Mini Review: Purple, Silver, Olive, Orange: A Short Story by Helen Smith

Mini Review. 

As you might know, I enjoy reading short stories every now then to break up the longer novels. I like a quick beginning, middle and an end. This book was offered as a free download on Amazon, as part of Helen’s newsletter. I think at the moment, it is available for 99p.

Description:

An entertaining short story set in a futuristic England, Purple, Silver, Olive, Orange is a bite-sized introduction to Helen Smith’s writing.

Sarah wanted a sensitive, poetic, romantic boyfriend who would bring her flowers. Ryan ticks all the boxes. So why isn’t Sarah happy?

 

My Thoughts:

This was a really intriguing read. The description was quite vague so I didn’t really know what to expect. The title, description and cover didn’t give much away. Actually I really liked this, as I went into the book not knowing what to expect, but was very pleasantly surprised. 

We hear of the two characters Sarah and Ryan who are in a relationship. We are not sure how long they have been together or at what stage it is at. They get a visitor who shakes things up a bit for them.

The clue is in the description, but I just browsed over that…… Futuristic!  

I haven’t read any of Helen Smith’s books before, but this bite sized read had shown me that I like her writing style. I have read other reviews on the book where people have said ‘there’s a message to appreciate what you have’. I guess you could see this, but I just wanted a quick read that was a bit quirky, and that’s exactly the way I took it. 

Have you read this, or any of Helen Smith’s books? If you have please recommend me the best one? If you haven’t what do you think of the sound of this little treat?

 

Links:

GOODREADS

AMAZON.CO.UK

AMAZON.COM

Twitter

HelenSmithBooks.com

 

 

 

 

Day and Night Book Tag.

Thank you very much to Shawna from https://bookishshimmycaster.wordpress.com for nominating me for this bookish tag.

Its been really nice to get to know Shawna through her blog recently and I am very happy that she tagged me in this this post. Shawna has a great blog, and I recommend you all hop over for a browse and a follow.

I’m not tagging anyone in particular, but I’d love for you to follow on with this post! Bookbloggers and book lovers,  lets share our thoughts in this cute post.

Here goes with the questions:

D: Do you read more in the morning or at night?

Definitely more at night, I don’t have time to read in the morning before work. I like to enter my alternative world of whichever book I’m reading before  I go to sleep at night.

A: Are there any books that changed the way you thought about things?

Books always make you think about why the characters are the way they are and why they make the decisions that they make. The most prominent book that I have read involves this quote:

“Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it”, Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Y: YA or not?

I haven’t read a huge amount of YA, (Since I’ve been an adult) but I do enjoy the occasional YA book. My preferred read is crime thriller and chick lit / contemporary female. My next YA adult read I’m looking forward to is ‘Finding Audrey’ by Sophie Kinsella. Her first YA, and as I love all her other books, I’m sure this will be amazing too.

A: Are there any characters you honestly believe to be real?

Most characters I read about seem real in my head at the time of reading. A good book should have you engrossed in their lives so that you are following their adventures, emotional journey or whatever their story entails. Unless the author is writing about their real life story, then usually the characters aren’t really alive, but a good author will entice you into their lives so that you believe that they are ‘real’.

N: Nobody borrows my books or I don’t mind lending them out?

I don’t mind lending my books out, I would like it if more people wanted to borrow them actually so that we could discuss the story, characters, ending etc. Unfortunately, I don’t have many friends who read. (This doesn’t include my Twitter / Blogger friends who I love to share bookish thoughts with). 😉

D: Do you ever smell your books?

I do, its strange but I do!!! The last book I read, ‘So, You Think You’re A Celebrity….Chef’ by Caroline James, I swear I could smell a foody smell from it! I asked my Husband to smell it, and got the response back with an odd look, “It smells like paper”!!!!

N: Not everyone likes books, is this a positive or a negative?

It’s neither positive or negative. Everyone has their own interests, mine happens to be reading books. I think those that don’t read haven’t found the right books yet, or haven’t given it a chance. But each to their own.

I: I keep my books in the best condition or maybe not? Which are you?

I try to keep them in good condition, but not so as to not enjoy reading them. I certainly don’t deface them or anything, but I will take them in the garden, to the beach etc. I will also probably get a few biscuit crumbs in them. My books are read and lived and loved. 

G: Gosh I have too many books! True or False?

No, definitely not! I will say that I don’t have enough space to keep all the books I would like to keep. So, quite often I will give my books away, either to my followers via a giveaway or to my Mum or Sister in Law. I am happy to give them away to someone who will enjoy them as much as me. I have kept all of my e books though, my kindle is very full! 

H: Have you ever spilled or stained your books before with something, and if so how?

Ok, maybe not quite as bad as that! I have had sand, grass and biscuit crumbs in my books, but nothing too horrible or destructive.

T: Toned or untoned while reading? . . or in other words. . .Do you read and workout at the same time?

Funny question! How could you workout and read at the same time. For me, both would require all your attention? So, no I do both but not at the same time.

Thank you again Shawna for tagging me in this lovely bookish post. It was a fun post to write.

I would love to hear your answers to the questions. Let me know your thoughts and if you do this tag, leave me your links so I can read them.

Happy Reading from Me, Amanda at ChocolatePages.  xxx

                     Thanks to #SundayStars and #WOTW for                                         hosting link ups that I have participated in with this post.