Everything All At Once by Steve Camden

A series of poem's set during a week in a school we meet an array of characters.

It perfectly captures all school situations you go to through from lessons and wishing you weren't there, school toilet states with graffiti, finding a crush to fights and friendship groups tight knit like family. Each poem captures a characters voice perfectly as a teenager experiencing things at school, some for the first time and others again and again. Anyone can relate to these poems!

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Operation Eiffel Tower by Elen Caldecott

Siblings Jack and Lauren want to keep their parents together but they always notice the fights and escalating screaming matches that occur. They help Ruby and Billy their younger siblings to cope when their dad leaves home and even though they saw the signs, it's a shock.

Jack helps out at the golf course and enjoys playing there as it's crazy golf set to areas of the world, including the Eiffel Tower.
After their dad leaves home, they plot getting their parents enough money for a trip to Paris for real thinking of money making ways but as a terrible thing occurs, the parents still can't unite and so the kids bring Paris to home...r

This book holds so many truths and could be a real life situation with a family dealing with impending divorce and unsettling a family home. It will be relatable and perhaps even inspire some kids to try this idea possibly too! The children were depicted perfectly and the parents came across as a struggling couple. It was a serious book but it has times of fun as the children worked together all ages included.

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

With her mum dying from cancer, Lina is left to go stay with Howard whom she believes is actually her father in Italy where he lives in a World War two cemetery of which when Lina goes on her morning run, meets Ren whom is also Italian American and will be attending school together.

When she gets her hands on her mums old journal she realises a lot of secrets where between them and it leaves her to trace down her real father and uncover what happened to her mum before Lina was born. Her friend from home Addie keeps in touch after Lina decides to stay despite her first nerves and Addie enjoys the drama but obviously helps Lina in any way she can as well as with Ten and his friends she meets.

It was such a great read and so different with being a mystery built into a loss story about the years before Lina would never know about along with her mum enjoying Italy as much as she is now she's settled in and soaking up the culture, places and hobbies.

A Room Full Of Chocolate by Jane Elson

When ten year old Grace gets sent to stay with her granddad after her parents split and her mum fights cancer. Though Grace always tries to block out any thought that she has surrounding cancer As she tries to put it to the back of her mind.

As she stays with her granddad though, she discovers her mum's old childhood best friend Allie along with her daughter, Megan still live by them in the same house after her granddad sent his daughter away to school so As to split Allie and Grace's mum Chloe up. Granddad then tries to do that now too with Grace and Megan as he deems Megan a bad influence.

Megan is a wild free spirit even with a pet pig who sticks up for Grace at their school though As Grace gets bullies by Lucy and her group causing physical harm to Grace as well as sending her horrid texts.

As they plan to run away back to London from their trip to York, they enlist the help of some boys on a school trip there too only their coach is too down to london, as they leave the boys Mitchell and Grace exchange numbers bonded by their shared sadness over their mums. There's also the case of keeping their travelling pig a secret too!

I loved this book, a contrast to typical modern day life we get to experience country life on a farm as well as the struggles of being a child and having to cope with a seriously ill mother no matter how much you try to block it all out of your mind. We see the joys of friendship and family even in bitter circumstances and of course the joy of animals! The writing was serious but fun too as Megan helps Grace to cope with her changing life.

The Big Dreams Beach Hotel by Lilly Bartlett

Rosie works in a hotel where she has just celebrated three years at, however her boss has shocked them all by selling the hotel and so in transition, Rory is sent in as the hotel company from the US makes staff, restaurant and building changes.

Rosie left the USA after an experience with Chuck as she began an intense relationship with him whilst she had just planned his companies work Christmas Party. But then it effects her relationship with Digby as she would sacrifice anything for love and Chuck despite what a user he turns out to be, a Tiffany necklace broke their relationship, along with lies and Rosie was heartbroken but better off without him!

But now in Scarborough, Rory and her are getting close while she fights off the feelings reminding her of her failed relationship, can she make this work between them as he will be leaving in the coming months?

I enjoyed reading this book, even if I did think it was longer and more drawn out but I did enjoy the split past/present split narrative as we died find out all about Chuck and their past not just her life now with the odd sentence thrown in. Lilly is a new author to me and she's definitely one to watch out for new books from in the future!

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

Nick and Charlie are a young couple, two guys who have been together two years but now Nick is off to university and Charlie can't comprehend him not being there always.

One night at a party, Charlie gets drunk and finds out another strong couple have broken up before university and in a drunken fit of emotion breaks up with Nick regrettably for both of them.

After a break in communication, Charlie approaches Nick and they reconcile but can they get back together knowing the future?

It was a great little story and I did thoroughly enjoy it. Nick and Charlie seem like a great couple being together from I think, fifteen especially shows their connection was always there and not going to be easily broken!

Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Known for being the silent girl in treatment, as she suffers with selective mutism. Charlie Davis is a self harmer who has been through a lot.

We see snippets of her life whilst she tries to heal from her self harm addiction whilst in hospital. Upon being released, we see her mum give up on looking after her and so she goes to move to where here best friend Mikey lives.

She struggles a lot throughout the book and as we learn deeper into the background with her parents and her running away from home and living on the streets it becomes clear how much it has messed up her views as she disassociates a lot during tough times and even at one point tries to self harm again when things don't go as she planned them to.

Her job she gets at True Grit a sort of coffee house and restaurant, doesn't pay to great but she does get closer to older man and rocker style guy Riley whom is a heavy drunk and drug addict.

The book focuses on how she copes with life despite all the bad, the storylines of suicide, addiction and death only make the emotional journey in this more realistic and necessary to modern day as many turn to self harm to cope with problems instead of choosing to speak out about them instead.