Welcome back! I know many of my readers come from all over the world so once I knew that, I thought why not add some multicultural things into my post. This next bit is going to see how many different languages I can get into a blog post. It's only going to be one word and that word is 'welcome'. Here we go, but please don't blame me if they are wrong. Blame the translation app I used. HA! So for my French readers, Bienvenue for my German readers, Willkommen for my Spanish readers, Bienvenido and for my many readers who understand Dutch here is welcome in your language, Welkom. Before you start to ask where have my blog posts been. I have been really busy throughout the many weeks I have been reading this book. In fact it's been a little less than a month since I last wrote about a book. I really want that to change. I can't believe there is only a couple of weeks left until schools go back. So now is the time to tell me what you've been doing on your summer holidays so far. Some of you might be slightly older and therefore you might not even be having a summer holiday at the moment, so what are you doing at the moment. For people who didn't read my last blog post. The summer holidays is a long break away from school. You can leave what sort of adventures you've been on in the comment box below. Like all of blog posts I ask my many readers if they could give me some sort of feedback so I can then improve my blog posts and make them a much better quality for your reading pleasure. It doesn't have to be a long paragraph just a couple of sentences will do please leave your feedback in the comment section below. It would totally mean a lot if you could. You don't have to read anymore of my rambling so without further delay, the name of the book that I will be reviewing in this review is called Beside Myself and it was written by Ann Morgan.
At this point in my blog post I just like to take a little side step on welcoming any new readers to this blog post. It really means a lot that you choose to read my posts. Once you have read this one and enjoyed it so much you can read the rest of my blog posts at laurennpullennreviews.blogspot.co.uk To the rest of my readers who continue to keep coming back every time I upload a new post. Thank you everyone, the support really means a lot and I'm truly grateful.
This next part of my post is all about the blurb from the book. The term blurb is just another fancy way of saying the short paragraph that sums up the book perfectly. Most people use the term blurb but it can also be described as a synopsis. The blurb can be found on the back cover but if you are reading a hard backed book you can normally find the blurb on the inside of the front cover on the sleeve or if you want the proper term, the dust jacket. Next is my reasoning on why I have the blurb in my posts in the first place. I have the blurb in my blog posts because it's definitely more convenient for you readers as you can make up your mind/opinion on whether you like the sound of this particular book. As it is more convenient you don't have to spend ages looking online or roaming around in shops looking for the book, when you can read it right here right now. With this book the blurb is rather short, so what I'm going to do is put the blurb from the book first and then put another blurb I found with more information after it. So I'm not going to ramble anymore so here are both blurbs:
" Helen and Ellie are identical twins- like two peas in a pod, everyone says. The girls know this isn't true, though; Helen is the leader and Ellie is the follower. Until they decide to swap places: just for fun, and just for one day. But Ellie refuses to swap back... And so begins a nightmare from which Helen cannot wake up"
The other blurb I found has the same beginning but it has a different ending. The first line of the second blurb is the same as the last line of the first blurb so it is from there I start:
"But Ellie refuses to swap back...
And so begins a nightmare from which Helen cannot wake up. Her toys, her clothes, her friends, her glowing record at school, the favor of her mother and the future she had dreamed of are all gone to a sister who blossoms in the approval that used to belong to Helen. And as years pass, she loses not only her memory of that day but also herself- until eventually only 'Smudge' is left. Twenty -five years later, Smudge receives a call from out of the blue. It threatens to pull her back into her sister's dangerous orbit, but if this is her only chance to face the past, - how can she resist?
There we have it, at the end of this section there will be a picture of the blurb that's if you take pictures in better. Also if you've already finished the book please don't give away any spoilers to those who haven't finished it yet.
The next part of my blog post is all about the author of the book for those people who don't know the structure of my posts. Where would we be without the many authors in the world. Most people just think of them as being just another ordinary person. But they are definitely more than that. Just think about them when your reading a really good book. A lot of work goes into writing a book. Like the amount of meetings they have with their book management teams and the book publishers. The amount of phone calls they will have to take and the many hours they will have to spend sitting at a computer screen answering the endless amounts of emails. All of this is being done whilst they have their own lives to live so they don't see much of their families when they are writing. In the end though just think about how well that book could do. The book will be something to be proud of as they can show it off to everybody they know and it will receive the well deserved praise it needs. If the book becomes very successful it can become a movie and go on to win the author many awards. That's definitely something to smile about. That is just a little something to have dedicated to them. Here we go here is the information on this author:
Ann Morgan is a freelance writer and editor based in London. Ann's writing has appeared in the Guardian, the independent, the financial times, the Australian and the New Internationalist, and she was a finalist in the Guardian's international Development Journalism Competition 2010. She has also sub- edited for publications including Tatler and Vanity Fair. Following that success of her project to read a book from every country in 2012, Ann continues to blog about international literature at ayearofreadingtheworld.com Her first book, Reading the world: Confessions of Literary Explorer, was published to great critical acclaim in 2015. Beside Myself (so this book I'm reviewing) is her first novel.
It is now time to start my opinion part of this blog post. I'm going to emit this small little side note right here right now. I've been reading this book for just under four weeks and I'm going to explain why in this section. With that out of the way onto the book itself. Firstly the cover of the book, whoever designed the cover definitely needs a round of applause. When I first spotted the cover it sent a shiver down my spine it had that eerie feeling about it the way the rain droplets are cascading down the window it's like something out of a horror film I don't know why it was just a feeling I had. So with that thought in my mind I couldn't wait to start reading this book. Once I started to read this book the first thing that greets you is a prologue. Personally I'm not a massive fan of a prologue but in this instant it was the perfect beginning to start a new adventure with. When I started to read the following chapters I was gripped to very core. I couldn't take my eyes off the page they were glued to the pages. So therefore I couldn't put the book down. I loved how each chapter changed between the past and the present every time you got to a new chapter, with every new chapter a little more of the story got uncovered. There were many twists and turns som I want expecting and others I were expecting. It just made the book that bit more excitable. Now the reason why it took me so long to read it, the size of the type in the book. If I spent ages looking at the book it started to give me headaches so that's the reason. If I could change a couple of things about the book it would be the size of the type, why the name Smudge maybe it's already in the book and I just missed it also some interaction between the twins and their brother. But overall I throughly enjoyed this book. Ann if this is your first novel I can't wait to see and read what comes out in the future!
So I'm going to give this book a 8/10 and I'm going to recommend this book to anyone who loves a great book and is over the age of 16. If you loved this blog post you can find all of my blog posts here laurennpullennreviews.blogspot.co.uk where you can follow me or leave your questions. Thank you again for choosing to read my blog posts and I hope you return in the future!!
Until my next book review x
