You know when you're so completely consumed by something you are watching or reading that you can’t bear to look away from it, you find yourself unintentionally awake through the night because you’re not ready to put the story down, and the moment you finish it, you need to tell everyone you know about it? That exactly how I felt about Five Feet Apart - both the book by Rachael Lippincott, and the Netflix film.

During this lockdown, my boyfriend and I have been having weekly Netflix parties so feel like we get a date night in whilst being apart. One of our most recent watches was Five Feet Apart and it was a favourite for both of us.

Whilst watching, I remembered I’d been recommended the book on Goodreads earlier that day, so ordered it immediately, and then excitedly kept an eye on the post until it arrived.

Both the book and film did not disappoint. Every part of the characters and their story felt so real in both instances.

The Narrative:

Five Feet Apart is the story revolving around two teens with Cystic Fibrosis. Despite being vastly different, the main character Stella and Will, seem to be magnetically drawn together - only due to their illness, there are not able to get within 6 feet of each, as due to cross-contamination of the illness can be lethal - especially as Will also have a bacterial infection in his lung, B. Cepacia, which he is undergoing drug trial for. So whilst Stella in on the waiting list for new lungs, being in close company with Will could also take her off the list, and potentially be life-threatening.

Yet still, they fall completely in love, learning from one another - Will to take his medicine regime more seriously, and Stella to take life less seriously.

After everything the disease has taken from them - from the ease of breathing to trips away, they decide to take one thing back. They take back one foot. Six feet apart becomes five, and that the distance that stays between them.

There is far more to the story, twists, turns and unexpected events, but I won't give too much away.

The Characters:

It really surprised me how much depth there was to most of the character, given the book is only 276 pages. The majority of the characters seem to have light and shade to them, good qualities and bad. They feel like real people, struggling to deal with very real problems. Of course, Will and Stella aren't the only characters, their families, friends, doctors and nurses all play a part in their story, and have their own struggles going on. Their over-protective but loveable nurse Barb was a favourite of mine.

Book V Film:

The book and film we're extremely similar, I've never known a film follow the book narrative so closely before. A lot of the dialogue was the same, and there was hardly any difference in the story. Still, however, I'd recommend both as they were both so well done.

I found the book a lot clearer when it came to explaining each characters illness and why the six feet apart was required. The few bits which weren't completely clear to me in the film we're explained within the first few pages of the book. The book I found was great at getting a lot of information across, tell the story and emoting feelings in very few pages.

The film, however, includes some incredible acting. Cole Sprouse plays Will and Hayley Lu Richardson plays Stella, and both play their part so incredibly well, I never for a second doubt their characters.

Both the book and film bought me to tears, which for me is unusual (I don't think I've cried in a book since the first time I read Dumbledores death).

It's a very fast-paced story, which I liked, but my one complaint would be that I wanted to see more of them falling in love - it seemed to happen so quickly. However, I think that was kind of the point, they don't have the choice to take things slow with a shortened life span, to quote Stella "It's just life, Will. It will be over before we know it".

The book ended up with a six months later extract, which I didn't think was necessary, I preferred the somewhat uncertain ending of the book.

Themes:

This story covers so many important themes including illness, health, grief, romance, family dynamics, friendships.

In case I have made it clear yet, this story really touched me. I would really recommend both the book and the film!
What have you been watching and reading lately? I'd love some recommendations!

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Self Development

Playing Big by Tara Mohr: This self-help style-book is a guide on how to play big, and overcome limiting factors in your life. Although I found it made some good point, which stuck with me, I thought it was a tad underwhelming as I'd heard so many good things about it. In places, it felt repetitive and even boring.
★★☆☆☆

What A Time To Be Alone by Chidera Eggerue: This book talks about the importance of independence as young women, and how to feel happy alone. I found it to be wise, yet slightly repetitive of what The Slumflower posts on social media. It's beautifully illustrated throughout so makes for a great coffee table book. I talk about this more here.
★★★☆☆

The Life Diet by Laura Jane Williams: I listened to the audiobook of this (Laura claims it was written to be listened to, although you can read it) It was a fairly quick listen. Laura offers great advice on how to lead a fulfilling life.
★★★☆☆

Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne W Dyer: I didn't enjoy this guide on manifestation as much as I expected to. Although the author came across wise and knowledgable on the subject, I found it to be filled with too many religious references, which I found unrelatable.
★★☆☆☆

Memoirs

The Rules Do Not Apply to Ariel Levy: This memoir by the New Yorker writer is tender, insightful and heartbreaking. I talk about it more here.
★★★★☆

This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay: Adam Kay shares both hilarious and heartbreaking journal entries from his time as a junior doctor. I talk more about it here.
★★★★★

Becoming by Michell Obama: I listened to the audiobook of this and completely fell in love with it. Michell Obama talks about growing in working-class Chicago and tells stories about life in the Whitehouse. It is fascinating while the narration remains relatable. I talk more about this here.
★★★★☆

The Wrong Knickers by Bryony Gordon: Bryony tells the story of the chaos of her 20s. This is hilarious and relatable. I talk more about this here.
★★★☆☆

How to Fail by Elizabeth Day: I've spoken about this book time and time again because it is brilliant. The memoir is about everything Elizabeth Day has learned from failure. It's both wise and reassuring.
★★★★★

Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay: A sort of festive version of This is Going to Hurt with diary entries written around the Christmas period. This quick read is equally as brilliant.
★★★★☆

Adult Fiction

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste NG: This tells the story of two contrasting families at Shaker Heights, and what caused one of the Richardson children to set their house alight. Both the characters and narrative carry a lot of depth and I was gripped from the start. I talk more about this here.
★★★★☆

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan: This comedy tells the story an Asian heir to a massive fortune who brings his American-born Chinese girlfriend to meet his family. Although this story is both funny and ridiculous, I'd heard so many good things about it before I read it, that I found it to be completely underwhelming and disappointing. I talk about it more here.
★★☆☆☆

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste NG: This thriller begins with the death of Lydia who has mysteriously drowned and then goes on to tell the story of her family, and what had happened. It's gripping and interesting. I talk about it more here.
★★★☆☆

Still Me by Jojo Moyes: The third instalment of Me Before You, follows Lou as she begins a new job in New York. It has equally as much charm as the previous books in the Me Before You series and I really enjoyed it. I talk about it more here.
★★★☆☆

How To Be Good by Nick Hornby: Written in the perspective of a GP, who is married to a writer. It's the story of her husband inviting a spiritual advisor called GoodLife to live with them, and their attempts at becoming good. Although I found this thought-provoking at points, there were also points I found it boring.
★★☆☆☆

One Day by David Nichols: This is the enchanting story of Emma and Dexter follows the pair through there relationship over twenty years, capturing there lives on the same day each year. This story feels very real, it's beautiful and heartbreaking. I talk more about this here.
★★★★☆

Essays in Love by Alan de Botton: This fictional story of a couple who meet on an aeroplane is written in the form of beautiful, thought-provoking philosophical essays which offer insights into the author's thoughts on love and relationships. It's brilliant and unlike anything that I've ever read before. I talk about this more here.
★★★★☆

Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams: This rom-com tells the story of a couple who have been flirting via newspaper ads, keep missing their opportunity to meet in real life. The characters feel very real, it's relatable, but also very cliché and predictable. I talk more about this here.
★★★☆☆

Heartburn by Norah Ephron: I know so many people who love this book, but I just didn't get it. It tells the story of a wife who learns her husband is having an affair and has recipes weaved into the narrative throughout. Although it is undeniably well written, I found it boring.
★★☆☆☆

Young Adult Fiction

It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne: After a breakup and watching her parent's marriage end, Audrey is fed up with unrealistic stories films tell us when she takes a job at the cinema and meets wannabe filmmaker Harry. In some places it's a typical YA fiction romance, in others, the characters act in unexpected ways. 
★★★☆☆

Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan: This book follows an evening of teens Nick & Norah as they meet at a gig and unexpectedly spend the entire evening in New York together. You can read my full review of it here.
★★★★☆

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord: This book is about Reagan, a once rebellious teen, who spends the Summer on the tour bus with her best friend who just so happens to be a famous popstar. They are joined on tour by another artist, Matt Finch. It's a story about friendship, with a touch of romance weaved in. I talk more about this here.
★★★☆☆

After by Anna Todd (series): After is the story of the relationship between bad boy Hardin, and sheltered girl Tessa. Their relationship is clearly quite toxic. This book definitely has its faults, but I couldn't put it down. I found myself reading the full series in a really short amount of time because I was fascinated by the characters. These books are both stories of betrayal and love. I talk more about this here.
★★★★☆

Someday by David Levithan: This is the third book in the series 'Everyday' (I review the first book here). The character A does not have a body of his own, instead, his spirit moves to a new body each day. In this book, he and Riannon try to figure out to make their relationship work and we get to know another character who, like A does not have a body of his own. I talk more about this here.
★★★★☆

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle: This book consists of three different teen romance stories which take place on Christmas Eve during the storm. I liked the first one most out of the three. It makes a lighthearted, feel-good festive read, but doesn't really have much depth to it.
★★☆☆☆

Poetry

Validate Me by Charly Cox: Charly's second book Validate Me consists of poems written on her phone about modern life, dating and mental health. I talk about it more here.
★★★★☆

Youtube Video: Stand Out Books of 2019:

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 Half-way through 2019, I came up with the idea of #ChloeHarrietsBookClub, I completely loved the idea at first, however, towards the end of the year, for several reasons, it sort of just faded out. I'll be honest, it was a bit all over the place, it even confused me - I couldn't ever decide whether the books were worthy of a full blog review or whether I should keep the conversation going over on my Instagram, or if anyone cared and was bothering to read along... due to the same confusion as me, alongside my lack of promotion and SEO on the blog posts, the answer was probably not. With my approach, it was unlikely I was going to create the little community of book lovers that I'd imagined.  I still, however, love the idea... I'm giving it another go, but this time with fewer books and more reliability. I'll write a full review of each book towards the start of the following month - of course it's also likely I'll open up the conversation on my Instagram stories whilst reading, heck I might even go wild and open up the conversation on my Facebook page (honestly, I haven’t used it for years but I figured it’s time to dust it off and re-enter the world of Facebook). This year #chloeharrietsbookclub will be a lot easier to keep up with, and worth getting involved with.

The Reading List:

September:  Clean by Juno Dawson
Keep your eyes peeled at the end of each month for my reviews, and be sure to follow #chloeharrietsbookclub on Instagram to keep up over there!

Let me know which titles you're most excited for. Happy reading!

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When putting together #chloeharrietsbookclub, I found it most challenging choosing the perfect books for those months I was on holiday. (I returned home this week and can truly say, I made some great choices - reviews coming soon on my Instagram). What to read while I'm away, can really enhance how I feel about the holiday, that books and those characters will forever remind me of that trip, so it's important to get it right. I want to read something will add more chill to the holiday, not something which is going to leave me stressed, or crying on the beach. I remember choosing The Fault In Our Stars for my holiday reading a while ago before it was so well known, we lead to some pretty depressing beach reading. You want something lighthearted and empowering to reading during the Summer - so I've raided my bookshelves to find all the books which I think would be a great fit and put together a list of my recommended holiday reads, along with where you can read my more in-depth thoughts on the books.

So here are the books I'd recommend for planes and by the pool:

Young Adult Fiction:

• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan - You can read my review here.
• To All The Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Hann - You can read my review here.
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - Not so lighthearted, but the style of writing makes it a pretty easy read, and it's sort of lovely.
• Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall - You can read my review here.
• If Was Your Girl by Meridith Russo -  I posted my initial thoughts here
• Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon - You can read my review here.
• Every Day by David Levithan - You can read my review here.
• When We Collided by Emery Lord - You can read my review here.
• The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
• A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard  -You can read my review here.
• Paper Towns by John Green - You can read my review here.
• Open Summer Road by Emery Lord - this is the one I read on holiday this year, and it made the perfect holiday read. I'll be talking about it more on my Instagram soon.

Memoirs:

• The Wrong Knickers by Bryony Gordon - You can read my review here.
• Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton - I posted some of my initial thoughts here.
• Ice Cream for Breakfast by Laura Jane Williams - I posted some thoughts here.
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert - You can read my review here.
• CTRL ALT Delete by Emma Gannon - You can read my review here.

Adult Fictions:

• Essays in Love by Alain De Botton - the other book I read on holiday this year, review coming to my Instagram soon.
• Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aicman - okay, this one might make you cry, but it's so wonderful I had to include it - You can read my review here.
• My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella.

Self Help

• Playing Big by Tara Mohr - I talk about this a little here.
• You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero - I talk about it in this blogpost

I hope this is helpful! What books are your favourite summer books?
If you enjoy book content, you may also enjoy this playlist on my Youtube channel!

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If you read this post you'll know I recently started #chloeharrietsbookclub, now although this will usually mainly exists on my Instagram, I thought for my first two reads, I'd review them on here, as they were also bloody good ones.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Why I choose this book:

A few months back I watched the film version of this story, unaware that it was based on a book and enjoyed it for an easy watch. During some charity shop browsing, I noticed it on the shelf and realised one of the authors is David Levithan who also wrote one of my favourite young adult books Everyday (review here) - that was the confirmation that I needed to read it.

Initial Thoughts:

I loved this book so much more than I expected to. I'm not much of a music person (I'm pretty much the only person in the world who isn't, I know) so with music being a central theme of the book, I wasn't sure if it would be for me - however, I was wrong. Although music is heavily discussed through the books, it's a relatable way, and music is used to emphasise the connection between the characters, the heartbreak they've both faced and the struggles with moving forward.

The Narrative:

It's a young adult read, which follows the story of how Nick and Norah meet and have a pretty significant night together. It begins with Nick seeing his ex-girlfriend in the crowd as his band plays, which leads to him asking a stranger to be his girlfriend for five minutes. His friends then set them up on a date with the girl, Norah. Nick and Norah spend an eventful night together, while they both deal with the repercussions of their previous relationships, their struggles with self-worth, and confusion about how they feel about each other v how they think they should feel about each other. Whilst seeing bands and exploring New York at night time.

Characters:

The book flicks between the first-person perspective of both Nick and Norah. I personally preferred the Nick chapters, as I found them easier to follow, and his character more relatable. Norah's tone of voice felt a little more chaotic, which really worked for her character, but sometimes was a tad more difficult to keep up with, although very clearly reflected some of the inner confliction Norah's character was facing.

Themes: 

Coming of age, unrequited love, music, sex

Favourite Quotes:

"When somebody breaks up with you, their beauty - which you took such satisfaction in - suddenly becomes unfair"

"I slipped into a surreal but true universe where we were over but I wasn't yet over it"

"Our world - don’t you just feel we’re becoming more fragmented? I used to think that when I got older, the world would make so much more sense. But you know what? The older I get, the more confusing it is to me. The more complicated it is. Harder. You’d think we’d be getting better at it. But there’s just more and more chaos. The pieces - they’re everywhere. And nobody knows what to do about it. I find myself grasping, Nick. You know that feeling? That feeling when you just want the right thing to fall into the right place, not only because it’s right, but because it would mean that such a thing is still possible? I want to believe that.” 

“There’s no such thing as ready,” she says. “There’s only willing.” 

"The world is broken. Maybe it isn’t that we’re supposed to find the pieces and put them back together. Maybe we’re the pieces. Maybe, what we’re supposed to do is come together. That’s how we stop the breaking."

"When is the night over? Is it the start of sunrise or the end of it? Is it when you finally go to sleep or simply when you realize that you have to?"

Rating: 

 8 out of 10

Overall:

 Although this book wasn't exactly your traditional epic love story, I completely fell in love with it. I enjoyed both authors writing styles and found it to be both easy to read and completely enchanting.

 My friend recently asked me what books I've been reading, I had a complete mind blank, and couldn't tell her. However I have been jotting it down in my bullet journal each time finished a book, so I can tell you.  I thought all the bookworms out there might appreciate an overview of my 2018 reading.

So here is everything I've read (so far) during 2018:

Adult Fiction:

Reason to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
This inspiring book teaches you about mental health, whilst telling the writers story.
I talk about it more here
Star rating: ★★★★★

Self Help, Career and Spiritual Teachings:

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After have to squeeze all my new books on top of the rest, because I am a slight book hoarder, I decided it was probably the time to rearrange my bookshelf, and clear a bit of space so everything could fit nicely - so I cleared a shelf, rather than having 2 shelves for books, I now have three. I spent a bit of time putting them in colour order, because uh, it looks great.

A book I was very excited to read was Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven, as I previously read her novel All the Bright Places, I realised she was a great writer, and that I felt very connected to her words.

I was pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed reading Holding Up the Universe even more than All the Bright Places (shock, I know). I found the characters in Holding Up the Universe felt a lot more real and although it touched on mental health which I think is a good thing in a book, there was a lot more to the story, I found All the Bright Places just made me feel a little down as the story was so deeply surrounding mental health issues.

Holding Up the Universe is written in two different perspectives and the narrator switches with each paragraph change. I love hearing  multiple views in a book, I think it gives the reader a clear picture of the story being told, it also shows the writer is invested in all of the characters, and it's just more interesting  - having said this, if this is done badly, it can become too confusing and ruin a good book. I'm pleased to say, this wasn't done badly at all in this book, in fact, it was done really well. It was always very clear whose eyes you were looking through and both characters were so interesting, I think it was important for the story to be written in the minds of each of them.

The story takes place in a high school (as many young adult novels do!) It is based on two characters, Jack and Libby. Both Jack and Libby are not your average teenagers. Libby was once the fattest teen in America, to the extent part of her house had to be knocked down to get her out. Libby has now lost some weight and is ready to lead a normal teenage life - which of course means going back to high school.
Jack has his own problems - he has a medical condition which means he is unable to recognise faces - friends, family, teacher, strangers, anyone, Jack cannot recognise them. Jack is keeping this to himself, keeping his head down by trying to fit in with his "popular crowd" - which leads to some bully, that Libby being an easy target receives the brutal end of.

And then everything changes are Libby and Jack, ironically grow closer due to these strange nasty circumstances.

The book talks a lot about bullying, high school cliques, and fitting it. It also deals with subjects such a death, separation, unhealthy relationships, cancer, virginity, the internet, and being a teen - there are a lot of important themes running through this book, and they all fit quite naturally into the story.

I really liked both Jacks and Libby's characters. Each of their characters made me think, they made me consider how I treat people, and really reminded me that everyone is going through their own things, which you may not know about. I think the character they worked really well together and seemed very real.  I wish some of the smaller characters played a bigger part. There were a lot of characters I would have liked to have learnt more about - however, they weren't necessarily all that important in the narrative.  I loved this story, however, the ending was a tad cheesy, but who doesn't love a bit of cheese?

I'd strongly recommend this book. I couldn't put it down!