Bookish Looks #1: Cath from Fangirl

For those of you who missed my earlier post on Second Hand September, I’m using this month to put together some looks inspired by my favourite book characters using clothes I’ve bought from charity shops. Mostly it’s to encourage second hand buying because fast fashion is ruining our environment, but it’s also because I just really love clothes and books. 

The first bookish look I wanted to try is Cath from one of my all-time favourite books, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Cath is one of those characters that I connect with on a spiritual level. We'd be here all day if I tried to write a list of all the reasons why I love her. From her anxiety to her love of Simon Snow, I can relate to her in so many ways. With her cardigan and jeans combo, she also has an adorable sense of fashion!

This post wouldn’t be right if I didn’t try to recreate the iconic illustration of Cath from the book cover. Queen of colour combination, Book Cover Cath teams her yellow knit with some pink jeans on the original edition of Fangirl. I put together my own version of the outfit with some of the clothes I had in my own closet.

The yellow cardigan is a fave of mine which I picked up because of my love for knitwear and Hufflepuff yellow, which is very Cath of me anyway. Here's a breakdown of the outfit:

• Cardigan - £1.75 from my nearest Red Cross shop. Best £1.75 I've ever spent. You'll probably see this cardigan several times.
• Jeans - £2 from a local charity shop that was opened in order to help support the community after the explosion of a building destroyed several local businesses. 
• Shirt - £1 from Age UK. Fair warning, my nearest and favourite charity shop is the Age UK that's a twenty minute walk from my house. It has wonderful staff and sells most clothes for under £3. That place is literally my SAVIOUR when it comes to clothes, so prepare to see me hype it up a lot. 
• Converse - £5 from a Preloved Kilo sale.

Just in case you haven't come across Preloved Kilo before, let me give you a little intro. It's a traveling vintage sale in the UK that charges £15 per kilo on clothes. There's no minimum spend, so you can get a light item for as little as 75p! They have Converse and Vans for £5 a pair, which is how I got mine. I absolutely love going to these sales when they're in my nearest city. There are quite a few companies that run pay-by-weight sales now, so I'd highly recommend doing a search to see if there are any upcoming ones in your area.

My next outfit makes use of my favourite yellow cardigan again, and is similar to the type of outfit I'd picture Cath wearing in my head. Yes, I am holding my copy of Carry On because we all know Cath would too.

• Striped shirt - £1 from Age UK. The Cath in my head pairs basic but cute shirts with jeans. I hope she likes stripes as much as I do 🤔
• Shoes - £2 from Age UK. They're Rocketdog and have pretty jewels on them. I love them. 
• Jeans - Preloved Kilo.
• Tote - I didn't even buy this, it was given to me by my university. But hey, saving the planet by reducing plastic bags is just a good as sustainable fashion. 

I had to include these jeans specifically because....they're Levi's.......... 😏 Speaking of Levi, my third and final outfit is partly inspired by him! Let's say Cath stole one of his adorable plaid shirts, shall we?

• Jeans - I can't remember how much they were because I got them from a charity shop literal YEARS AGO. But they're still going strong and remain some of my faves.
• Plaid Shirt - this is actually a hand-me-down from my Mum. Always a good idea to save your parents' clothes from going to a landfill and giving them a new lease of life. 
• Shirt - my only clothing exception to the second hand rule, but I had to include it because WATFORD. This was kindly sent to me by MyKindaBook for being one of the bloggers in their Rainbow Rowell fanclub. I've gotten so much wear out of this shirt over the years - it's one of my absolute faves!

I found it fairly easy to dress the way I picture Cath by selecting some of my own favourite clothes. Maybe taste in fashion is another thing to add to my list of Things I Have in Common with Cath Avery. Now all I need to add is Levi.

Bonus Bookish Bargain

Considering I'm a person who, for purely selfish reasons, wants every edition of Fangirl ever, I was lucky to find the fanart edition in Oxfam for £1.99! This is why I love charity shops. I don't have to justify buying multiple copies of the same book if I can find them second hand. Right????

My paperback version of Carry On also came from Oxfam. Yes, okay, I want every edition ever of Carry On as well.

So, there you have it, my first Bookish Look! I hope you enjoyed me frantically ripping my wardrobe apart in order to find the perfect clothes combination for Cath. I can only hope I've done her justice. Now I just need to invest in more cardigans.

Have a character you'd like to see me create some outfits for? Let me know in the comments!

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Bookish Birthday Haul

Ah, the ageing process. Not something I actively enjoy celebrating, but it can't be avoided. What makes it just that tiny bit easier is the only thing I ever ask for when my birthday rolls around: bookish gifts! This year, I was gifted some absolutely gorgeous book-related things, so I figured I'd do a mini haul. (Basically, I'm writing up absolutely anything I can for the blog this month because I'm taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo and don't have much time to read, hence the lack of reviews. Oops.) Here are the lovely things I got for my birthday last month!

First up is the absolutely gorgeous book of Your Name that I got from my wonderful bestie Rachel from Rachel's Really Random Reviews. When I tell you I nearly CRIED. It might be one of my favourite presents ever. In case you don't follow my Twitter and have managed to avoid me repeatedly talking about Your Name, I adore the anime. It's one of my favourite films because it's just so damn clever. I'm beyond excited to relive the story on the page! 

The second book to enter my new life as a 27yo is this ridiculously pretty edition of Fangirl from my gorgeous friend Jasmine! Fangirl is one of my all time favourite books and I already own two different versions of it, but I've always wanted to get my hands on the pink hardback because LOOK AT IT. Jasmine is an absolute darling for bringing this edition into my life. A Fangirl reread is on the horizon!

In news that will surprise absolutely no one, the rest of my bookish gifts were Harry Potter related. I'm a simple person to please. Throw anything Harry Potter at me and I'll be forever happy. My first HP goodie is a hardback edition of Chamber of Secrets that I actually persuaded Rachel to pick up for me at the charity shop she volunteers in. Let me explain: the copies of Harry Potter that I have are the same battered copies I've had since I started reading them as child. I only have hardbacks from Order of the Phoenix onwards, so I've been trying to rebuy them in hardback via charity shops. My old edition of CoS is quite literally falling apart (pages have fallen out, it's very tragic). She also got me some socks because I live for socks.

Thanking the Primark Gods (and my parents) for this cute pot with the Hogwarts crest! The succulent is fake because I have enough real ones to take care of. Really, I don't have any space left on my windowsill. Showing my Hufflepuff pride, I also got this cute pin!

Another gift from Jasmine is this absolutely gorgeous Hogwarts notebook. There's nothing I love more than a fresh notebook, especially ones this pretty. Look at the gold edges. I'm in LOVE.

My last two presents are sleep related. For those of you who don't know, I was diagnosed with insomnia last year and my quality of sleep is generally terrible, to say the least. I actively seek out anything to make nighttime a little easier on my poor self. Here's to hoping the nightshirt and Hedwig help me get some sleep!

I'm so in love with the bookish gifts I received this year! They certainly help the ageing process feel a little less daunting. I have plenty of book and blog related goals for the next year of my life. I just hope I can tick a few of them off my list.

What bookish gifts are on your wishlist?

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REVIEW: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Pages: 517
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, LGBT
Release Date: October 8th 2015
Buy The Book: Amazon UK - Waterstones - Amazon

Simon Snow just wants to relax and savour his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he'll be safe. Simon can't even enjoy the fact that his room-mate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can't stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you're the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savour anything.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.

My Thoughts:
I don’t even know where to start. Seriously. I’m practically left speechless, which doesn’t happen very often. THIS BOOK. I can’t cope with it. I’ve been reading well into the AM because this book is too stubborn to leave my hands.

I apologise in advance for this emotional mess that I’m about to try and pass off as a review. Also, I’ll keep things spoiler free for now (WHICH IS GOING TO KILL ME, BY THE WAY, JUST SO YOU KNOW), but I do plan on uploading a video discussion very soon for everyone that has read the book.  

Anyway, where should we start? Let’s cover the basics of the plot. Simon Snow has magic, but not just any magic. He’s been prophesied as the Greatest Mage. He’s the chosen one, and is, according to his roommate and ultimate enemy, Baz, the worst chosen one that’s ever been chosen. He’s in a bit of a mess. He can’t control his power, he doesn’t know how he came to have this enormous amount of power, and he’s basically clueless about what all of it means.  He’s also being constantly attacked by the Insidious Humdrum, who has been out to get him since he started at Watford.

Simon and Baz are enemies, and they’ve fought against each other non-stop since being forced to be roommates when they first arrived at Watford. When Baz doesn’t turn up at the start of term, Simon begins to get suspicious. Throughout the first part of the book, Simon becomes obsessive in his need to know where Baz is and what he’s plotting. He’s convinced that Baz could jump out at any given moment with a plan to bring him down. 

The first part of the book also gives us a great insight into Simon’s life at Watford so far, and his relationships whilst being there. We get to meet his best friend, Penelope, who I totally adore. And also his girlfriend, Agatha. Even though there is a lot of backstory to cover, it doesn’t feel rushed. By the time I reached the second part of the book, I felt like I’d known the school and characters for years. 

The chapters in which Simon is constantly thinking about Baz made me so anxious for him to finally arrive in the story. It drove me crazy! And then when he did arrive, oh boy did he arrive in style. He owned my heart immediately. Baz is so completely different from Simon, and I loved getting to see things from his point of view. He’s just so full of sass and arrogance, I couldn’t ask for a better character.

Although he’s snarky and generally unpleasant towards others, there is a specific scene from his first night back at Watford that adds a vulnerable side to his character that I wasn’t expecting so soon. I was already emotionally attached to him by that point! 

Due to a promise made by Simon, he ends up working alongside Baz for the first time, and it is here that the story takes on a whole new level. The changing of the relationship between the two of them throughout this book is a tension-filled emotional rollercoaster, and it’s beautifully written. I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like it, and I simply couldn’t get enough. 

Rainbow Rowell is one of my favourite contemporary authors because of how fantastic she is at building relationships. Every moment is electrifying between her characters and no detail is spared. Although this is a fantasy novel, Rainbow manages to inject some of that wonderful contemporary style into the dialogue and the emotions, creating the perfect balance of fantasy and romance.

One of the things that really stands out for me is the way we get to see the story from so many different perspectives. It doesn’t just focus solely on the thoughts running through Simon and Baz’s minds. I loved seeing Penelope’s side of things, and even Agatha’s. It allows readers to get to know all of the characters more in-depth.

I also have to mention how fantastically British this story is. Total credit to Rainbow for being spot on with all of the references and dialogue. I adore stories that embrace Britian in all it's Britishness glory.

The plot is thrilling from start to finish. There wasn’t anything about this story that lacked excitement. The conclusion was cleverly thought out, and I loved that not every question was answered by the time we reached the epilogue (WHICH WAS PERFECT, BY THE WAY). There were some things left for the reader to ponder about.

I am so grateful that Rainbow decided to write this story, and it deserves every bit of praise that it gets. Not only is it my favourite book from this year, but it’s also one of my favourite reads of all-time! 

So, as you’ve probably figured, I’m in love with this book. Now I need to go and catch up on the sleep I lost reading it.

Royal Rating:

  

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