Life After Life - Kate Atkinson

"What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?"

The tagline alone, when I read the blurb for Life After Life, made me realise that I absolutely had to read this book, and I am so, so glad I have done. 

It's been on my TBR (to be read) pile for a good few weeks/months now as I've had such a large quantity of books that have been waiting to be read, so when I finally picked it up last week I was incredibly excited. 

The concept of being able to go back and try again is something that has been in my head for years. I spent the majority of my teenage years suffering from very bad depression, so I barely lived. I shut myself away from all society and just tried to get by on a day to day basis. I also made some shockingly bad decisions. I would do anything to be able to go back and have these years again, to do things right and eliminate some of the mistakes I've made, because I know my life would be so much different now if I could. 

So with this in mind when I began the book, I got immediately sucked into Atkinson's beautiful portrayal of English country living in the 20's and 30's. Her vivid protagonist, Ursula, was wonderfully easy to identify with on a personal level, and seeing the world through her eyes was absolutely fascinating. Atkinson's attention to detail on a historical level (especially in her descriptions of pre-WW2 Germany and the time Ursula spends with Adolf Hitler) are stupendous, and her descriptions of the Blitz in London actually left me in tears on more than one occasion. 

Although this deviates completely in genre from what I normally read, I would honestly not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. My friends quite frequently look to me for book recommendations, and this will be another one passed around our little group-I'm interested in getting their perspective on what is now one of my favourite stories to have read this year. 

It has now been several hours since I finished the book, and although I have physically closed it and put it back on the shelf, it is still at the forefront of my mind, sticking with me in the way that only very special books do. It is definitely worthy of the title of Costa Novel Award Winner 2013, and I will now be eagerly anticipating further novels from Atkinson in the future.

Apologies!

I just wanted to write a quick apology for not being particularly active over the last few weeks. I've been having some personal stuff going on at home but regular service will resume shortly!

I have also been re-reading series, and reading sequels to books already reviewed on here. I decided, for fear of giving away spoilers, that I wouldn't necessarily review any sequels to major novels until the hype around them has died down a little (basically the Divergent trilogy) as I don't want to go giving away spoilers to those who haven't read the books yet. 

I have had yet another influx of new books though, I'm excited for myself.

Fallen - Lauren Kate

I had mixed feelings about this book. I was excited to buy it and to start it, however I then read so many people on Twitter and Tumblr saying how they were bored by the series and disappointed that I started to worry that I may have wasted my money. 

I'm glad to report however that I thoroughly enjoyed it! I found the concept quite different in comparison to the usual 'dark fantasy' novels I have read, with a completely different take on the guardian angel theme. 

I was initially drawn to the book due to reviewers claiming they had found it both 'scary' and 'unsettling'. Unfortunately this is something I can't agree with, although it did have me hooked from start to finish, and there were some unexpected twists.

Kate managed to create characters who were more than your usual nondescript female who falls in love with the dark brooding male. Admittedly, there is a dark brooding male (insert tongue out emoticon here) however the character is a lot more than your typical two dimensional male protagonist, and that is where I got drawn in. 

I'm not one for writing hugely long and in depth reviews, mainly due to not wanting to give out too many spoilers, but I'd definitely recommend readers giving this a go if they haven't done before. Whether or not you're initially drawn to the book, I think it has a lot more to offer than meets the eye and I'm excited to read the rest of the series.

This has not been my best review. I am ashamed.