Just kidding, be respectful kiddos) Make sure you grab all the books you are considering and keep them close, anyone can steal.

Lesson Three: Always bring money

One time I went into the bookstore and I saw a sparkling hardcover edition of Six of Crows. I haven’t read the book yet, but I hear about it everywhere and It looks so pretty. I sadly left my money at home so I couldn’t buy it. The next time I came to the bookstore it was gone 😦

Lesson four: don’t use your eyes only

At Museums, people might say eyes only. At bookstores its the opposite. Use your hands to search through the books. You can’t always tell a book by its spine.

Lesson five: Don’t Overbuy

Don’t buy books that you won’t ever read. They will only take up space in your book shelf

aND THOSE ARE THE BOOK HUNTER SECRETS

Use these lessons as a guide to becoming a book hunter! Have fun on your journey!

I hope you guys liked this post! Hopefully, these book hunting tips help you!

Have you ever gone book hunting? What are your favorite book finds?

a bookish photo dump. feat my new camera

Published on February 26, 2019February 25, 2019 by 💫Ava💫10 Comments

Welcome back to my itsy-bitsy corner of the web! I am really excited about this post because I am going to be showing you guys some (bookish) photos I took with my new camera! But, before we get started I would like to tell you guys about my little design gigs!

I have recently started a fiverr! Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance services. I have posted some blog design and book cover design gigs that I would love for you to purchase. And for a limited time, anyone who signs up to buy on Fiverr, clicking this affiliate link will get 20% off their first purchase! (this will give a small commission to me which I would really appreciate!) I would also love if you buy one of my gigs!

But enough of that for now!

here are all the photos I took!