Exciting Times - Naoise Dolan

What is it about: When you leave Ireland to spend your parent's money, it's called a gap year. When Ava leaves Ireland to make her own money, she's not sure what to call it, but it involves:

• A badly paid job in Hong Kong, teaching grammar to rich children

• Julian, who likes to spend money on Ava and lets her move into his guest room

• Edith, who Ava meets while Julian is out of town and actually listens to her when she talks

• Money, love, cynicism, unspoken feelings and unlikely connections

Exciting times ensue.

My Thoughts: I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't. It'll be such an unpopular opinion, but it dragged for me. I couldn't get into it. All the characters were unlikable.
Ava is moving to a new country and all she does is spending her time with a man she barely knows who just controls her because he can. Even Ava herself refers to Julian as "her owner" at some point. How sad.
She leaves home for a new adventure, for something exciting, like the title would suggest, but she ends up in this relationship that's not even a relationship.

Then she meets Edith and once again, she is constantly seeking her approval. She has a crush on her and she doesn't know how to deal with it, she starts questioning her sexuality. Probably the Edith's chapters are the most likeable part of this book. Ava becomes a little more human and relatable. Although I still don't like her, she's another person with Edith.

When Julian comes back from London, the old Ava appears again and now she has to choose between Julian and Edith. Needless to say she made a mess out of it.
All of them were such annoying characters.
The writing was flowing at least.
But I'm really sorry to say, this book did not bring me joy.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton

What is it about: At a party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed - again.
She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. The only way to break this cycle is to identify Evelyn's killer. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is desperate to stop him ever escaping Blackheath...

My Thoughts: Wow! I have no other words but wow! This is definitely not the book I thought it was going to be. It is better.
I was expecting just this guy waking up every morning in a different guest and reliving the same day over and over watching Evelyn's death and trying to catch the murderer.
Boy I was wrong! This was much more. The party is set the same day as Evelyn's brother's death many years earlier, with the same set of guests. 
Is this a hunt to catch Evelyn's killer or find the truth about Thomas' death?
The story is such a labyrinth of different point of views and mind-games that you definitely do not see the ending coming. It was such a shock! My reaction when reading the last line was "WTF did just happen?!"

I definitely recommend this to everyone who enjoys a bit of adrenaline and  mystery.

The 24-Hour Cafe - Libby Page

First book finished in April 😊
Once again, it left me a bit torn.
I did enjoy it, and I enjoyed the concept behind it, but I thought it would be slightly different.
The story is set in Stella's cafe, which is open 24-hours, where the early workers and the night owls go.
Hannah and Mona work at the cafe, they are best friends and have a much bigger dream than working at a cafe.
The book tells the story of some of the clients at the cafe, mostly new clients, as well as Hannah's and Mona's.
I have to admit, I much preferred the stories of all the other people but not Hannah's and Mona's, I felt they were a bit dull and predictable.
I wish there was more of other people's stories.
What I liked, though is that there was a proper ending to the book, so you get to see what happens to everyone at the end. Writing was very fluid and easy to read.
Overall not a bad book, but not in my top 10 either. I have not read The Lido yet, and I have read it was good, so I might still give it a go.

Transcendent Kingdom - Yaa Gyasi

Firstly, I have to admit I bought this book just for the cover. I hadn't read the synopsis. I bought it because it looked pretty and I kept seeing it everywhere.
My thoughts on this book are torn. I enjoyed it but I struggled finishing it. Even though it was only 250 pages - usually a breeze for me! - I had to force myself to read it.
The topics written here are not easy, it's not one of those books you can read just before bed time with all your lights switched off but one. You have to pay attention, to focus, to have all your lights on.
I wouldn't have read it if it wasn't for the cover.
It talks about spirituality, drug addiction, depression and dealing with loss. Some heavy stuff.
I didn't enjoy the type of writing to be honest. It keeps passing from one thing to the other without warning and it is a bit unnerving.
I'm glad I read it, though because I finally read something different.

The Authenticity Project - Clare Pooley

Title: The Authenticity Project

Author: Clare Pooley

Pages: 352

First Published: 2020

My Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Such an uplifting novel that forces 6 strangers to face their own truth. And in doing so, it forces you to do that also. There were parts of the book that were obvious, and other that you didn't see coming.
I only gave 4⭐ simply because there was so much hype around it and I was expecting something even bigger and better. I suppose that's the risk in reading popular books.
Said so, I loved it and I would highly recommend it to everyone.

The Switch - Beth O'Leary

Title: The Switch

Author: Beth O'Leary

Pages: 328

First Published: 2020

What is it about: After a horrible year of working and working, Leena has a breakdown just in the middle of a very important presentation. Her boss gives her 2 months of sabbatical to get better and tells her to go away, take it as an opportunity to put her life back together after her sister's premature death. Leena decides then to leave London behind and go up to Yorkshire to visit her grandma. 

Eileen Cotton, almost 80-years-old, who has been left by her husband, is starting a new project. She wants to find someone to date, but there are no eligible men up in her little village in Yorkshire. 

Once Leena arrives, it is clear to the pair of them that they both need a change in their lives. Eileen has been busy taking care of Leena's mom and everyone else in the village, but herself. Leena is stressed from everything. So they decide to switch lives. Eileen is going to spend the next two months in London, chasing her dream from when she was a young girl, before life got in the way. Leena is going to take a much needed break from everything and everyone up in Yorkshire.

My thoughts: I loved this book from the start! It was predictable, but it was just such an amazing, light read; it was comforting. Eileen was such a character! I laughed basically during all of her chapters. She is such a strong female character and everyone should learn from her.
Leena was more the typical protagonist of every romance novel, she struggles with her life, goes away for a few months and magically understands what she is really supposed to do. 

There are so many books around like that and don't get me wrong, I do love reading them every now and then, it brings some sort of comfort to my life, especially these days; but Eileen's story was much more interesting for me to read.

What I loved about both characters, though, is how they were there for other people. No matter who they were, they were there to help them. Female power to the rescue!

I read 'The Flatshare' as well by Beth O'Leary, but 'The Switch' was much better in my opinion.

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

"We spend so much time wishing our lives were different,
comparing ourselves to other people and to other versions of ourselves,
when really most lives contain degrees of good and degrees of bad"

Title: The Midnight Library

Author: Matt Haig

Pages: 288

First Published: 2020

What is it about: Nora feels alone in the world. She doesn't speak to her brother anymore, well, he doesn't speak to her; her "best friend" has moved to Australia and the relationship is just not the same; she gets fired; her cat dies and she doesn't have a fiancée anymore after she decided not to marry him. 

So she decides to kill herself. No one is going to miss her, right? 

But death doesn't come easily. Before she can move on to an afterlife, she stops into a limbo - The Midnight Library. Mrs Elm, her former librarian at school, is there waiting for her; she will help Nora going through lots of different books, which will lead to different lives of 'what if...'. What if she married the guy? What if she carried on with swimming? What if she was still talking to her brother?

My thoughts: I loved this book. I cried, of course. I knew it was going to end the way it did, but the journey to get there was truly emotional. 

It is such a well written, uplifting novel, perfect for everyone. We all need to remember what's truly important in life. 

We spend so much time on social media, looking at other people's lives, imaging "what if I was her/him", "what if I had all their money/success". And this is unhealthy. We all have different lives, we all are on different journeys and everyone's is as special as the other. 

Even if we don't realise it or think about it every day, our life has an impact on someone else's.