Rachel

May 2018: I never did review Summer Skin back in 2015 and I do feel kinda bad about that but also? I still don't have the words. All I can really say is that I love this book. I love it a RIDICULOUS amount. I love it for the romance, for the characters, for the friendships, for the Australian-ness, for the writing! OH THE WRITING.

WHERE IS THE NEXT KIRSTY EAGAR BOOK.

Anyway, I had a ton of fun rereading it, here's my live-tweet thread: https://twitter.com/Rackhel_M/status/...

Nov 2015: Fucking faaaaaaaantastic. Review to come.

Edit: You can now watch a Rachel-Annette-Reasons-Why-You-To-Read-No-Limits video (in which I giggle a lot) here:

https://thetometravellers.wordpress.com/2017/08/18/nine-reasons-why-you-need-to-read-no-limits-by-ellie-marney/

Well wasn't this goddamn brilliant. I FELT SO MANY FEELINGS it was most uncomfortable 

Here's my review:

HARRRRRRRRISSSSSSSSS DEEEEEEEEERWENT

That's it, that's my review.

... Okay nah there might be something comin on that dear ole blog of ours once Annette's read it too. But mates, you gotta preorder it okay cos preordering is good and you need this book in your life. The links will be available from August 1st so pass it on.

I'M JUST SO HAPPY THAT THE WORLD IS GETTING THIS BOOK. PRAISE BE FOR ELLIE

After all these years, I have been blessed with the knowledge that JAMES HAILLER IS A TALKER DURING SEX AND I WILL NEVER GET OVER THIS BECAUSE THAT IS THE MOST JIMMY THING EVER.

And I'm happy, so so happy because (and I'm combining Pacey Witter and Adam Wilde quotes here) the simple act of knowing that he's somewhere out there, alive, is enough for me right now. So I don't care how long it takes for MM to write the full book because I will wait until the end of time (although I'm sure I'll be tweeting otherwise at 1am sometime in the near future).

Also, Shoeboxes was creepy as fuck. Please read In The Skin Of A Monster if you haven't already kthanksbye.

This book is stressing me out I'M SO WORRIED ABOUT NAILA

Sweet mother of fuck.

'There are many things I don't understand, but here is one thing that I know. There is no such thing as the correct diagnosis. There are only symptoms, and catchphrases for various collections of symptoms. Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective, Bipolar I, Bipolar II, major depression, psychotic depression, obsessive compulsive, and on, and on. The labels mean nothing, because no two cases are ever exactly alike. Everyone presents differently, and responds to meds differently and no prognosis can truly be predicted. We are, however, creatures of containment. We want all things in life packed into boxes that we can label. But just because we have the ability to label it, doesn't mean we really know what's in the box. It's kind of like religion. It gives us comfort to believe we have defined something that is, by its very nature, indefinable.

 

As to whether or not we've gotten it right, well, it's all a matter of faith.'

'I've come from the place of go back to where you came from

From unmarked graves and stinking camps

From seas that wanted to swallow me

And prisons that wanted to disappear me

From places other people will travel to

With travel blogs, and itineraries highlighted in fluorescent Sharpies,

and Instagram accounts that show how they "found themselves"

In places some people are allowed to visit

While others are never allowed to leave.

The exotic are a short drive up the road

Postcodes vending an experience of elsewhere

But without the frequent flyer points and itinerary

They are just ghettos

When you feel like a dandelion

Just a wish from being blown away

When you feel like a spice

Just a sprinkle of flavour to your taste

When you feel like a souvenir

In a bazaar of identity that peddles fear

You feel

That you must carve yourself out of resistance

But then some people showed me:

That anger is good

But with action it is better

That remembering is good

But with hope it is better

That change is good

But with discovery it is better

That questioning is good

But with trust it is better

That resisting is good

But sometimes those you resist do not matter

And that standing up is good

But standing up alongside others is better.'

'This time, when we kiss, the world doesn't end. The universe doesn't stop. Stars don't fall from the sky. It's an ordinary kiss. The kind where you can hear both your hearts beat. The kind that's about discovering each other again, mouths and hands and laughter... The kind that leaves you both breathless, and covered in grass, saying goodbye, and making promises.

 

The kind that stops time, in its own way.'

Oh, I am sooooooooo in love with this narrator. Also, this is a such a well written book.

'I don't want romance and stolen kisses and sweetness and hand holding. I want something so big it's like two planets colliding, with an aftershock that I feel for the rest of my life.'

 

Kirsty Eagar, ladies and gents. Isn't she some kind of wonderful?

Fucking faaaaaaaantastic. Review to come.

'"I suppose I would rather tell her how she makes me feel."

"How does she make you feel?"

"I would tell her that I like her hands. I would tell her that I don't like being touched, but her hands are the exception. I don't like to be made fun of - and she's done that, many times, either implicitly or overtly - but I would take her ridicule over her not knowing I existed, any day. I'd confess I don't like being wrong about anything but I hope I'm wrong about her - she's not right for me, I know that, but I want her anyway. I would tell her that being back here is only bearable because she's here too and, for the first time ever, I don't want to leave. I wish I knew how to tell her how I feel without bringing on an ending of some kind, but I know it's inevitable. And I would tell her I understood if she told me she didn't feel the same way."

"That's how she makes me feel."'

Exhibit A on why I love reading more than anything. Because who the fuck says something like that in real life?

So enjoying this audio. Apart from liking the sound of Tom’s voice maybe a little more, Grant shits alllllllllll over Tom as a narrator. Correct pronunciations make my heart happy. And helps with preventing me from wanting to rage-fling CDs out the window while driving.