Book Review: Since You Lost Your Brother by Daniel Yetman

I was recently asked by Daniel Yetman if I would read his book, Since You Lost Your Brother and I delightfully agreed (especially when I get asked to review paperbacks instead of kindle stories!).

Review of Since You Lost Your Brother by Daniel Yetman
I received the book in the mail - it's a short story (120 pages) so it doesn't take too long to read. As soon as I read it I could tell this was real love Yetman was talking about - not the bookish kind that some authors create. The book had so many twists and turns that by the end I had no idea what would happen - which added to the effect the book was trying to make.

The story is about a man and a woman who've been in a long term relationship and the woman loses her brother. After that the couple falls apart from her depression and sadness. He leaves, not being able to cope anymore and moves to Seoul. He continues to write and tries to get over her but writes about her every day. He meets other women but can't get over the idea of them making it work again.

I believe the moral of the story is that we don't know what's going to happen in life so let's live for the moment and make the most out of it. It's a true story about love and heartbreak and the hold someone can have on you long after it's over. This story is definitely a must read for anyone who's going through or has gone through a traumatic break up.

I won't give you any spoilers for obvious reasons but I will say that you need to read it! It's a collection of short chapters that Daniel was writing each day on the subway. I will admit I was emotional by the end but it was worth it. I even want to recommend it to my friends because it was so moving.

I would say that the only down side was proofreading. There were misspelled words and sentences but all books have at least one mistake. I think it's safe to say if that's the only downside, then I really enjoyed this book.

This book really does have it all - love, grief, heartbreak and how to survive and live a life after it all.

If you're interested in buying Daniel's book you can find it here.

I hope you enjoyed this week's blog and tune it for next week's, where I'll be interviewing Daniel and asking some questions about his writing.

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Book Review: Another Day by David Levithan

Once I read every day and heard there was a sequel, I couldn’t wait to read it. However, for some reason I put it off for months and then I picked it up. I don’t know what I expected – maybe a story after the story; instead we see Rhiannon’s part of the story, how she feels about A, his nonexistent gender, sexuality and her unhealthy relationship with Justin. 

We all want her to leave him but she’s scared to. David manages to write about real problems in an imaginative way so that we question life itself – the path it wants for us and if gender, sexuality and everything else matters. The truth is it doesn’t. David is gay and he understands how gender shouldn’t matter. But it isn’t easy for someone who has only dated/crushed on boys or girls.

I’m pansexual, which means I like people regardless of their gender. In theory, it would make sense that were always able to do this – to love someone for their personality, not their gender or body or looks. But is isn’t that easy. These factors can come into play and David teaches us that this is okay. 

Rhiannon loves A because of who he is inside – not all the bodies he inhabits. There were other factors to this situation that make it a difficult decision for Rhiannon. A moves around all the time into different bodies – which isn’t fair for both of them. Ultimately, this book – and all of Levithan’s – makes your mind boggle in wonder. 

David makes us question things we never knew needed questioning. That’s why he’s a brilliant writer. Very few writers have me hooked to binge their books but Levithan always manages to do this.

I highly recommend you read Every Day and Another Day – in that order. You may get annoyed with how indecisive Rhiannon is, but she also makes you aware of how indecisive we all are. Let David’s writing keep you up all night with questions. I hope you read it and if you have, please tell me what you thought.

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Review: The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

Well hello there! It's already February - one of my most expensive and busiest months (birthdays, anniversary etc)! Sorry I didn't post last week but it was Oli's birthday and I wanted to concentrate on him for the day. So this week I've decided to write a blog review about Rupi Kaur's most recent poetry book, The Sun and Her Flowers. I will be sharing some of my favourite poems from the book and a bit about why I love them and why I think you should too!

The Sun and Her Flowers
The Sun and Her Flowers is more about Kaur's family, moving and learning to love herself. I am so excited for what she has coming next but I will definitely be rereading these until her next book comes along. I wanted to buy the book as soon as possible and thankfully received a Waterstone's voucher for Christmas so it was one of the books I just had to get. I must say I relate to Milk and Honey more, but I still absolutely love her books and she inspired me to just go for it and write poetry. So here we go. Enjoy!

Poem One 

I love this one because it proves that whatever us humans go through, we are always strong enough to bounce back from it; we will always recover.

Poem Two 

Kaur always has a way of writing so that I feel unique and special, even if I feel like I'm getting nowhere in life. That is poetry. You don't even have to be religious to love this, you just need to believe in yourself.

Poem Three 

I think this is absolutely true- we all crave love and want to give it but as humans we manage to ruin it or turn it into something it's not. Everyone has the capacity for love but not everyone is willing to learn how to.

Poem Four 

Such a powerful break-up poem here. I think it's beautiful because Kaur keeps repeating that it's not the end of the world. You will get through anything.

Poem Five 

Such a simple yet powerful poem for anyone feeling low or invalid.

Poem Six 

This is honestly my favourite. So beautiful that it gives me butterflies. I do believe in soul mates so this poem is perfect.

Well that's it for this week but I'll be back next week! Love, Vee.