Friday Link Dump: Tea, Gifs and Hiddles

It's been awhile since I've done one of these - or blogged at all, really - because real life has been kinda hectic. Part of this is because I left my old job and started a new one. Those who follow me on Instagram and Twitter will probably already know that I'm now working at BuzzFeed - and if you didn't, well, now you do! It's pretty much a dream come true. I just need to find a balance between work-internet and play-internet, if that makes sense. Part of that is finding time/motivation to do this blog, and also how to do it - for instance, I wasn't sure what to do with these link posts, because let's face it, half the links have always been from BuzzFeed, and I was worried that now it will just look like I'm pimpin' my place of work. But people always seem to like these posts (I think!), so I want to keep doing them, and unless anyone objects, I will include BuzzFeed links I think my friends will like. OK? OK.

In other news, I got a new Kindle for Christmas after my old one, Betsy, broke, and it finally arrived this week. Her name is Betty Paper-White.

Here's what I've enjoyed on the internet lately:

-Elizabeth at Devoted Eclectic explores what makes her review some books and not others (Devoted Eclectic).

-Steph Bowe released the original ending of All This Could End on her blog and WOW. It is beautiful but I am glad it was changed. Spoilers, obviously. (Steph Bowe)

-This sample of one couple's Christmas portraits over a 40-year period is fascinating and bittersweet. (Flavorwire)

-George Orwell describes how to make the perfect cup of tea. I am much easier to please: boiling water, Lipton black tea, a dash of skim milk, jiggle for 30 seconds and it's good to go. I'm such a heathen. (Brain Pickings)

-Cary Elwes is writing a book about the making of The Princess Bride and I can't breathe. (Time)

-Here's what some popular foreign songs are really about. (Mental Floss)

-The Official Princess Club is probably my favourite Tumblr ever. Someone has created a brilliant comic strip featuring Disney Princess dolls, using Snapchat. Hilarious. (Tumblr)

-Behind the Gifs is a very funny subreddit where people draw how the imagine famous Gifs came to be. (Reddit)

-From BuzzFeed: This person created outstanding visual puns with a cardboard cutout of The Rock; here's a list of the movies and TV shows to get excited about this year; this list of reasons why Tom Hiddleston is a life-ruiner will probably destroy you; here's 16 books to read if you love San Francisco and also my list of the best Australian books of 2013.

Review: All This Could End by Steph Bowe

All This Could End is told from the third person perspective of two teenagers, Nina and Spencer, whose budding romance is cut short when Nina has to move away. Because her family are secretly bank robbers on the run. Yeah, not your average YA love story, that’s for sure!

I have to admit, I had a bit of trouble getting into All This Could End to start with. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it, I just didn’t particularly connect with it. I found once I put it down I wasn’t really compelled to pick it up again ASAP. So I read the first 50 or so pages and then a week went by when I didn’t even touch it. I was a bit frustrated by this, and was considering putting it aside to come back to at a later point, but decided to read another chapter first to see if it would grab me.

Boy, did it grab me. A couple of hours later I found myself more than half way through the book and realised I was sticking with it after all. So I decided to read one more chapter before bed. The next thing I knew, it was 1am and I had finished. After the initial speed bump it was a page-turner for me, and I loved it.

I think what finally drew me in was when Spencer and Nina met and spent one intense night together, talking and laughing and adventuring. It reminded me of all-in-one-night stories like Graffiti Moon, which I adore, and there was a real sense of connection between the characters. After that, I was interested in the development of their relationship and how the events would lead up to Nina holding a gun to Spencer’s head (that’s not a spoiler, BTW, it’s the start of the book, with the rest told in flashback).

But while I really liked Nina and Spencer’s chemistry, I have to say I agree with my Goodreads friend Eleanor in that I wished there had been more “on-screen” time between the two. A great deal of the book is actually focused on their disastrous family lives, and although I definitely appreciated that aspect, and liked that the story wasn’t all-romance-all-the-time, I think it did come at the cost of the development of their relationship. It’s never even really clear whether they are in a relationship or are just friends who have kissed at least once. I liked what was there, I just wanted more.

That said, I did really like the exploration of family dynamics. They were tense and heartbreaking and beautifully rendered. I especially loved the sibling relationships that both Nina and Spencer had. Although I do kinda wish at least one character in the novel had a decent mother. I wanted to throttle both Nina and Spencer’s mums. Especially Nina’s. But I didn't mind too much - because while she was truly awful as a mother, she was fascinating as a character.

Overall, All This Could End is a unique, refreshing Aussie YA with a great plot, interesting, flawed characters and some lovely – and not-so-lovely – relationships. I can’t wait to see what Steph Bowe does next.

Rating: 4/5

Fine Print
Published: 2013, Text Publishing
Get It:  Bookworld