BOOK REVIEW: The List by Siobhan Vivian

Hiya!

I'm just going to jump straight into the book review today because I don't really have anything else to update you guys on because my life currently consists of revision, food and sleep! 

'The List' documents the lives of several teenage girls from different years in high school who are all connected in some way; mainly because they have all been featured on this year's list of the prettiest and ugliest girls in the school. I love books like this as it allows the reader to explore the world that has been created from so many different perspectives and allows them to gain a better understanding of the situations that occur.

The girls that the novel follows are so so different which makes the plot so much more interesting as they all come from such different backgrounds and have different stories to tell. At first, I found it hard to remember exactly who was who, but once I got further into the story, I was completely clued up. 'The List' shows exactly how brutal and ugly the opinions of teenage girls can be but in a humorous, laughable way which helps the novel to stay light.

Some of the topics that are addressed in the novel are pretty hardcore, such as one of the main characters suffering from an eating disorder, which I think is really important as it brings awareness to the hardships that some people may be going through and how it affects others. 

My favourite character has to be Margo. She is the typical all-American, popular, pretty (and kind of mean!) girl who actually suffers a lot more than everyone assumes. The portrayal of her character is so unique as the reader is constantly torn between hating her and loving her and I think that this is such an interesting way of creating a character. She is a much more complex character than what I first assumed and I liked the surprise element of the depth of her character.

In general, I think 'The List' is a realistic, cynical, yet humorous depiction of what high school life is like and how quickly teenage girls can change their opinion of someone depending on popularity and public perception. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that fancies a true-to-life, accurate portrayal of what high school is really like, and will take the reader through the roller coaster that is high school!

I hope you enjoyed the review - if you've read the book, tweet me what you thought on @charlyblogs.

See you soon,

Charlotte x

The Vamps Tour 2016

Hiya!

It feels like I haven't uploaded in forever and I'm super sorry about that but sadly I've been crazy busy due to exam season and all the revision I've been doing. However I've got a really fun and exciting post for you today and I hope you enjoy it!

If you've read any of my previous posts, I'm sure you'll know how much I love to go to concerts; so you can imagine my excitement when I bought myself a ticket for the 'wowpit' section for the Vamps O2 Arena show on the 1st April! For anyone who's not sure, the wowpit is a small standing area directly in front of the stage that lets you get as close as possible to the stage and the band (very cool!). 

It was my first experience with something this exclusive a concert so I wanted to make the most of it and enjoy all of the benefits so my friends and I arrived at the O2 at 10:30am to ensure that we would be at the very front - sounds crazy, I know! When we arrived, a tiny queue had already started forming so we quickly got in line, secured our places and began the 8 hour wait until the doors opened. Surprisingly, the time passed fairly quickly but I think that might have been partly to do with all  the yummy food we kept eating! The time between the door  opening  and getting unto the arena was pretty stressful as everyone was pushing and shouting and I actually got separated from my friends but eventually we made into the wowpit and we got a space at the barrier, right in front of Connor's mic stand!

The show itself was out of this world - no matter how many times I see the Vamps, I never ever get bored and I always come out desperate to see them again! Being at the very front was such a crazy experience as I kept forgetting how many other people were sitting behind me watch in  the exact same thing and it was a bit of a shock when I turned round and saw all of the people! Another funny (and a little bit scary) shock I got was just after the first song 'Rest Your Love', the pyrotechnics kicked in and they were REALLY CLOSE! For a second, I was worried that my eyebrows had been singed off!

 The other major benefit of being at the barrier is that you get to interact with the band a lot which is such a surreal experience! I seemed to make a lot of eye contact with Brad and Connor as they were closest to me and Connor also gave me and my friends the thumbs up signal which made my friends and I scream and shout quite a lot - oops!

Finally, I just want to say how amazing the whole experience was and how lucky I felt to be able to say that I've been front row at my favourite band's concert after 2 or 3 years of supporting them. If you ever get the chance to be in the wowpit equivalent at your favourite artist's show - grab it! It really was such a crazy, amazing night and I haven't stopped talking about it since; it was that good!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience and I'd love to see any of your photos from the Vamps tour if you've also been. Tweet them to me at @charlyblogs and tell me what date you went to - I love to have some more Vamps fans to chat to!

See you soon,
Charlotte x 

 

Booking a Group Holiday!

Hiya!

For today's post, I've decided to do something a bit different; instead of writing about celebrities or posting a review, I thought that I would write about a rather exciting personal milestone (albeit, slightly stressful!) that's been happening in the last couple of weeks.

My friends and I have known each other since we were tiny and as a result, we've grown up together and been there for each other through all kinds of things! So, to celebrate the end of all of our exams (and, at the moment, this is a major motivation to revise!), we thought that it would be a good idea to organise a group holiday. We've always talked about how our first holiday without our families would be with each other so to see it finally starting to come together was super exciting! 

However, if you've ever been a part of a group holiday, I'm sure you'll know how hard it is to please everyone and to come to a suitable agreement! We searched all of the holiday letting sights for absolutely hours, trying to find a house that would accommodate us all and that we all liked, and let me tell you, that's much easier said than done! 

Finally, we found a house that we all liked, that suited our budget and that wasn't too much of a trek for us all (we wanted to save as much as possible on travel!). I will admit, it was really hard work to plan it but now that it's all finished, I'm super excited and I just can't wait to sit back and chill with my friends!

I hope you've enjoyed the different style of post today - I thought that I'd experiment a little bit! Let me know if you have any holidays planned for the summer, I'd love to hear about them. Tweet me (@charlyblogs) or leave a comment below!

See you soon,

Charlotte x