Book Review: 40 Things I Want to Tell You by Alice Kuipers

Title: 40 Things I Want To Tell You

Author: Alice Kuipers

Series/Novel: Novel

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 283

Publisher: HarperTrophyCanada

Year Published: 2012

First Line: “‘There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.’ I leaned back in my desk chair, resting the phone between my cheek and my ear, and doodled on the pad of paper by my computer.”

“Top Tip:

Some secrets are too hard to keep

Amy (a.k.a. Bird) seems to have the perfect life: loving parents, a hot boyfriend, the best friend ever. She even writes an online advice column, full of Top Tips, to help other teens take control of their lives. But after a new guy shows up at school, Bird can’t seem to follow her own wisdom.

Pete is the consummate bad boy. He’s everything Bird is not: wild, unambitious and more than a little dangerous. Although she knows Pete’s trouble, Bird can’t stay away. And the more drawn she is to him, the more cracks are revealed in her relationship with Griffin, he doting boyfriend. All it takes is one mistake, one momentary loss of control, for her entire future to be blown away.”

My Rating: 2/5

Hi ladies and gents, long time no write. It’s been to long for my liking and I am finally able to find some time to do a review again. The book I’m reviewing today, 40 Things I Want To Tell You , follows the story of Amy or, as she’s referred to throughout most of the book, Birdy throughout her 6^th form. It has some interesting aspects as Birdy also happens to be an online advice, but all in all I found this book to be extremely predictable. This book did not catch me off guard at all and in fact, it took me so long to finish as I was bored with it. The characters were not very well developed and the main character didn’t seem to be very competent. It was frustrating to see something so obvious as a reader and have to wait till the end of the book till Birdy finally realized what was going on.

One good thing I would like to mention about the book is that, it takes place in an interesting setting. I’ve never been to England and it was interesting to read with some other words and picture where Birdy lived, went to school, etc. That was an interesting aspect to this novel.

THANK YOU ALICE KUIPERS FOR LETTING ME EXPLORE A LITTLE BIT OF LONDON!

Thanks for reading,

Love,

Sidny xoxo

Spoiler: 40 Things I Want To Tell You by Alice Kuipers

This novel was not at all what I expected. The first time I started to read this novel, I had a copy that was missing about 20 pages at the start. So the first time when read part of it I was confused and lost. I chalked all that up to the missing pages, but when I got a new book (Thanks Indigo!!!) I was sure it would be a good read. I did not enjoy it. I’m not trying to be a pessimist, but there isn’t barely anything I liked about this book. I thought that the characters were under developed and that the main character for lack of a better word was stupid. The other thing that I didn’t enjoy was the way time moved. It seemed either to be going by too slow or too quickly and I had trouble figuring which time of the year it was. The one positive thing I have to say about this book is that the setting was one which I hadn’t read about much before. I like to read about other places and explore them.

♥Character♥

♥Birdy/ Amy: I think that she was a poor choice for the main character and she was not real enough for me to enjoy reading about. The choices she made throughout the entire book were poor and had me upset. I understand being 16 years old is not easy, but you can not simply be this stupid and still have test scores to get into Oxford, that’s unrealistic. She is the definition of book smart. I think if this character existed in real life, there is a high chance I would punch her in the face. I hope she will be a better mother.

♥Cleo: I would have loved learning more about Cleo. What kind of best friend is she? How did she cope with Amy’s incidents? I was not surprised when Cleo and Griffin ended up together, it seemed like they should have been all along, Amy was just far to blind to see (it even says this in the book, with different phrasing of course).

♥Griffin: He deserved honesty from the very start. Birdy had no excuse to treat him the way she did. In the end though, he deserved Cleo. They seemed like they would go well together. I felt horrible about his mother, but I do wonder what happened to her.

♥Pete: The fact that he was still in Amy’s life surprised me. Not because I think he is a bad guy, but because of the way she treated him. She slept with him and then treated him like shit. Yes, there should have been protection that’s a no brainer. But he still stood by her through most of what was going on. Good for him!

♥Amy’s Dad: I think that Amy’s father was going through a really tough time, but he was in denial until her pregnancy brought him back to earth. Hopefully he can forgive her.

♥Amy’s Mother: Good for you, for following your dreams lady, but could you not have discussed what happened with Amy’s Dad, I hope that in the long term they are both happy.

♥Moments to Remember♥

♥Final Line: “Number 40: LOVE IS WORTH THE RISK”

Thanks for reading,

Love,

Sidny xoxo