One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon Book Review

After reading Five Years From Now last year, Paige Toon quickly became one of my favourite authors. I know I go on and on about that book but it honestly broke me and since then I've been desperate to read more from her. I reviewed Pictures Of Lily not too long ago too but today's post is a review of the third book I've read from Paige, One Perfect Summer.

A Dorset summer, a chance meeting, and Joe and Alice, both 18, fall into step as if they have known each other forever. But their idyll is shattered as quickly as it began. Joe leaves without warning; Alice heads off to Cambridge University and slowly picks up the pieces of her broken heart. Years later, when she catches the attention of gorgeous, gifted, rich boy Lukas, Alice is carried along by his charms and swept up in his ambitious plans for a future together. Until news of Joe reaches her once more, but he's out of reach in a way that Alice could never have imagined. Life has moved on, the divide between them is now so great. Surely it is far too late to relive those perfect summer days of long ago?

My review

I sort of knew what I was letting myself in for with One Perfect Summer as Paige's books do tend to be quite similar (or so it seems from the ones I've already read). From two people who can't be together to will they/won't they stories, they all seem to go down the same sort of route but Paige just writes that kind of love story so well. I was fully prepared to feel all sorts of emotions with this book, and that I certainly did.

The book starts off with Alice who has just arrived in Dorset for the summer with her mum. It's there she meets Joe, a boy with a troubled past and turbulent family, and it doesn't take long for them to fall for each other. It's the perfect summer romance but it all ends too quickly when Alice has to go off to university and Joe disappears after a fight with his family. Whilst they have every intention of being together and finding one another no matter what, they soon discover life isn't quite that simple. After years of waiting for Joe, Alice eventually lets herself move on and this is when we're introduced to Lukas, who I wasn't a big fan of from the start. Not because I was just rooting for her and Joe, but because I just didn't find him likeable. In Paige's previous books I've felt for any other partners who have been involved and got hurt but I found Lukas to be quite selfish and even a little controlling. Though Joe eventually comes back into Alice's life and is just as in love with her as he always was, it's certainly not a clear cut decision and the book actually ends on a cliffhanger. Normally I'd hate a book to end like this, especially a love story where I'm rooting for the two characters so much but luckily Paige has a kindle follow up, One Perfect Christmas which I'll get onto in a minute.

Like with all of Paige's books, I really couldn't put this down. I know I say that in most of my book reviews but with stories like this, I get so invested in the characters and I can't stop until I know how it ends. I just wanted everything to work out, even more so because I genuinely liked Alice and Joe. I went from smiling like an idiot to wanting to cry when reading their story because like with any of Paige's books, it all felt so real. She writes in a way which makes you feel as if you're there too experiencing the same emotions and you can't help but put yourself in their situation and think about what you would do too. I'd say One Perfect Summer on the whole maybe wasn't quite as gripping as the books I've previously read from Paige just because I did feel there was quite a lot of filler when it came to Alice's life at uni so I found myself getting a little bored at times. Whenever it was about her and Joe though, I was 100% hooked and desperate to see if they would end up together.

If you're a fan of romance then any of Paige's books are worth a read. I promise you will fall in love with each story. Just make sure if you read One Perfect Summer, you get One Perfect Christmas to read straight away afterwards too. I found that little sequel answered any questions I had and wrapped the whole story up really well. I actually wish there were more books about Alice and Joe though as I think they're such likeable characters and One Perfect Christmas leaves it in a way that definitely offers up some ideas of what could happen in the future.

Have you read any of Paige Toon's books?

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2018 Cinema Watch List Continued

Now 2019 is well and truly under way, it's time to look back on some of the films I watched in 2018. For the last few years I've put together a few roundup posts of the films we've seen cinema, sharing one in the Summer time and then another once the year is out so since June last year I've been adding to this each month with any new films we've been to see. If you want to see which films we saw during the first half of 2018, you can find that post here, but overall I think 2018 was a great year for films. We had so many cinema dates and saw some absolutely brilliant movies.

The First Purge - ⭐⭐⭐

I'm such a huge fan of the purge films. I wouldn't necessarily say they're horror films but they do have an element of that and I do think they're scary because they feel so real. Whenever I watch any of the films, I always worry and feel tense because it does sometimes seem like something as crazy as the purge could happen in real life and the thought of that just petrifies me. The First Purge was the fourth instalment in the purge franchise and whilst it still had a good story and we saw how this all came about in the first place, I didn't find it was quite as good as the previous films had been. I just didn't feel quite as much suspense this time and it seemed to end pretty quickly once things had really got going. I'd watch it again but it definitely wasn't my favourite.

Mamma Mia Here We Go Again -⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was so excited for the new Mamma Mia film, though a little sceptical because the first one has been a favourite of mine for years. Luckily the sequel was brilliant! I wasn't sure how it would be without Meryl Streep as Donna and whilst I do think it's a shame she isn't in it for long, I do think they worked around it really well and it gave the other actors a chance to play a bigger role. I thought the addition of Cher as Sophie's grandma was great casting, she was just fabulous and as always the music was on point. I played the soundtrack so much over Summer!

Christopher Robin - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I absolutely adored this film. I might be 24 now but I'll always love Winnie the Pooh like I did when I was young, he just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I loved the story and it was so special to see Pooh along with Eeyore, Piglet and the rest so lifelike, their voices! Pooh sounded exactly like I remember which was lovely and each of the characters just made me smile. It's a great choice for the whole family and one that will take you right back to your childhood.

A Star Is Born - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am still not over this film. Surprisingly when I first heard about it, I wasn't that fussed by it but once it was released we ended up going to see it anyway and I ended up loving it in every way. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are both absolutely outstanding and deserve every Oscar going. Who knew Bradley could sing so well?! It just pulled at my heartstrings, the ending left me devastated, I still think about it, and the music of course is beautiful. One of the best soundtracks in a long time and a film that I think will be a firm favourite for many years.

Bohemian Rhapsody - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Despite not knowing a huge amount about Freddie Mercury and never really being a massive fan of Queen's music, as soon as I saw the trailer for this film, I knew I had to see it. I mean, I like their music but I'd only heard the obvious songs and I never knew much about their backstory and Freddie's life so this was really interesting to watch. I feel like it reveals a lot but in a respectful way to Freddie and it never felt too intrusive in my opinion. It was great to hear all of the famous songs throughout and the live aid scene was incredible. They made it so it felt like you were actually there. I think the whole cast were exceptional and it's definitely a very close second to A Star Is Born for my favourite film of the year.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald -⭐⭐⭐

I actually wasn't too impressed with the first Fantastic Beasts film but I was really keen to see Crimes Of Grindelwald. I think I wanted to see it mainly because it's starting to be a bit more like the Harry Potter films and characters like Dumbledore are now being added in and playing a bigger role whereas I just found the first film confusing. I did find this one a little hard to follow at times but overall I think it was much better than the first. The revelation at the end was amazing and I'm excited for the next one now. Also Jude Law as Dumbledore, do I need to say more.

The Girl In The Spiders Web - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This film was the one to surprise me in 2018. George has been a fan of the Stieg Larsson/David Lagercrantz books for years so when he saw the trailer for this, he was keen to see it, and despite me not really knowing the plot or having read any of the books, for some reason the trailer really appealed to me too. This would never usually be my sort of my film as it's a crime thriller but I really, really enjoyed it and it's now probably one of my favourites of the year. I was just really taken in by the story and as I'd not read the book, I had no idea where it was going or what to expect. I also think Claire Foy as Lisbeth Salander was brilliant.

Mary Poppins Returns - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was really excited to see this but I actually don't think it was as special or magical as everyone made it out to be. Maybe it's because I just wasn't a huge fan of the original Mary Poppins growing up, in that I don't really remember watching it more than few times, so I couldn't really compare it like I think lots of other people have been able to. It's hard to explain how I feel properly about this one because I did like it, there were some really lovely moments, the songs are brilliant and I actually think both Lin-Manuel Miranda and Emily Blunt were excellent in their roles, but at the end I just felt a bit flat. I didn't feel wowed by it like I expected to. I've been listening to the soundtrack since though and I'm really keen on giving it a second watch. I think it's one that will grow on me over time.

We've seen so many films over the last 12 months at the cinema, it really is hard to whittle it down to a few favourites but I think my top 5 would have to be - A Star Is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Christopher Robin, Love Simon and The Girl In The Spiders Web. I'm so excited to see the sorts of film that are released this year. At the moment I think it would take something amazing to top any of these.

Did you see any of these films last year too?

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An End Of Year Look At My 2018 Blogging Goals

Following on from Tuesday's post which was a review of my 2018 personal goals, it's time to look back on the blogging goals I set myself! I aimed quite high with some of these so I already know I've not achieved most of them but I'm doing better than I was at the start of 2018 so it's not all bad. I'm still really glad I set myself these goals and it's actually been nice to look back on them!

Don't Put Myself Under Pressure To Post

I've definitely been far kinder to myself over the last 12 months when it comes to blogging and that was very much needed after putting myself under so much pressure previously. Before I felt I always had to stick to my schedule of posting 5 times a week, I needed to be on time for comment threads, I couldn't miss a day if I was away, it was silly looking back on it but at the time I thought everyone would disappear if I had a few days off. By the end of 2017 I was frazzled and I didn't want the same to happen again in 2018. Luckily it didn't, of course by Christmas I was ready for a decent break away from it but I definitely didn't feel like I had before. Throughout 2018 I made sure if I was on holiday or if I had plans that I just took that time away from my blog and I felt so much better in myself for it. It also meant when I came back from a small break, I felt ready and raring to go again, full of ideas. I'll definitely be making sure I carry on this way through 2019 too, nothing is going to happen if I take a few days off, like any job we're entitled to a break!

Reach Out To Brands

Compared to the year before, 2018 was not a good year for pitching to brands. I don't know what happened but I just lost all confidence with it. In the past I've been quite happy to send that first email to a brand and more often that not it's been how I get collaborations (which by the way, has anyone noticed a serious lack available over the last few months?!) but once 2018 started, I just lost my way with it and it meant whenever I did go to pitch, I felt I'd failed before I'd even started. Towards the end of the year I did get back into it a little and pitched to several PR's which went well but still I feel a little bit scared about it! I'm hoping over the next few weeks or so to try and make a list of brands I'd love to work with and just go for it!

Reach 5000 Twitter Followers

I aimed high with this given at the start of 2018 I had only just reached 2000 followers so it's safe to say, I didn't quite get to 5000. I mean, gaining 3000 in a year might not seem like much to some and I've definitely seen some bloggers fly past me in terms of social media growth but I actually find Twitter quite hit and miss. I seem to have bursts where I'm on all the time, interacting with others and growing at a good pace and then other times it seems all the people that want to follow me, already have done and I just won't get any further. At the moment I'm at 3311 which I'm quite happy with to be honest. I think for the amount of effort I've put in with Twitter recently, it's probably fair where I'm at now and like I said, I did aim quite high to say I can find it hard to put myself out there sometimes. Fingers crossed I'll have hit it by the end of this year.

Reach 2000 Instagram Followers

Another one I did aim high with but at the time I did think it was doable. I don't think anyone was expecting all of the changes to happen to Instagram over the year though which has meant growing your following and getting likes on your photos, can sometimes be near impossible. It's another one I've had weeks where I gain quite a few followers and my photos seem to do well and other weeks where I lose about 20 followers a day and struggle to get likes on photos I'm really proud of, I just don't know what you need to do to do well on Instagram anymore. At the moment I'm at 1561 so I'm glad I've got over 1500. When I realised 2000 wasn't going to happen, I set myself a goal of 1500 instead and luckily I don't seem to be losing too many at the moment so hopefully I'll at least stay above that for now.

Reach 200 Facebook Likes

Wow, Facebook has been the bane of my life recently! The amount of times I've just felt like giving up with it. I've shared my blog posts on my Facebook page for a long time now but towards the end of 2018, it just stopped growing. No matter what I did, no matter how I promoted it, getting likes was just impossible. I really wanted to get to a small target of 200 likes for the page but right now I'm at 175 So not far away but not really a massive difference to where it was at the start of the year either. Does anyone else struggle as much as me with Facebook? I've also found my posts and photos have had far less interaction recently too whereas in the past they used to do okay. I'm pretty disappointed with this one, I just can't find a way to improve it. I just wish people realised how far one like on a post goes, seriously support people! It's not hard and it makes such a difference to bloggers.

Improve My Photography

I'm really happy with the photos I took throughout 2018. Whilst they weren't hugely different to 2017 and some might think they didn't necessarily improve, I was pleased with them and felt generally they were much better than before! I loved getting a bit more creative with my blog photos, coming up with new flatlays and adding in new props, by the last few months of 2018, I felt I'd really made an improvement and changed things up a little. I also started to take note of which photos seemed to do well on Instagram and if there was any sort of pattern so now I know what sort of style to go for this year too. I just want to keep improving with photography because it's never been my strong point.

So that's how I did with my blogging goals, a bit of a mix. Of course I'd have loved to have reached my goal with every single one but I'm just happy to have achieved what I did and I'm better off with each one than I was at the start of 2018 so that can only be a good thing!

Did you set yourself any blogging goals?

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The House Swap by Rebecca Fleet Book Review

Just a few days after my last book review which was Million Love Songs by Carole Matthews if you haven't seen yet, I've already got another for you. Despite having a ridiculous list of books that I want to get through this year, I spotted this when we were last in London and I just had to get it so I got stuck in as soon as we were home and it didn't disappoint.

'When Caroline and Francis receive an offer to house swap, they jump at the chance for a week away from home. After the difficulties of the past few years, they've worked hard to rebuild their marriage for their son's sake; now they want to reconnect as a couple. On arrival, they find a house that is stark and sinister in its emptiness - it's hard to imagine what kind of person lives here. Then, gradually, Caroline begins to uncover some signs of life - signs of her life. The flowers in the bathroom or the music in the CD player might seem innocent to her husband but to her they are anything but. It seems the person they have swapped with is someone she used to know; someone she's desperate to leave in her past. But that person is now in her home - and they want to make sure she'll never forget...'

My review

I was intrigued by this just from the synopsis because it seemed quite similar to other thrillers I've read recently and it's a genre where anything can happen. Even just the small reviews on the cover had me interested. Once I started, I could see why people have said they got through it all in one sitting because you're pretty much thrown straight in at the deep end with it. We start each chapter from the point of view of the person staying in Caroline's home, the one who has orchestrated this whole thing and just from those small glimpses you get an idea of just how dark the story is going to be.

The book then goes into multiple person narrative as we hear from Caroline, her husband Francis and this mystery person so we can build up the backstory from several points of view. As I've said in many book reviews before, I can find this a little bit confusing if it's all over the place but Rebecca did it really well. Though there were flashbacks and we were always switching from one person to another, it flowed seamlessly and I found it easy to follow right from the start.

What I liked the most about this book is how complex it was in that it wasn't just a story about this crazy stalker which it might lead you to believe. There was a real dark history there and there was so much more to it than the book originally leads you to believe. Though the culprit might seem a little out of the blue at first, I found the reveal to actually be quite sad and it made me see Caroline and some of the other characters in quite a different light. That leads me onto say I think Rebecca did a great job in really making you question how you feel about each of the characters as the book unfolds. One minute I was feeling sympathy for one character and then the next I hated them, and that sort of went on all the way through as it showed that though some of them may have redeeming quantities and come across quite likeable at first, actually each had a dark side which we might not have originally picked up on. She also tackled the tough subject of mental health brilliantly too which I imagine could be quite a tough one to get right.

If thrillers are the type of book you usually go for then this is definitely worth a read. It's sinister, dark and full of tension. I'm pretty sure this is Rebecca Fleet's debut novel too so I'm incredibly excited to see what else she writes in the future.

Other book reviews - The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty // The Sisters by Claire Douglas

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