bad girls don't die series | book review

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Yesterday at 2pm I started reading 'Bad Girls Don't Die', the first book in Katie Alender's young adult horror trilogy. By 4 o'clock this morning, I'd finished all three. I have always been a super quick reader and when I get into a book, if I don't have any other plans (and sometimes even if I do!) I can spend hours reading it and be finished that same day. I don't think I've ever read a trilogy in less than 15 hours before though, but for some reason with this series I just couldn't stop! 

A part of me is still unsure why I found the books so addictive. They were good, yes and I did enjoy reading them but they were definitely, in my opinion, flawed. However, once one finished I just wanted to carry on with the next, I needed to know what happened to the characters and I guess that that is what makes a good book.

The three books, Bad Girls Don't Die, From Bad to Cursed and as Dead as it Gets, are narrated by Alexis Warren, an american teenager who through out the novels gets in all sorts of supernatural trouble. In the first book, her sister Kasey is possessed. In the second book she is mixed up in the strange Sunshine Club and in the third girls from Alexis' school start going missing and she is convinced a ghost is behind it. 

You might be thinking, as was I, how can one family get involved so heavily with all this supernatural business?! What absolute bad luck! That was kind of a problem for me, the way the characters jumped back in to all this creepy stuff seemingly readily after their first terrifying brush with the dead. In my opinion, the second book is the worst in the series, I just couldn't understand WHY the characters were doing what they were doing after what happened in the first book and their behaviour and attitude frustrated me at times. The third book was my favourite by far. The reasoning for Alexis' involvement in the supernatural a third time was much better explained and believable. I loved the friendship between Alexis and the ghost and at parts the book was funny. This was also the most creepy of the three, although none of them scared me. (I am a horror lover though and it does take ALOT to scare me after years of becoming desensitised, I know other people who did find the series scary.) Sometimes I found that the books were a bit too fast, that everything was happening on top of something else and I also found that, even though Alexis' sister Kasey was a main character throughout the trilogy, I didn't really ever warm to her because I didn't really ever know who she was. All the other characters I could picture in my head, but I don't think Kasey was developed enough for me to get a clear picture of even her psychical appearance, let alone her personality.

Reading this review, you might be wondering why I spent a whole day doing nothing but reading these books. Despite all of my criticisms, I did enjoy reading them and I just couldn't stop. After I finished the third book, I even found myself missing Alexis and wanting to know what happened after, if she managed to finally stay out of supernatural trouble. Because what Katie Alender managed to do really well, in my opinion, is build a relationship between myself and Alexis. I liked the characters she liked, I hated the character she hated, I fell for the boys she fell for and I was screaming at her to not get herself into danger. I really cared for Alexis and I really wanted to keep on reading, and that is what made this series for me a pretty good series! I would definitely recommend these three books to anyone interest in young adult horror/paranormal stories.

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This was my first ever book review, what did you think? Please let me know if you found it useful, if you've read the series and agree/disagree or if it's made you want to try out the Bad Girls Don't Die trilogy!

TRAVEL | ILFRACOMBE, DEVON

I love to travel. I love to see new places, experience new and interesting cultures, treat my eyes to the beauty that is planet earth. But to me travel isn't just about hopping on a plane and jetting off to exotic, foreign lands. It's about exploring your own back garden, jumping on a train/coach/in the family car, and heading off to learn more about the country you call home. On the 26th July that's just what I did. Accompanied by my mom, dad and best friend, I spent the week soaking up the English sun in the stunning north of Devon.

The first place we ventured to was the seaside town of Ilfracombe, an absolutely beautiful little town with a sweet little harbour, surrounded by cliffs and sea. This little place is steeped in history having been around since the Iron Age, being the town the late great Peter Sellers made his very first stage appearance, a brief home for the evacuated Joan and Jackie Collins and now for the artist Damien Hirst. It's history, it's cute little buildings, beautiful views of the harbour, beach and cliffs all make this town a very worthwhile place to pay a visit to if you are ever in this part of the country.

If you do find yourself in Ilfracombe and are looking for somewhere to grab a spot of lunch, I'd definitely suggest heading down to the harbour and popping in the The Smugglers, a beautifully decorated, cosy cafe where you can grab a very tasty light bite.

my mom and dad inside The Smugglers

Go with the flow

As of Wednesday the 28th May I had finished my degree. As of Sunday 22nd June I no longer lived with my best friends in Swansea. As of Monday 14th July 2014 I had officially graduated Swansea University with a BA 2:1 degree in joint honours Ancient History and Egyptology. As of now, for the first time in my life I have no idea what will happen. I've got plans of course, I plan to get a job, save some money, do some  A LOT of travelling and eventually do a PGCE and become a teacher. That's what I hope to do, but I have nothing concrete, nothing sorted. For a control freak, planner, change-aphobe like me (I'm a Virgo, I am SO a Virgo) that is the scariest thing ever...

Ever since I was a little girl, I had a plan and I knew what was going to happen. I was going to spend 7 years in Primary school, then another 7 years in secondary school/sixth form, and then I was going to go to university. That was set in stone for me. I never thought about any of that not happening, I never contemplated the fact that I might not get into university. I worked hard and it was something that I knew was going to happen for me, perhaps my mind changed about which university/degree, but university was always my next step after sixth form. And sixth form was always my next step after secondary school. And now everything is up in the air and I'm anxious and scared and just a tiny bit excited. 

I know what I want. I want to get a job and travel, but for how long? Where will I go? Who will I go with? I want to eventually become a primary school teacher, but where will I do my PGCE? What age will I be when I come to do it? Where will my first teaching job be? Am I even capable of becoming a teacher? And then there's all the will I get married, will I have children questions that I don't even want to think about. I'm a worrier and a planner and this is a really, really scary time for me right now but I'm really trying to relax, to breathe and to do something I'm not sure I've ever done before... to just go with the flow. To welcome the unexpected, to embrace the change and to walk down roads that I don't know exactly where they are going to lead. I've got a plan, a very vague plan and I know where I want to end up and somethings I want/need to do on the way, but this is the perfect opportunity to sit back, relax, and let my life go where it's going to go. I'm scared and I'm excited and I'm going to take you along on this journey with me.

I've decided to fully immerse myself in blogging. I've got time, plenty of time. And I've got loads of ideas and I want somewhere to express how I'm feeling and record my adventures and document my life. It will be nice to have a constant in my life amongst all the changes that are inevitably going to occur. So that's why the blog has undergone a makeover, thanks to the lovely Amy from The Little Koala . 

I'm scared and excited, but I think it's going to be okay. I think it might even be fun!

Blog post title | Queens of the stone age - Go with the flow