Currently Reading // After The Crash by Michel Bussi

As I am a massive bookworm I thought I would start a little series to give you a little insight into what I'm reading at the moment.

The blurb

On the night of 22 December, a plane crashed on the Franco-Swiss border.

All the passengers are killed instantly, apart from one miraculous survivor - a three-month-old baby girl. But who is she? Two families step forward to claim her, but is she Lyse Rose or Emilie?

Two decades later, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, the detective who investigated the case makes a discovery that could change everything...

So far, I'm really enjoying this book. The story is set in France, 1980 and follows an 18 year old mystery of the identity of a plane crash survivor. The narrative jumps around a lot to different main characters to journal entries which makes it quite hard to get into to start. But the story pulls you in as each chapter reveals something new about the original mystery to events in the present day making it an interesting, if slightly confusing, read.

What are you currently reading? Any recommendations?

- Millie xx

October Favourites

A belated favourites post. I don't have enough favourites to warrant a monthly post but I'll do my best to do it as frequently as possible.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

This is such a good book that I spent the majority of October racing through. I'm going to put a full review up soon but in short, I didn't want to put this book down throughout the whole of the month.

Soap & Glory's Dr Spot

As you can see, this little tube has been fairly abused recently - I only bought it a few weeks ago - as a result of the chaos on my face right now. But this stuff works wonders. You just need the smallest amount on that angry, red spot for a few nights and it completely disappears. It is very drying though so I like to put it on after my night moisturiser to protect the skin surrounding the spot a bit. I've got a slightly more in detail review here.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Vintage Plum

I don't need to bang on again about how much I love these little pot of goodness - they've been consistently feautured throughout this blog, I hope you've got the general gist. I bloody love them. Enough said. And, this is my perfect shade for Autumn as I'm loving a purpley smokey eye right now.

Beauty by Lauren Conrad

Whilst redecorating my room I stumbled across this old favourite and flicking through it I realised that this is the book that taught me most my make up tricks and tips. I bought this when I first started properly getting into makeup - maybe two years ago - and I would never put it down. It doesn't matter what skin type/hair type/various shades and colours you are, this has something for everyone and I've thoroughly enjoyed going back through it and picking up old tricks. 

ASOS Sleek Large Face Watch 

I only bought this recently and it's already out of stock - sorry! - but I've found alternatives here, here and here. This style of watch goes with everything and it's my only accessory of choice at the moment. It such a classic style that I think I will continue wearing as long as it still works/isn't falling apart. 

What are your favourite things at the moment?

- Millie x

BOOK REVIEW // Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn

Yes, I'm still trudging through my 'Summer Reading List'. I recently read this book within the total of 48 hours - it's that good. I'd say better than Gone Girl (review here). I didn't know where I was at any point in this book, there are so many plot twists and hints to what could/did/would happen that I was brilliantly confused.

The story is narrated by Camille Preaker, a journalist from Boston who, only a few weeks out of a psychiatric hospital, is forced to return to her hometown to cover the story of the murders of two young girls. After eight years away from home, Camille tries to reconnect with her estranged, hypochondriac mother and 13 year old half sister. Whilst trying to solve the murders of these two girls, Camille finds herself strangely connected to the victims and continues to discovers likenesses. Through unravelling these gruesome murders, Camille also starts to pick at her own past and sees how they are connected and realises that she will have to solve the story of her own past before she can solve the murders. With as many and more revelations in this novel as Gone Girl, Sharp Objects makes for an fascinating and disturbing read that will make you want to keep reading this to the end without putting it down. There is something deeply unhealthy about this book and it's far darker and more twisted than Gone Girl. Reading this book made me feel sick to my stomach but however much I tried, I could not put it down. However it's makes you think and really gets to the root of the characters psychological problems and the story really grips you.


I highly recommend this book but do think it is only suitable for older readers as it's very graphic.

What have you been reading recently?

- Millie xx

BOOK REVIEW // Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill

I recently featured this book in my post 'Summer Reading List' and I finally got around to starting to read those books. In all honesty, this is the best book I have read in a long time. I haven't wanted to put it down at all, which to me is a sign of a very good book.

I stumbled across a recommendation for this book in Company magazine and instantly thought that this is the kind of book that I love. It's set in the future after the world has pretty much gone to shit and society has decided to get rid of unnecessary things - cars, livestock and women naturally giving birth to girls. Females are now genetically made and brought up in The School until the age of 16 when they are either chosen as a companion, a concubine or a chastity. Men completely dominate this society and are in control of everything, including when companions have to be 'terminated'. The main character in this novel is Freida, a 16th year student coming up to the Choosing Ceremony. This book echoes many teenage girls worries - Am I too fat? Am I too thin? Am I pretty enough? - and massively amplifies them because whether you're pretty enough or not can have a drastic change on your life after The School.

This story is so cleverly written and I know it's one that I'll read over and over again. Little things such as female's names not starting with a capital letter show just how unbalanced this world is and gives you a real feel of how little women are valued. I am warning you now - this isn't a happy story. It's very harshly written and the quote on the front of my copy 'O'Neill writes with a scalpel' (Jeanette Winterson) is so fitting.

I reccommend this book for people who enjoyed the 'Uglies' series by Scott Westerfield.

What have you been reading recently?

- Millie xx

Summer Reading List

A break from the many makeup related posts I've done recently! I seem to have piles of unread books around my bedroom and I have no idea where to start with them! So after seeing Emily's 'Summer Reading List' blog post, I have decided to start my own Summer Reading List. I'm still slowly plodding through the first book in the 'A Song of Ice And Fire' series, but once I've finished it I will definitely start on the books I am about to show you.

The Rosie Project // Graeme Simsion
My mum recently read this book and she loved it. So since then it's been lingering in my room and my mum has constantly been asking "have you read it yet?". The answer is obviously no.

The Blurb

'I'm not good at understanding what other people want.'

'Tell me something I don't know...'

Love isn't an exact science - but no one told Don Tillman. A handsome thirty-nine-year-old geneticist, Don's never had a second date. So he devises The Wife Project, a scientific test to find the perfect partner. Enter Rosie - 'the world's most incompatible woman' - throwing Don's safe, ordered life into chaos. Just what is this unsettling, alien emotion he's feeling?

One Day // David Nicholls

I've read 'Starter for Ten' by David Nicholls and I loved it, but after seeing the disappointing film adaptation of 'One Day' I wasn't rushing to read the book. Again, this is a recommendation from my mum - she reads a lot - and is also a book she has just left in my room once she was finished with it.

The Blurb

You can live your whole life not realising that what you're looking for is right in front of you.

15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.

So where will they be this one day next year? And the year after that?

And every year that follows?

Sharp Objects // Gillian Flynn

I'm also so excited to read this book. As a lot of you may know, I've already read 'Gone Girl' - you can see my review here - and loved it. 

The Blurb

It's been a while... but Camille Preaker has finally gone home.

Sent to investigate the disappearance of two little girls Camille finds herself reluctantly installed in the family mansion, reacquainting herself with her distant mother and a precocious thirteen-year-old half-sister she barely knows. Haunted by a family tragedy, troubled by the disquieting grip her young sister has on the town, Camille struggles with a familiar need to be accepted.

But as clues turn into dead ends Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims and realises: she will have to unravel the puzzle of her own past if she's to survive this homecoming.

Only Ever Yours // Louise O'Neill

I saw this recommended in a magazine recently and it seemed like the kind of book I love.  

The Blurb

Freida and Isabel have been best friends their whole lives. Now, ages sixteen and in their final year at the School, they expect to be selected as companions - wives to wealthy and powerful men.

The alternative - life as a concubine - is too horrible to contemplate.

But as the intensity of their final year take hold, the pressure to be perfect mounts. Isabel starts to self-destruct, putting her beauty - her only asset - in peril.

And then into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride.

Freida must fight for her future - even if it mean betraying the only friends, the only love, she has ever known...

That's everything on my Summer Reading List, what's on yours? Do you have any good recommendations?

- Millie xx

BOOK REVIEW // Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

As I'm a very keen book reader I've been wanting to do  book reviews for a little while now. I read so many amazing books and rarely have the chance to share them so I came to the conclusion that I'd use my little corner of the internet to do so.

I've just finished reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I'm a little late to the party with this one I know, but I got there eventually when I finally purchased this thriller on Amazon after hearing so many amazing things about it. Although I read this quite sporadically, whenever I got the chance to read it I couldn't put it down and that to me is a sign of a good book. I've never really got on with thriller novels before as I've read some very disappointing ones in the past, but Gone Girl has completely changed my opinion on them. I'll try my very hardest not to reveal any spoilers but this book has so many twists and turns that you're pretty much always left guessing what's going to happen in the next chapter, and you're usually wrong. As my mum has read this book before a common conversazione between us two was "tell me what happens next" and "please tell me this happens", but I so glad that she kept quiet because you wouldn't want to have the events of this book spoiled for you. To give you a brief plot Gone Girl is about a woman, Amy, who disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary and her husband, Nick, finds himself as the main suspect. Because this book has two narrators your allegiance with either Nick or Amy can change very quickly. I really can't tell you any more than that without giving anything away! The only thing I didn't like about this book was that after all the exciting plot twists throughout the book I was a little bit disappointed with the anticlimactic ending, if you've read Gone Girl you'll probably understand. However it's a great book for summer that will leave you wanting to carry on reading until you've finished because you'll want to know the outcome of the characters and plot!

On the whole I would definitely recommend this book and would rate it 4.5/5 (-0.5 for the ending).

Did you enjoy this review and please let me know whether you'd like to see more? What books have you read recently?

- Millie xx