Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid 4 stars

A story about race, friendship and privilege focusing on two women: career-focused Alix, and her child's babysitter, Emira. After being wrongly accused of kidnapping three-year old Briar in a supermarket, an unexpected connection between the two women threatens to undo everything.

Marian Keyes - Grown Ups 4.5 stars

On the outside, the Caseys appear to be the perfect big family, spending every birthday and holiday together, from murder mystery parties, to Tuscan villa trips, at the insistence of Jessie and her generous bank account. But behind the scenes, tensions are rising - some people can't stop clashing, and some like each other too much. What happens when the secrets start rolling out?

Grown Ups is the sort of book that you're still thinking about a week after, it had such a strong impact. It's a long one, and yet I couldn't stop reading. I think I read about half of it in one day and it drove me a little bit crazy!

There's a lot of characters in this book - the beginning of the book even includes a family tree, which I found myself referencing a lot, at least to begin with! That means there's a lot of characters to get to know and get your head around. Surprisingly, the majority of them I either didn't like, or could really take or leave. Yet Marian Keyes' writing is addictive, I had to find out what drama was going to happen next.

Me Before You - Jojo Moyes 5 stars

Usually I like to read the book before I watch the book, but the opposite happened here. A few months ago, I watched the film Me Before You, starring Emelia Clarke and Sam Claflin, and absolutely LOVED it. Like, 5 star movie, absolutely cried my eyes out, kind of loved it. So, combined with the fact I've already read a couple of other Jojo Moyes books that I loved, I had high hopes for the novel. Fortunately, I loved it just as much as the film! The storyline is very similar, with additional moments between the characters that make the story even more impactful. I followed it with its sequel After You which didn't quite live up to it - I can't say too much without spoiling the first, but it felt a little dull and nowhere near as touching as the first.

Olive - Emma Gannon 5 stars

If you liked Anna Hope's Expectation, you are going to love Olive. The writing feels similar, as does its focus - an exploration of female friendship and womanhood, set in London. Olive and her three friends, Bea, Cecily and Isla, are all instantly likeable and relatable in different ways. The four of them are all very different personalities, with different priorities in their lives. Each of the women's triumphs and struggles were presented as equally valid, even though such contrasting issues were explored. Gannon explores how friendships are tested by situations such as not being able to have children, struggling as a new mum, and deciding not to have children at all.

The novel is a celebration of female friendship and being unique and true to yourself, being defined by what you want to do, rather than what you're expected to do. I absolutely loved Olive and cannot recommend it enough. 

The four novels I mentioned were the best I read the past two months, and I would recommend them to everyone. They all kept me hooked, interested and invested in the characters. However, I read two other novels that didn't impress me quite as much. An Unsuitable Match by Joanna Trollope was well-written, but unfortunately the characters were dull, selfish and constantly moaning! Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid had me feeling completely torn. The interview style format is an unusual choice and has caused controversy between many readers - did it work, or not? For me, it was a good idea in theory, but because it's all about a fictional band, we lacked context of knowing their songs or having any connection to them. With an unfulfilling ending to top it off, it didn't really work for me. 

Make sure to follow me on Goodreads for all the book updates! Have you read and enjoyed any good novels lately? I would love more recommendations as we go into the autumnal months!

EG x

My second year of university is here, and I am back in London! As Taylor Swift said, 'August slipped away' and September is now suddenly upon us. The new academic year is always one of my favourite parts of the year, because it symbolises all things new - from new stationery, new timetables, to new beginnings. 

The same can also be said for my blog here - maybe not new, but a restart of sorts. You may have noticed (if you were being very observant) that I haven't posted here lately, which I think would say is for a number of reasons.

Firstly, one thing I have learnt this summer is the amount of time that goes into finding a flat! Looking for a place to live in London this year took up a huge chunk of my time last month, and as I spent a ton of time on my laptop endlessly scrolling through Rightmove or Zoopla, I didn't want to spend any more time on it doing anything else. Once I found my place, it turns out planning to move in took up a lot of time too. My blog just wasn't at the forefront of my mind like it used to be, but the good thing is, I knew it was only temporary; once my flat was sorted, I'd be back!

But lately I realised that I think I was also in a bit of a creative rut; I didn't really know what I wanted to write about. Everything has changed so much over the past six months or so, and I was bound to feel a bit uninspired at one time or another. Beauty feels a little different now we're covering half our face so much, but I've picked up a couple of eyeshadow products lately that I can't wait to share with you. I  started to read a lot more books through the lockdown time, and while I'll have to make a bit more time for that now, I'm really enjoying it, so expect more book related posts too.

And of course, you can now expect a return to my London content too! Now that I'm settled down in London, I'm feeling less overwhelmed and ready to start writing again. London may feel a little different to last year - the West End is still quiet for now, and big events like Winter Wonderland won't be happening, but the shops of Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon feel as busy as ever. It's weirdly reassuring that things can find a new normal.

This year I'm living in a studio flat that's located more centrally than my uni hall was last year, so expect content around Covent Garden, a stone's throw away from where I'll be. I can't wait to get started with my uni work too. In case you didn't know, I'm a history student at UCL, and while last year my module choices weren't exactly ideal, this year I'm going to be studying some really exciting topics! My modules are all modern, focusing on Europe and America, from culture in the Cold War, to conspiracy theories - yes, I am doing a module all about conspiracy theories, which is so bizarre and fun!

There's a little update for you all - hope you're all doing well! I'd love to hear what you've been up to lately. If you're starting uni this year, or going back, I'd love to hear what you're excited about, or maybe what you're nervous about too! A socially distanced uni life will definitely take some getting used to.

Anyway, I'm off now to watch some Gilmore Girls on Netflix - I think that was truly what's been taking up my usual blogging time last month, it's just too good!

EG x