Everything, everything by Nicola Yoon book review

Hey Everyone,
Lets just take a moment and look back on the last book review I have done, because it was a long time ago. I am so excited to talk about one of my new favourite YA contemporary book, which I have read in one sitting, because yes, it was that cute and good. As the title says, this book was Everything, everything a YA contemporary has to be.

The synapses:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

My thoughts:

This book was on my TBR for such a long time, but for some reason I never really picked it up, because there was always something that I was more interested in. What a big mistake I made....This book just brought me back to the time I was having my first crush and also my first love and also weirdly it made me feel like a 16-year old again, which felt weird since I am only 20 years old and I never thought about how I am not really  teenager anymore, so yes, this book gave me so many feelings, some where really good and some just made me feel old, but thats okay. Maddie was a lovely main character, I think she was pretty unique and weird, which just made her more relatable for me, since let's be honest I also did grow up in a sort of a bubble and when Maddie didn't really know the world in the book, it kind of reminded me of myself and how sometimes I don't know how it works either. Ollie was the perfect cute guy next door, the kind that brings you to new adventures. Their romance was so cute it was almost too much, but it somehow managed not to be annoying or be too cute. Carla was probably my favourite character, because she was always there for Maddie, she was her best friend and at some point she was everything her mother wasn't.

And now lets talk about the mother. Was I the only one who was angry at the end? I cannot be the only one. But at the same time I like how mental illness was sneaked into this book, because I never thought it will be a part of it. It was so well done and it was the perfect ending to the story.
This book is about so many things and the more I think about it, the more things I find. It's story of a teenage girl experiencing the first love and basically the world, the story of a family, which was broken apart, a mother, who lost her child and also her husband. And it's also about friendship, because Carla is the best friend ever in my opinion.

One of the things that made this book so good was that it didn't have too many characters, it only had like, 4 or 5 important characters and this way it was really easy to get to know the characters a lot more and also to relate to them. 

I would totally recommend you to read this book anytime of the year if you love a good YA contemporary novel, with a cute love story, but also with a deeper meaning behind it. If you have read it tell me in the comments below what did you think of it.

Until next time, 

Bianka

20 things I learned in 20 years

Hey Everyone, 

by the time you’re reading this I turned 20 years old. Last year on my birthday I did a similar blogpost about 19things I learned in 19 years and not only did I love to write it, it was one of my most viewed post, so I decided to make it again. It's so weird to say that I am 20 years old already. But I thought sharing 20 things I learned throughout my life and maybe some of them you’re going to find useful. So here we go:

#1: Enjoy every moment and every age, because it will go by so fast you won't even realise it.

I have so many moments in my life I wish I had enjoyed more or took the time to enjoy them and now they are gone.

#2: It doesn't matter how much you love people, you cannot change them.

It's pretty self explanatory, but if you don't get along with someone, don't force, it will never changed.

#3: Sometimes friendships aren't forever. 

I wish someone would have told me that, because it happens a lot and I always kept fighting for them until I hated the people I tried to keep in my life. Sometimes friendships need a break and who knows maybe years later you'll find each other again or not, but let's always hope for the best.

#4. It’s okay to have a bad day.

Every once in a while, I have these days, when I don't want to get out of bed and don't want to do anything. And after that I get angrier and angrier at myself for not being able to do anything. Just let it go and let yourself feel it. Everybody has bad days, so why can’t you have one?

#5. I will always be weird. 

Throughout my whole life I felt weird. And recently I realised it will probably never go away, so I accepted it and now I kind of like it.

#6. Cooking is harder than you believe.

This is something I am not proud of, but I am not a good cook. I tried so many times, but it never works. So, I might as well just memorise every restaurant around me, just to be sure I won't starve to death.

#7. Decluttering your life does really good for you.

I cannot believe I am saying this, but last fall I got almost everything not useful out of my room and it made me so happy at the end. Whoever knows me is aware of the fact, that I could be in an episode of Crazy Hoarders, because I had so much stuff in my room. But at the end it made me feel so much better, so it was worth it, although I am not sure I won't need that old Hannah Montana CD I gave away...

#8. Friends can come from the most unexpected places.

It's really self-explanatory so just keep your eyes open.

#9, Yes, reading-slumps really exist, they are not just a legend...

I had the biggest reading slump last year and I am finally getting out of it, so go Bianka.

#10. Change is good.

I don't want to talk about how much change I have gone through in 2016, because I already did a million times, but change is something I never considered as something good or liberating. But sometimes you don't even know you need it and it will make everything better.

#11. If you're like me, university is a place for you.

I am lazy,  if its about school, let's make that clear. I do not like to go home every day and study as you have to in elementary or in high school, but in uni, you don't have to do that. You only have to study for two or three weeks and youre good to go and leaves you with so much more extra time.

#12. Writing a blog is a big commitment. Especially if you start it during the last year of high school.

I never thought creating a new post every week will be hard, but it was. And I couldn't really do it, so this year I am trying again. Hopefully I will succeed.

#13. You won't always end up where you thought you would in your life, but it's not necessarily bad.

I always wanted to be a figure skater and that was something I knew I had to leave one day, but never really thought about it, because it was so unrealistic. But here I am in a totally different life I imagined and I am happier than ever.

#14. You will never learn how to avoid procrastination. Just get used to it.

I for one procrastinate everything out of the fear of failing and it's the worst feeling ever and I am still trying to figure out how to control it, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to avoid it.

#15. It's okay to watch Disney movies when you're older than 18.

It's one of the biggest life-advise I am going to give you today. Watch what you want to watch, nobody should care.

#16. You have to learn to not care about other people's opinion.

I spent so much time, trying to always make the right thing for others, but somewhere along the way I got lost and it's not okay. Do what you want to do, without other people influencing you.

#17. No matter how you try, it’s possible that you’ll never be a DIY person, if you don’t have the skills for it.

I am not good with crafts, since I was a kid and after 20 years of trying, I finally learned my lesson and although it’s something I like to do, it never turns out okay, whatever I am trying to do.

#18. First days are always awkward, no matter how old you get.

I think first days are incredibly hard and awkward. I never know what to do or who to talk to and the whole thing is just weird, so I always end up acting weird.

#19. Sometimes the people closest to you will understand you the least. 

This just sounds sad, but it’s true. And if they don’t understand you or your problems, it can cause a lot of conflicts and tension and most of the times you cannot do anything about it.

#20. Life will always get better.

I saved the biggest cliché for last, because right now I truly believe, that with hard work and willpower life can always get better and you can find happiness in the most unexpected places, you just have to keep your eyes open.

This was my very long list of things I learned throughout 20 years in this world and the list will just grow with each year so I might have to become wiser and wiser every year. 

I hope you enjoyed reading it and I hope you’re all having a wonderful day.

See you next time,

Bianka

My 2016

Hey Everyone,
I hope you all had an amazing New Year's Eve, today I am here with a post about my 2016. I feel like it was a year worth looking back to so here it is.
The one word that instantly comes into my mind when I think about 2016 is change. It changed me into a whole new person and it changed my life. And I can say it was all for the better. 2016 was full of heart-breaks, laugh, happiness, new friends, new energies and lessons. I grew so much during this past "short" 12 months, that its hard for me to even collect everything that has happened. This year I finally got to a point where I am happy with my life and the people who surround me. I am even happy about my most heartbreaking decision ever, which was to quit figure skating.
I just cannot get over the fact how many new people I got to know this year and how many good friends I got. Also I have experienced that sometimes the people who you weren't close with before can be one of your closest friends. But on the other side I lost friends, which just breaks my heart, but sometimes you grew apart and there is nothing you can do about it. I hope one day I will be able to be friends with these people, but right now I just can't.
My writing has grown as well and I realised I can write poems. Lately that's all I am writing. It's a new way for me to express myself and I just love it so much. Btw., if you want to read my poems, tell me in the comments, although they are Hungarian and I will share them in the future.
Apart from all the things above, I have never felt so much love and support from the people around me as I did in 2016. I never felt so loved before and I never really felt like I belonged somewhere else than the ice. And here I am feeling that I belong and not just to one place. Writing my blog, university, doing bookstagram and also having a circle of friends, I know I can turn to, whenever I want to.
I didn't complete my reading goal this year, but I am not disappointed at all, because I read so many great books in 2016. This year I couldn't read as much as I wanted to, but it was definitely one of my best reading years ever.
Thank you all for following me in 2016 and I hope you'll stick with me for the next year as well.
Until next time,
Bianka

BOOKS, DREAMS AND LIFESTYLE TURNED 1 TODAY

Happy first birthday for my blog!

I am so happy to say, that this blog turned one year old today. This is probably one of the most exciting thing that has happened to me over the past year and let me tell you there was competition. But writing this blog makes me so happy and also it makes me so happy to be part of a community and be able to share my thoughts with you. There is a lot coming next year and I am so excited to for you to see it. I hope you're all having a very-merry Christmas with your loved ones and with your families.
And also stay tuned in the next weeks, because I have an exciting surprise coming up for you in order to celebrate the blogs first birthday, amongst other things
Until next time,
Bianka

October Wrap-Up

Hey Everyone, I am here with my October wrap-up and I know it's a little bit late, but I thought I would do this post anyway, because I have read a couple of books during the month of October. There were good ones and there were some, which disappointed me, but that is how it is with books, right?! So without further do, let's jump right into this:

Stay with me by J. Lynn aka Jennifer L. Armentrout:

This is the third book in the Wait for me series and this is a new adult contemporary romance. I loved the first two books in the series, but for some reason this disappointed me a lot. The story wasn't really for me andI also think the main characters were a little bit too basic, but that's just my opinion. Other than these little things, I enjoyed reading this book, it cheered me up and I will definitely pick up the next book in the series. You can find the book on Goodreads here.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: 

I enjoyed reading this book so much. It didn't disappoint me at all, it was exactly what I was expecting it to be. My reason for picking this book was really simple: someone wrote a review on Goodreads, saying it's very similar to the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter (you can find my review for the Gallagher Girls series here or my Embassy Row series review here) and after reading that sentence I immediately ordered it. Okay, maybe I lied a little bit earlier about this book being everything what I expected it to be, because I didn't expect the story to go this way, but other than that it really gave me the feeling of a good Ally Carter book, except it wasn't written by her. You can find it on Goodreads here.

Rose Under Fire by Elisabeth Wein: 

If you have read my blog in the past year you know how much I love a good historical fiction book and I knew Elisabeth Wein wouldn't disappoint me after what she did to me with Code Name Verity (review here). And she didn't. I won't tell you a lot about my opinion on this book, because I want to write a review about this or if it's up by the time you read this I will link it here. Until that here is the link for the book on Goodreads.

Perks of being a Wallflower: 

Years ago when it was very popular and the movie came out I tried to read this book and I couldn't. I just hated it, I didn't understand it. But recently I felt the urge to pick this one up and this book suddenly talked to me. And I think the reason for that is I am just experiencing really growing up, the same as Charlie, the main character in this book does. And yes there will be a review about this one as well, because I just have to write the effects of this book out of myself.

The last month was super-busy and if I am going to be honest I never thought I won't be able to write posts on the blog regularly or take care of my bookstagram and this is something that disappoints me a lot. So one thing I want to change in the next few months is my time management, because now I am definitely not on top of that lately, so this is kind of a problem for me. i hope you are all having an amazing time and thank you so much for reading my belated wrap-up post.
Until next time,
B

5 things that make me happy

Hey Everyone, I hope you're all having an amazing day, I am here with a very personal post today, since I realized how many things changed in my life in the past couple of months, I thought I would share 5 things that make me happy right now. Not all of the things are super big or life changing things, but I thought it's always nice to think about things, that cheer you up or make you happy. And who knows, maybe this post will inspire you to think about the things in your life that make you happy.

1. The people around me.

It sounds strange, but I never felt entirely happy with the people surrounding me. I am one of those people, who needs her environment to be very positive and full with good vibes, because let's say I am very sensitive to the mood and the vibes around me. And now I finally feel like I am surrounded with extremely good people and I cannot help but smile all the time.

2. Being able to experience new things.

This is one of those things I could have done before as well, I just never had the chance to be spontaneous. There was always something scheduled. And now I can go wherever I want to, exactly when I want to. Just this possibility is a new experience for me. And also I am very enjoying to experience my limits, although it's not unicorns and rainbows all the time, but it's very useful. I just realised so many things about myself in the past couple of months and although there is no regret in me for giving those up until now, I cannot imagine not having them in my life right now.

3. Stretching my boundaries.

Most of my life I was more an introvert, especially in my teenage years and honestly as weird as it sounds the world is just opening for me now. I get to go out more and as I said previously I have the possibility to be spontaneous. I start to realise how tight my boundaries were and it feels good to stretch it. And, yes sometimes I just cross a line with that and freak out, but hey, that's another experience too. I am very enjoying to experience my limits, although it's not unicorns and rainbows all the time, it's very useful. I just realised so many things about myself in the past couple of months and although there is no regret in me for giving those up until now, I cannot imagine not having them in my life right now.

4. Write again.

Writing has been such a vital part of my life since I was a kid, it was a way of coping with things in my life for me. And through the previous year it seemed like I have lost my voice. That is part of the reason I started this blog. I thought if I start to write in English for a change, maybe I will be able to write in Hungarian an well. It didn't work out the way I wanted it to (it turns out I like writing poems), but still, I got my voice back. And also I got something entirely different out of blogging as well:I got a bunch of new book-friends and I get to share my opinion about books with a whole community. That's sounds like jackpot for me.

5.Feel good in my body.

Outside of the ice rink I was always shy and quiet and I never wore clothing that caught eyes. Considering the fact that I always had the shortest skirt and the sexiest dress when it came to figure skating dresses, it sounds weird. I think I started to mix the two "personalities"together finally and it is working really well. I am just looking through my closet and seeing all those oversized clothing I wore in the past couple of years I just feel sad. I just feel like I could've shown a lot more of my personality though my clothing instead of hiding in it.

I just cannot tell you how happy I feel, because of these little things in my life and I just cannot tell you how grateful I am for all the above and for you of course, for reading my inner thoughts. I hope I inspired you to think about you're life a little bit and if you feel like it, please share one thing in the comments that make you happy at the moment.

See you later,

Bianka

Your voice is all I hear book review

Hey Everyone, yes, I am finally doing a book review, I feel like I haven't done one in a long time, but today I am going to. I am sorry for my absence from social media in the past couple of weeks, but I could really do a proper schedule, because everything is all over the place right now, so be patient and I will be back on schedule in a couple of weeks.

The book I am going to talk about is Your voice is all I hear by Leah Scheier and this has been on my TBR for the longest time, but I never really picked it up, I don't know why. When I saw, it's going to be published in Hungary, I knew I had to get it. Especially after I saw the cover. It's so beautiful.

The summary:

April won't let Jonah go without a fight. He's her boyfriend-her best friend. She'll do anything to keep him safe. But as Jonah slips into a dark depression, trying to escape the traumatic past that haunts him, April is torn. To protect Jonah, she risks losing everything: family, friends, an opportunity to attend a prestigious music school. How much must she sacrifice? And will her voice be loud enough to drown out the dissenters-and the ones in his head?

My thoughts:

This book is one of those YA books which features mental-illness, but it talks about it with a twist. We see what is happening to Jonah from Aprils point of view. We don't see what is happening in Jonah's head, we see how it affects his surrounding. We see how it makes April feel, how it affects her life and thoughts. And this was where it became interesting. The most appealing thing about how April reacted was how she always tried to explain it and find excuses. I think it's just how it is with mental illness, the people around you just cannot believe anything can be wrong with you. I have read plenty of books with the main character suffering in mental illness, but I have never see the "other side" of the story. It was really eye opening and it really shows that every story has two sides and honestly I think seeing the other side of the coin is bad. In my opinion YA would need a lot more of these kinds of books. April in this book tried to keep things together and honestly her love-story with Jonah was so cute, I don't think I would want to believe there is something wrong if I have a relationship like that. And as title says, Jonah for some reasons listenes to April. He hears her voice among the other voices. I think April managed to be strong during this whole craziness and tried to be there for Jonah, but it just wasn't enough. I don't feel like I can talk about Jonah, because honestly I don't know what was going on in his head and honestly I would really read this book about his point of view. And I don't think this book was necessarily about him or his illness. It was about April and her family and about Jonah's family. And there were problems to talk about on both sides.

All around, I definitely think you should read this book if you want to see the other-side of a common problem. I enjoyed reading it, it wasn't that rough and emotional, which was good. I hope you enjoyed reading my review and leave your thoughts in the comments if you feel like it and I will see you next time.