Blurb: A big story about a small boy who sees the world a little differently.

Milo curled his thumb and forefinger together to make a small hole and held his fingers up to Al's eyes. "Look through here. That's what I see. Kind of, only worse." "Wow, that must be amazing." Milo shrugged. "Not really." "I mean, it makes you focus, doesn't it? I bet you see all kinds of stuff that other people miss." 

Nine-year-old Milo Moon has retinitis pigmentosa: his eyes are slowly failing and he will eventually go blind. But for now he sees the world through a pin hole and notices things other people don't. When Milo's beloved gran succumbs to dementia and moves into a nursing home, Milo soon realizes there's something wrong at the home. So with just Tripi, the nursing home's cook, and Hamlet, his pet pig, to help, Milo sets out on a mission to expose the nursing home and the sinister Nurse Thornhill. Insightful, wise, and surprising, What Milo Saw is filled with big ideas and simple truths. Milo sees the world in a very special way, and it will be impossible for you not to fall in love with him and then share his story with everyone you know.

First of all I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: When I first picked What Milo Saw I really didn't know what to expect. But soon I realised that this story was something like nothing else. What I love about reading is that once in a while you find a book so unique and unexpected that it takes you to a completely different world and you forget about your own life for a while. And that is exactly what happened to me with What Milo Saw. Once you meet this little fella and his clever and adorable pet, Hamlet, you can't stop reading about them. You become part of their story and once finished the book, you find yourself frequently going back to them.

Milo sees the world in a very different way. Due to retinitis pigmentosa, he no longer has his peripheral vision, it's like he sees everything through a pinhole. But soon we realise that it somehow allows him to see more that others see. He sees beyond what you expect to see and makes you wonder if we are all seeing the world in the wrong way. So it's no wonder that he is the first one to realise that his grandma's new care home is not what it should be. Here is when his quest to prove something is wrong there starts and when we start meeting the rest of the cast of this quirky story. 

We meet Trippi, a Syrian refugee who looks for his lost sister in the TV news. His is a story difficult to forget. He has been through so much but is still smiling and just wants to make everyone happier. A true lesson about life. I had tears in my eyes more than once. In the care home we also meet a bunch of old ladies who different to what everyone might think, still want to enjoy life, and a not so old man who hasn't closed the door to love.

The story is told through different points of view so he get to read about Milo's plans, Tripi's thoughts, Milo's grandma's worries and even about the frustrations of Milo's mother when she fails to comprehend her own child. I think this was very clever as it made me feel part of the story and had me glued to its pages from cover to cover, even if I found the pace of the story a bit slow sometimes. But I have to say that Virgina Macgregor showed her ability to embody such different characters perfectly, they all sounded genuine and each one of them was special in their own way, with their own story to tell. A beautiful and simple writing style and could say so much in so little.

As it says in the blurb What Milo Saw is filled with big ideas and simple truths, the author certainly makes you think a lot about yourself and this world we live in. We see what we want to see but what happens when we really look? A real gem of a book, I highly recommend it.

Rating: 

Blurb: Portia Kane is having a meltdown. After escaping her cheating husband and their posh Florida life, she finds herself transported back home and back to square one. In need of saving herself, she sets out to find and resurrect a beloved high-school English teacher who has retired after a violent incident in the classroom.

But she quickly learns that it's not a one-woman job. Luckily she meets a few people on her journey. Can Chuck, the handsome brother of Portia's old school friend, together with a sassy nun and a metal-head little boy, help Portia's chances in her bid for renewed hope in the human race?

It's going to be quite a ride.

Moving and funny, Love May Fail is about the heartache and daring choices it takes to become the person you know deep down you are meant to be.

Review: When I finished this book I was a bit in two minds about it so I decided to wait a couple of weeks to write the review to have more of an insightful view of it. I think it was a good idea because now, almost three weeks after finishing it, I can tell you that I am glad I read this book, the whole of it. When I started it, I first thought it was ok-ish but then, after reading some more, I really thought about just abandoning it. But Matthew Quick being such a famous and acclaimed author (and after really enjoying Silver Linnings) I decided to persevere and I am glad that I did. All in all, I'm left with a good feeling of the book.

Love May Fail is divided in four parts, each part narrated by a different character. They are all linked and end up forming quite a unified story told chronologically with flashbacks to the past (especially in the first part). We start reading about Portia Kane who has just realised her marriage and her entire life don't really make sense and leaves her cheating husband to go back home. But home is not the welcoming place you might think, her mother has mental problems and struggled all her life to raise and care for her. That is when we learn about a very important figure in Portia's past, her high school teacher, Nate Vernon. 

Nate Vernon takes over the second part, where we find a hugely depressed man who has lost all hope in life. It's quite shocking to compare this shallow man with the idealized figure Portia presented. And when the two reunited, something didn't really work for me. I couldn't understand how Portia couldn't see what was in front of her eyes. The old Mr Vernon was no longer there, instead he was a man in great need of help, something she failed to provide in my opinion.

Next comes the third part which I found myself skipping more than once. It's made of letters from a mother to a son who has no intention of listening. Here is when I seriously thought about just leaving the story as it didn't hold my interest any more. But I was curious about the last part, narrated by Chuck, also an old student of Mr Vernon who is now part of Portia's life. This was by far the most interesting part. We learned a lot about all the character and it really helped me understand them and their actions better. This part was a bit the piece that made all the other parts fit. 

All in all, Love May Fail is quite an interesting read but in my opinion it drags a bit too much. During the book several years pass but the pace of the story is quite slow. As I said, I am glad that I finished reading it because at the end it really made me think. The topics it covers are important and quite well managed and you end up caring for the characters a great deal. 

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This week's recipe is inspired not by the book but by a character: Jenny Lopez from the I Heart Series by Lindsey Kelk. She is this amazing strong woman who has such a big heart and would go to the moon and back to help her loved ones. She's a big fan of brownie so when I tried this recipe it immediately reminded me of her.

The Mars brownie is stunning and looks so put together from the outside but inside... it's all gooey and warm, just like Jenny. Here's the recipe for it (inspired by this one from Objetivo Cupcake):

"Jenny was picking at a plate of brownies on the bar by the doorway. [...] She bagged another brownie. [...] It sounded like she was back on the brownies."

Ingredients: 
- 75 g butter
- 150 g dark chocolate
- 130 g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 65 g flour
- Some toffee
- 2 Mars bars

Blurb: Get ready to meet Angela Clark as she flees the world’s worst wedding for a new life…

Blurb: A vicious hit, a vengeful enemy, a drug addled Colombian club owner and a sex crazed Italian family; the ever powerful Lucky Santangelo has to deal with them all. Meanwhile Max - her teenage daughter - is becoming the "It" girl in Europe's modeling world. And her Kennedyesque son, Bobby, is being set up for a murder he didn't commit. But Lucky can deal. Always strong and unpredictable, with her husband Lennie by her side, she lives up to the family motto - Never fuck with a Santangelo. 

Lucky rules the Santangelos always come out on top. 

The Santangelos is an epic family saga filled with love, lust, revenge and passion.

Review: Quite surprisingly, this is my first Jackie Collins' book and I think that when you read for the first time such a famous and acclaimed author, you kind of feel intimidated. Especially knowing that The Santangelos is the 10th (!) book about this family so most readers already know the characters inside out and feel part of the family. But when this stunning copy landed on my doorstep, I couldn't resist diving in and what I can assure you is that this can be perfectly read as a stand alone novel. Jackie Collins fills all the gaps easily (you don't feel like she's just feeding you information for the kick of it, it all flows perfectly) and soon you find yourself caring for this family as much as the most loyal fan.

I clearly saw why Jackie Collins has made such a big name for herself. Her opera soap-like style with so much drama, betrayals and revenge instantly captures you and the story moves at such a fast paced speed that you fly by the more than 500 pages of the story without even realising. Plus, the multiple points of view make you connect with the character a lot more and understand them and their actions a lot better.

I would say The Santangelos is a highly entertaining treat that takes you to a totally different world: Hollywood, Las Vegas, luxurious hotels and night clubs, and even drug lords and a middle east king! Certainly anything can happen! And with such volatile characters, Jackie managed to surprise me a couple of times with her clever twits. 

For a Jackie Collins' newbie, I found The Santangelos the perfect introduction to the family. I was really impressed with Lucky Santangelo as the main character and pillar of the family and knowing that she kicked even more asses in previous novels, I won't be able to resist picking some of her older books. But the cast of the novel certainly has something for everyone, difficult to choose a favourite (apart from Lucky) but quite easy to find someone to hate (that kind of character that you love hating).

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. 

This week is all about series. I actually thought I was doing well with series (I never like leaving them unfinished) but as I started thinking, I realised there were quite a few I actually hadn't finished (yet?). I am definitely planning on finishing most of them but I'm not quite sure about some...

Actually Series by Ali McNamara. I still can't believe I haven't read the third and last book of this series. From Notting Hill With Love... Actually is one of my all time favourite books!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I've only read the first one but absolutely loved it. I really need to get the other two books as I can't wait to find out Lola's and Isla's stories. 

Love London Series by Nikki Moore. Nikke has released several short stories during the year for her Love London Series and the three I've read, I've enjoyed a lot. In August she released the final novel and I really need to find the time to check them all. 

Walsh Family by Marian Keyes. I have read all the books written by Marian Keyes except for The Mystery of Mercy Close, which is part of this series. I have heard great things about so I hope to pick it up soon. 

Summer Flings by Aimée Duffy. I started this series of fun short stories last summer but somehow, I kind of forgot about them. I'm still curious to know how the story progressed so I might pick them again someday. 

Fall Away Series by Penelope Douglas. I've read two books from this series and I was not convinced so I'm quite sure I won't read any more.

After by Anna Todd. I was sent the first book to review and I kind of enjoyed it but three more books of the same on and off relationship? I'm not sure I want to keep reading this one.

Bridget Jones by Helen Fielding. I read the first book years ago (after watching the movie actually) and I've had the second book for years (and the third since it was released) but I never got around to reading them. Must rectify soon.

On Dublin Street by Samantha Young. I enjoyed the first book and also other books by this author so I'm hopeful that some day I'll go back to this series. 

Pleasures by Evie Hunter. I was recommended this series and read the first book. It was good, but not so good for me to make me want to continue with the series.

I think I'm forgetting some series I haven't finished here, but I usually tend to finish them so I hope the list won't grow too much!