Book Review: #WorldBookDay Juno Dawson & Rainbow Rowell

In celebration of World Book Day 2016, a selection of 8 short reads were released at just £1, with Spot the Difference & Kindred Spirits included. Both are designed to engage, enlighten and to get people to read more! Having read books by both authors before, naturally I was going to give these #WorldBookDay treats a go.

Below, you will find a review for each book – I hope you enjoy!

Spot the Difference by Juno Dawson

Format: Paperback
Published: 3rd March 2016
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Pages: 128 Pages

The Blurb
Avery has always suffered at the hands of the bullies, so when she’s given a seemingly-miraculous opportunity to join the ‘A-list’ she grabs at it with both hands. But appearances can be deceiving, and soon Avery’s not so sure she likes this new version of herself. And it’s only by overcoming her fears that she can learn the true meaning of being comfortable in your own skin.

Purchase: Amazon UK

The Review
Avery has severe acne, everybody notices it and sadly, everyone in her high school mocks her for it.

Spot the Difference has an air of the ugly duckling. At the beginning, no one wants to bother with Avery, but when she joins the ‘popular’ crowd, everybody wants to be her best friend. During the story, I wanted to scream at Avery to say that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and that people can be very superficial. But, we’ve all been there. We know high school can be hard, so being able to be a part of the cool group can make things easier. Avery suffered for so long and I believe she just wanted an easy life, it must be incredibly tiring to have to put up with all the abuse.

Juno does this amazing thing whereby she delivers a young adult story with all the emotion and feelings of teenage life. If Juno’s books were available when I was a teenager, I’d have felt more comfortable with life and probably not been as sad, as I knew other people were going through the same things!

---

Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

Format: Paperback
Published: 25th February 2016
Publisher: Macmillian Children’s Books
Pages: 96 Pages

The Blurb
‘Everybody likes everything these days. The whole world is a nerd.’
‘Are you mad because other people like Star Wars? Are you mad because people like me like Star Wars?’
‘Maybe.’

If you broke Elena’s heart, Star Wars would spill out. So when she decides to queue outside her local cinema to see the new movie, she’s expecting a celebration with crowds of people who love Han, Luke and Leia just as much as she does. What she’s not expecting is to be last in a line of only three people; to have to pee into a collectible Star Wars soda cup behind a dumpster or to meet that unlikely someone who just might truly understand the way she feels.

Purchase: Amazon UK

The Review
I hate to it admit, but I’m not a Star Wars fan! Tom, my boyfriend, absolutely loves it so I knew for his sake I should give Kindred Spirits a go.

Elena is a massive Star Wars fan and to celebrate the upcoming release of a new film, Elena decides she’s going to wait in line with the rest of the diehard fans. She spends 4 days sleeping rough, peeing into a plastic cup and occasionally visits a Starbucks for caffeine and to paint Yodas onto her face!

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting – could a story about a girl waiting in a queue by that exciting? The story was original and made me think of all the fans out there that belong to a fandom!

As I’m not a fan of Star wars some of the film references were wasted on me, which probably meant I didn’t enjoy the story as much as other fans.

---

Connect with A Book and Tea!
Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram