Books I Love By Authors In The UK – Part 2

This is the second part to discussing books that are written by UK authors. I think that they deserve all the love so go read these books!

You can read part 1 here

1 Reasons to Stay Alive & Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig – I absolutely love his work and how open he is about mental health. I highly recommend reading his books.

2 No Big Deal by Bethany Rutter – I loved the body positivity in her book so much! Everyone should read this! You can read my review here

3 The Loneliest Girl in the Universe & The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James – I love all her books but my favourite is definitely Loneliest Girl and Quiet at the End of the World. You can read my review for Quiet here

4 The Hormone Diaries by Hannah Witton – I love the work she does and her book was so insightful and I definitely recommend it!

5 Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer – One of my childhood favourite books! I absolutely adore this series and I am so excited for the spinoff. I also read his new adult fantasy book and I loved that too! You can read my review for Artemis Fowl here

6 The Extinction Trials by S.M. Wilson – A book with dinosaurs! Obviously I would love this trilogy! It is fast paced and action packed and if you love dinosaurs then you need to read these!

7 The State of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury – This book was one that came in a book box and took me by surprise! I really loved it!

8 It’s All in your Head by Rae Earl – A book about mental health written specially for the youth. It covers topics that are relevant to the youth so this one I definitely recommend reading.

9 Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes by Holly Bourne – Holly has so many books but this one is my favourite! Another book that has wonderful complex mental health rep and I especially loved how she wrote about being kind to each other and yourself. You can read my review here

10 Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz – Another childhood book that I loved and so excited to see the series is being continued.

So I will probably be writing a part 3 soon! Please do let me know any authors from the UK that you love!

Are we all Lemmings and Snowflakes? By Holly Bourne – Book Review

When I heard about this book I thought it was really intriguing and it was about mental health so I just had to pick it up when it released and I’m so glad I did! It’s such a wonderful book and I highly recommend reading it!

So what is this book about? Well you can read the synopsis here, taken from Goodreads:

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference. A place offering a shot at “normality” for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for the new friends she never expected to make – who each have their own reasons for being there. Luckily Olive has a plan to solve all their problems. But how do you fix the world when you can’t fix yourself?

The first thing I want to say is that this book has such great mental health rep! It a realistic, honest view on mental health. The characters are so real and have great character development that shows exactly how managing and dealing with mental health can be. It’s not a straight line up, there’s up and downs but you still keep going.

One of the things I loved was that through the story I actually learnt a lot about mental health services and different mental health conditions, but it was never pretentious of preachy. It all just felt naturally part of the story.

The story itself was so interesting and so relatable and the messages it gave were wonderful! The message about being kind not only to others but also to yourself were so powerful and really makes you think.

“You don’t have to stop looking after yourself just to help the world. In fact, sometimes it’s better for the world if you put yourself first. That’s not being selfish, in fact looking after yourself is the greatest act of kindness you can give the world. Loving yourself first is the best way to spread love. You’ve tried so hard to be kind, but you’ve not started with you, and maybe that’s where it’s gone wrong?”

Each character was genuine and fully fleshed out. They were more than their mental illness and I loved that about them. I also loved that despite them being in a place which will hopefully help them to learn how to manage and live a better quality life they had moments where they did relapse but also made progress. It all felt so real! I honestly can’t explain how much I loved the portrayal of each character! It was real and respectful.

I’m so glad books like this are being written now as they are so needed. Because we need books with good mental health rep not only for those who suffer from it but also for others so that more people can understand what it is like. The message of this book is so important; kindness to ourselves and others is so important. The world could be a much better place if we were kinder. And remember #KindnessIsContagious so spread it!

“I think real kindness, real compassion, is having the strength to stop and try and see where another person is coming from. To try and work out why they’re being the way they’re being. It takes time and patience. It’s not easy, but that’s real kindness.”