Top 5 father figures in books

This post was inspired by the lovely ladies over at The Broke and Bookish!

Happy Father's Day! Or not... I checked a list of Father's days around the world and it looks like no one can agree when it is. Here in Belgium Father's Day has already passed, but for the UK Father's Day isn't until next week. Crazy, huh?

Anyway, to celebrate Father's Day I am picking my top 5 father figures in books.I feel like fathers don't get enough attention in the book community, so today I have decided to show off my favourite father figures. Notice how I say father figures, because not all the people on my list are actually fathers.

Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird

Even if you haven't read To Kill A Mockingbird, you've probably heard of what a great father Atticus is. He cares for both his children and sticks up for what he thinks is right. He also teaches Jem and Scout how to read an write, as well as other more important lessons like caring for everyone, no matter what. Let's be honest, he makes all of our top 5s.

Hans Hubermann from The Book Thief

Even though he wasn't Liesel's real father, Hans was definitely a good substitute father. Where Mama was harsh and strict, Hans was kind and compassionate. He was patient with her, giving her midnight lessons on how to read and write (a theme on this list!) when he discovers she can't do it herself.

Grandpa Joe Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

So he is technically a grandfather but Grandpa Joe is an amazing father figure to both his son and his grandson. Apparently a whole load of people actually hate Grandpa Joe, but I think he was very sweet. He cares about everyone in the family and saves his money to give to Charlie.

Mr Lancaster from The Fault In Our Stars

He doesn't get much love from the TIFOS fandom, because he isn't one of the main characters. But if you concentrate on him whilst reading the book you see that he is a considerate and caring father who looks after Hazel when she is upset.

Hagrid from the Harry Potter Series

Say what?! My choice from Harry Potter isn't Sirius Black? Yes, Sirius was a good father figure for a couple of books and taught Harry more about his parent's life. But Hagrid was there for Harry from the start. He was the one to collect Harry from Godric's Hollow, he contacted all Harry's parent's friends to create a scrapbook for him, he made him a birthday cake, he gave him hints about the Triwizard Tournament; honestly the list goes on forever. For these reasons Hagrid is the best father figure there is.

Everyone knows boys in books are better, but we can all agree that our dads are the best. So this Father's Day put down your book, and go spend some time with your family instead.
  I would love to know who your favourite father figures are and why, so leave a comment down below!

And until next time, keep reading!

Rebellion by Kass Morgan

Rebellion by Kass Morgan
Release Date: December 6, 2016
Pages: 352
Rating: 💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository
The Colonists and the Earthborns are celebrating their first holiday together when, to everyone’s horror, they’re attacked by a group of strangers whose unusual battle cries fill the air. When Bellamy and Clarke discover that Wells, Octavia and Glass have been captured, they vow to get them back at all costs. But as they go after their new enemies, Bellamy and Clarke find themselves increasingly at odds, unable to agree on a plan to save their friends. 
Meanwhile, Wells, Octavia, and Glass are being slowly brainwashed by their captors with one goal: to grow their ranks and “heal” the war-ravaged planet.


Another story with a cult in it. Honestly it has become a bit of an obsession of mine, which could be unhealthy (possibly...) All cults aside I enjoyed this book much more than the previous two books, and managed to remember what happened in this one!

We get to see how the four main characters cope in stressful situations, having to react quickly to what is attacking them. We finally get to see them being strong, independent characters instead of whiny children. The evolution of all the characters from book one to this book is really incredible; maybe the best character development I've ever read.

The writing was once again astounding. Even though my journey with this book series was rocky I will always be in awe of Kass Morgan's writing style. She spun this world perfectly and captivated me; so much so that I almost missed my bus stop. Almost.

The ending was all I could have dreamed of and more. I won't spoil anything but Bellarke shippers will love the ending; I know I did! There were a lot of twists and turns, ups and downs but the book finally settled down in a way that surprising but not unpredictable. And yes, I cried like a little baby.

Overall it was a well-written conclusion to the 100 series. It wasn't an intense work of literature but it was an enjoyable read. I don't think this book is for everyone at all but if you love the T.V show you should give the series a try.

The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir by Lesley Allen

The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir by Lesley Allen
Release Date: April 14, 2016
Pages: 400
Rating: 💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Almost too terrified to grip the phone, Biddy Weir calls a daytime television show. Biddy has a story to tell.
Abandoned by her mother as a baby, Biddy lives in her own little world, happy to pass her time watching the birds - until Alison Fleming joins her school.
Popular and beautiful, but with a dangerous, malevolent streak, Alison quickly secures the admiration of her fellow students. All except one. And Alison doesn't take kindly to people who don't fit her mould...


This book was so good yet so bad. It was beautifully written yet truly horrific. It was so mid-blowing and upsetting and I loved it.

Honestly it is very hard to review this book without giving anything away. Every single little detail in this book is important for the story progression. Your journey as a reader is intense, slowly watching Biddy grow up and learning to hate herself. She has so little happiness in her life that at times throughout the book I had to put it down to recover.

The only thing I feel is my duty to say is that the story could trigger some people. Biddy is mercilessly bullied by everyone in her school, and any glimpse of happiness is taken away from her. She turns to self harm to let out her anger and sadness, using pins to scar herself. I felt uncomfortable reading it, and actually had to skip over a couple sections.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested because it is a beautiful and fascinating book. If you do have triggers you might want to give this book a miss because it can be quite horrific at times.

Homecoming by Kass Morgan

Homecoming by Kass Morgan
Release Date: February 24, 2016
Pages: 340
Rating: 💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

The new arrivals are the lucky- back on the colony, oxygen has almost run out- but Glass's luck seems to be running out. Clarke leads a rescue party to the crash site, but she can't stop thinking about her parents. Meanwhile, Wells struggles to maintain his authority, and Bellamy must decide whether to face or flee the crimes he committed.

If you look at my Goodreads review you'll see I rated this 5/5.  So why did I mark it 2/5 here? Good question. The answer is I don't remember the book. As I'm writing this review 3 weeks has passed since I read this book and I don't remember a thing. Okay that's a slight lie; I do remember a few things, but only if I read the Goodreads synopsis.

When I read the synopsis I remember the story, and I'm happy with it. It filled my little fangirl heart with all the feels and makes me happy. But if I don't I can't remember a thing. So make of that what you will.

Sorry this review is so short, but I sat at my computer for 10 minutes, desperately trying to search my brain for any memory of this book. I'm usually a very positive reviewer, But I couldn't find the positives this time.

Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
Release Date: April 4, 2016
Pages: 388
Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Everybody thinks they know Libby Strout, but no one looks past her weight.
Everybody thinks they know Jack Masselin, but his confidence hides a secret.
Then Jack meets Libby. And their worlds change.




This book reminded me of The Sun Is Also A Star, although that might be because I read it just before this one. It may also be because Jennifer Niven and Nicola Yoon seem to best friends, so their writing styles may be similar. All the same I loved this book for its own reasons.

Holding up the Universe focuses on two rather unique characters; Libby Strout who is the America's Fattest Teen and Jack Masselin who suffers from face blindness. I felt like both characters were well written and that their entire personality wasn't based off of their defining features. Libby loves to dance and read, Jack loves to invent things, and these are the main features in their stories.

It was also nice to see the confusion and prejudice that comes from these conditions. People ignore Libby because she's fat, and anyone who sees her knows her as "America's Fattest Teen". However Libby is full of so much self-love that it is really uplifting, even if you aren't facing the same hate. It was also nice to see her entire journey from being overweight to losing weight. And the thing is is that she doesn't lose weight by starving herself. She eats healthy food and sees a therapist and exercises and dances and doesn't hide anything from her dad. By showing her journey this way, Jennifer Niven does something many YA writers don't: tell you that your illness doesn't define you. And I found that beautiful.

Jack's face blindness was interesting. I have never read a book with anything like this before, so it was out of my comfort zone for reading. One of my problems with this book came from Jack's face blindness and how it seemed inconsistent at times. Obviously I know nothing about face blindness at all, but I feel like you would be able to tell who a family member is by the way they walk up the stairs. (If you know more than me, please let me know below!). Apart from that Jack was adorable and by far my favourite character of the book.

All in all, I loved this book. It was fun and heart warming, as well as educational. I would recommend this to literally anyone who wants to read it because it is amazing. And if you love Supernatural, you should read this book (you'll find out why...)

Five books from the historical genre I've recently brought

This post was inspired by the TTT topic by the ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish.

Without meaning to I've collected a lot of historical fiction recently. I've always loved history and I love books (obviously) so this genre is sort of perfect for me. Surprisingly I don't have many historical books so over the moth of may I decided to collect a few more historical books. For this post I gave myself the challenge of finding five books from five different eras in history!

The Sirens of Surrentum by Caroline Lawrence

Set in AD 80, this book has the oldest setting on my bookshelf. There aren't many books set this far back in time, but this by far one of my favourite book series. It was the first  book series I read that had over 200 pages so for that reason Romans will always be one of my favourite eras to study.


The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

I've never read a book from the time period this book is set in. This entire series spans from 1416 to 1499, but this book is set in 1430. I know very little about this time period, and even less about the royalty at the time. Hopefully I'll learn a little more when reading this book, whilst having fun reading it.

Cogheart by Peter Bunzl

This book is set in 1896, one of the newest settings on this list. I love Victorian England, it was the first era I learnt about at school. For that reason Victorian books will always have a special place in my heart (and my bookshelf)!


The Shopkeeper's Daughter by Lily Baxter

My favourite era to read about is World War Two. I have no idea why but I just love reading about how everyone comes together to fight the bad guys and win the day. The Shopkeeper's Daughter is set in 1944, right at the end of the war, and sounds right up my street.


Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Everyone knows about this story, either from the book or the film. Set in 1961 it is the newest book on my list, and also the only non-fiction book on my list. I haven't read this book or watched the film, but I'm so excited to read it and feel empowered.


What's your favourite genre? Have you read any of the books on my list? Also leave a link to your TTT the comments and I'll check it out!

And until next time, keep reading!

The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Release Date: November 1, 2016
Pages: 344
Rating: 💜💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Daniel- the son of Korean shopkeepers- and Natasha- the daughter of illegal Jamaican immigrants- cross paths in New York on an eventful day in their lives. However all their worries vanish when they decide to go on the perfect day trip around New York City.


I loved this book with all my heart. I had been a little wary going into this book because of all the hype that's surrounding it. But I'm glad to say that it deserves that hype because I absolutely adored it.

The book isn't just written from the two main perspectives but from all the perspectives of all the people Natasha and Daniel interact with. There are also other characters, like fate and hair and eyes, which adds to the world that they are in. It was a little hard to get into to begin with, but as the book progressed it was easier to read and understand. Each of these chapters are well-written and add to the book, but you don't need to read them if you just prefer to read the main character's POV.

I was worried that this would be an intense case of insta-love, which it was a little, but it was actually quite a developed love story. Neither of the characters fall in love with each other immediately, and the whole point of their friendship is that they are trying to fall in love. There is something about the way Nicola Yoon writes that makes this relationship growth not seem ridiculous.  It might be because Natasha and Daniel are polar opposites so they balance each other out, complementing each other in a comfortable way.

This was great to see two very different, unrepresented cultures in this story; the Jamaican immigrants and the traditional Korean. Their ethnicity plays a huge role in the story and becomes a driving point in certain situations. It all felt very well written (although I can't really be the true judge of that!), and I enjoyed learning a little more about their separate cultures.

I loved The Sun Is Also A Star, and am so glad I picked it when I did. I feel like if I left it too long I wouldn't have been so motivated to pick it up, but because of all the hype online I felt compelled to read it. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone and everyone because it is just so awesome!