A Little Something Different – Sandy Hall

Title: A Little Something Different
Author: Sandy Hall
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Year: 2014
Format: Paperback, 244 pages
ISBN: 9781250070036

A Little Something Different is a book that was incredibly adorable – definitely one of the cutest books I’ve read all year. It was a quick, easy read. I literally finished it in two hours, and it’s definitely perfect for you if you’re looking for a cute contemporary without a lot of emotional substance.

So what makes A Little Something Different different from other contemporaries? The fact that it is a love story told in 14 different perspectives. These perspectives include a squirrel, a bench, a bus driver, a waitress, a Starbucks employee, the teacher of a creative writing college class, students of the creative writing class, and friends of the two main characters.

Gabe and Lea end up in the same creative writing class, and they instantly spark chemistry. Everyone around them can feel the budding chemistry between the two, except for Gabe and Lea. The book tells the story of Gabe and Lea’s relationship through 14 perspectives of people (or things/animals) that interact with Gabe and Lea on a daily basis. This was both enjoyable and annoying all wrapped in one.

The Year of the Rat – Clare Furniss

Title: The Year of the Rat
Author: Clare Furniss
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Year: 2014
Format: Paperback, 305 pages
ISBN: 9781471121715

If you’re a fan of books that are highly character driven as opposed to plot driven, then The Year of the Rat is for you. It is a stunning debut that realistically showcases the grief of losing a loved one.

The Year of the Rat follows sixteen-year-old Pearl who is grieving the death of her Mother who died from complications of being pregnant. In spite of the mother dying the baby survived, and Pearl blames her mother’s death on her newborn sister Rose. Pearl despises Rose, or the Rat as she calls her, because the second she was born Pearl’s life turned upside down. Pearl is consumed by her grief, building barriers, shutting out everybody and slowly becoming a shell of the girl she once was. The only person Pearl keeps in is her mother, or at least the part of her that believes she is seeing her mother in day-to-day life since her mother’s death. The Year of the Rat showcases how difficult it can be to live when a loved one dies, and how difficult it is to overcome the mentalities that arise when one is in such a state of mind.