Tuesday 27 June 2017

Book Review #4 Girl Hearts Girl by Lucy Sutcliffe

I read Girl Hearts Girl a while ago and posted a review on my old blog which I can't seem to find. So I will write a new, updated one.

Overview

Lucy Sutcliffe comes from Hertfordshire, England and attended university at Plymouth and completed a degree in film arts. Lucy was in a long distance relationship with Kaelyn Petras who lived in Michigan. Lucy's autobiography details her life as a young child through to her late teens and is about her coming to terms with who she is as a person. She talks about how she realised she was lesbian and how she came out to her family. She also talks about her and Kaelyn's relationship which has since ended.

Review

I really enjoyed reading Girl Hearts Girl, not only because I had been watching Kaelyn and Lucy's relationship and LGBT+ videos for over a year, but also because Lucy was using her platform to publish a book about growing up and coming to terms with who she is.

Kaelyn and Lucy's videos were always funny and I cried when they made a video about their break up. But since then Lucy seems to be very happy. She stills lives in the US pursuing her creative filming dreams and making YouTube videos.

Lucy seems to have known she was different from other girls but didn't know why she didn't like to date boys. It was a few years until Lucy found out what a lesbian was and decided to research it on the best media platform - YouTube. Lucy watched a video of country singer Chely Wright on the Ellen Show and ever since Chely has been one of the people Lucy looks up to.


Overall, this book was a heartfelt story about a young girl coming to terms with the fact she is gay. Lucy befriended Kaelyn online and they were in a long distance relationship until 2014, when Lucy moved to America with Kaelyn. Lucy spent years working on this book and when it came out I waited at Waterstones for them to unpack it!

Even though Lucy's writing is raw and rough around the edges, this just shows how much emotion and energy went into writing it. Lucy also talks about her battle with anxiety and how she copes with it. It is a wonderful book which will and has helped thousands of teens who are affected by anxiety and need someone to relate to.

I'd have to rate it 5/5 ☆ because it is such a moving book by one of my all time favourite YouTubers.

Links: if you want to watch Lucy's videos, click here.
If you would like to watch Kaelyn and Lucy's advice videos, click here.

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Friday 16 June 2017

My Top 5 Favourite Authors

Hello again! In this week's blog I will be talking about my top 5 favourite authors and the reasons why! Enjoy and don't forget to tell me who yours are!

1. David Levithan

Aside from the obvious reason that David writes LGBTQ novels (which I LOVE), his writing has a very flowing and unbiased effect on me. I adore his novels Two Boys Kissing and Every Day the most. I recently purchased the sequel, Another Day from Amazon and I can't wait to read it.

David is gay himself and I'm very pleased that he uses his voice to tell stories about the LGBTQ community. You can learn more about David and his books here.


2. John Green

Almost every teen girl has obsessed over John's novel, The Fault in Our Stars (also me) because of the movie. But once I read it, I wanted to read his other books and was introduced to a world of contemporary YA and LGBTQ books (John introduced me to Levithan through their book, Will Grayson, Will Grayson).

John's writing is unique to say the least; we see lots of contemporary authors trying to make life changing and wacky novels that just don't work and somehow, even with John's wackiness (Papertowns and Looking for Alaska especially), he manages to pull this off. John creates new life affirming journeys that teens go on to discover themselves and he puts a twist in it to make it a book we can lose and find ourselves in. You can learn more about John and his books here.




3. Rainbow Rowell

When I first read Fangirl I was so happy I had finally found a story that just kept on coming, like real life. Carry On is also a masterpiece and I love how Rowell created a world within a world for all of us fangirls who adore Simon and Baz.

I am yet to read Rowell's other books but she is a wonderfully down to earth person who interacts with fans and writes from the heart. You can learn more about Rowell and her books here.


4. Maggie Stiefvater 

If you haven't read the The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy then go, now! What are you waiting for?! The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy is my favourite series to EVER exist. Maggie's writing is heartfelt, raw and powerful. She captures her characters so well and I just want to be friends with Grace and Sam so badly! If I had to pick one series to live in, it would be this.

I still need to read Sinner (a spin off of The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy) and the rest of Maggie's books. You can read more about Maggie and her blog here.




5. Huntley Fitzpatrick 

Whenever someone wants a book recommendation, I immediately tell them to read My Life Next Door because it is a beautiful love story and deserves to be read by everyone. I also think Huntley is a lovely person and she always interacts with me on Instagram.

You can find out more about Huntley and her novels on her website.




Don't forget to follow my Bookstagram: @neurotic.writer.ramblings