Soulmates by Holly Bourne

Title: Soulmates

Author: Holly Bourne

Publisher: Usbourne

Pages: 544

Format: eBook

Source: bought

Every so often, two people are born who are the perfect matches for each other. Soulmates. But while the odds of this happening are about as likely as being struck by lightning, when these people do meet and fall in love…thunderstorms, lightning strikes and lashings of rain are only the beginning of their problems.

Enter Poppy, the 17-year-old cynic with a serious addiction to banana milk, and Noah, the heart-throb guitarist; residents of mediocre Middletown, sometime students, and…soulmates. 
After a chance meeting at a local band night, Poppy and Noah find themselves swept up in a whirlwind romance unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before. But with a secret international agency preparing to separate them, a trail of destruction rumbling in their wake, (and a looming psychology coursework deadline), they are left with an impossible choice between the end of the world, or a life without love… 

I love Holly Bourne. I have read all 4 of her books, and I love them all. She's an extremely talented author, and deserves so much more recognition for her work.

Anyway, so this book was really enjoyable. It was written in such a way that even the most cliche parts of it seemed original. I kind of picked this book up without written the blurb, so I had no idea what it was about. I was expecting some nice, gooey love story. And I got that, but it wasn't just that... It was a unique idea that had never occurred to me, the fact that soulmates might be earth shattering.

A character who I really liked is the main character, Poppy. She’s realistic, and has an actual personality, unlike some book characters. My favourite thing about her, though, is her obsession with clichés. She hates thinking that anything she does is a cliché, and gets a bit obsessive when she finds out her life is, in fact, a giant cliché. Something everyone could learn from Poppy, is to accept that things, good or bad, are happening, and to go along with it anyway. It took her a while to learn this lesson herself, but, with the help of Noah, she managed to learn it.

I character I disliked is one of Poppy’s best friends, Ruth. She wasn’t nice to anyone at all. She was absolutely horrid to Poppy after Poppy started going out with Noah. Ruth treated her boyfriend, Will, like he was invisible as she flirted with Noah, then acted all sweet to him once he said he could get her a backstage pass to her favourite band. She didn’t like anyone, no one liked her, and overall she was not needed in the story. There are so many lessons you could learn from Ruth, but the main one is definitely not to become friends with anyone like Ruth.

A significant theme in the story is definitely romance. The story is about the love between Poppy, the main character, and Noah, a guy from the badly named band “Growing Pains”. The entire plot line is based on the fact that them being together could potentially cause some world-ending damage.

This book gets 4 stars. It automatically gets 3 because it's by Holly Bourne, and it gets a extra for being amazing.

★★★★

Why I've Been on Hiatus

Hi! It's me. I'm still alive, don't worry. I know I haven't posted consistently since November last year (wow, pretty slack) but I am here to tell you why.

So you may have noticed my absence around December (or you may not have.) Anyway, I took a bit of a Christmas break. Also that was my last couple of weeks at my old school, so I was trying to spend as much time with my friends as I could, and I had more on my mind than blogging.

Then, after Christmas, my absences continued on through January. The first week was just a continued break, but then I became lazy and didn't do any blogging for a while. I was also busy stressing about starting my new school.

And starting my new school is the reason I didn't write or post in February. It didn't take me long to settle in, but as I went from a school with not even 300 people in it to a school with over 3500, it was a difficult transition at first. Now that I've settled in, I'm learning to balance blogging and homework (of which my maths teacher gives out generously), and hopefully I'll be more active.

My posts will be inconsistent at first, but they will eventually have a pattern to my posting. I'm excited to get back into blogging, and I have missed it! I will also start getting back into Book-Tubing as well.

Thank you,
Gemma xxx

How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne

Title: How Hard Can Love Be?
Author: Holly Bourne
Publisher: Usborne
Pages: 480
Format: paperback
Source: Guardian
Publication date: February 1st 2016

All Amber wants is a little bit of love. Her mum has never been the caring type, even before she moved to California, got remarried and had a personality transplant. But Amber's hoping that spending the summer with her can change all that.

And then there's prom king Kyle, the guy all the girls want. Can he really be interested in anti-cheerleader Amber? Even with best friends Evie and Lottie's advice, there's no escaping the fact: love is hard.

If you follow me on Twitter, or have read most of my blog posts, or have had a conversation with me, there's a good chance that you know that I'm kind of obsessed with the book Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne.

Sometimes you read a book, and it's just so mind-blowingly awesome, that you can't imagine anything better. But then the author announces a sequel. Part of you is jumping up and down with excitement. The other part of you is worried; what if it's not as good as the first book? What if it doesn't live up to your expectations?

Luckily, Holly Bourne's How Hard Can Love Be? was worth the wait and the excitement. It was the perfect sequel to my all time favourite book Am I Normal Yet?

When my copy of How Hard Can Love Be? arrived in the mailbox, I sat down and read (after a bit of screaming and dancing around) and didn't stop reading until it was finished. Even though Evie will always be my favourite, it was really cool to get an insight to Amber's mind as well. When I found out it was set in America, I was worried that my girl Evie, and Lottie of course, wouldn't be featured so much. Of course I had no reason to be worried. Holly Bourne managed to balance everything out perfectly.

Though I love how Am I Normal Yet? is a book about friendship, and how none of the main characters have boyfriend, there was also the side of me who loved all of the romance in How Hard Can Love Be? It was really sweet, and not at all filled with cheesy, gushy stuff like some YA novels.

Overall I loved it. It was perfect. I can't wait to read Lottie's story now!

★★★★★

I Started a Booktube!

I have something exciting to share... I've started a BookTube!

For those unfamiliar with the concept, a booktube is basically just a You Tube channel with the running theme of books. Most Booktubers post videos of book hauls, monthly wrap-ups, TBRs and other bookish things.

I've been wanting to set up a Bookktube for a while now, and have finally done it! It's got the same name as my blog: A Mountain of Books. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSogYo8aKDl72cICJMkSWyA

My first video is my December Book Haul, which probably isn't an ideal first video, but oh well.
I had no idea what else to film

At the moment I have 4 subscribers, which I'm happy with, but I really hope my channel grows.

Please check it out, and also I apologise for the short blog post. I do have some longer ones coming. :)

Why I Haven't Posted In A While

As you may or may not have noticed, I haven't posted since the 13th of December. The reason for this,is because I needed a little bit of a break from my blog, and just wanted to have a Christmas break. From now on though, I will be posting at least once a week, so don't worry ;)

-Gem xx