If You Find This Letter: My Journey to Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters to Strangers (Hannah Brencher)

Synopsis:
A heartwarming memoir of love and faith from Hannah Brencher, founder of The World Needs More Love Letters, who has dedicated her life to showing total strangers that they are not alone in the world.
Fresh out of college, Hannah Brencher moved to New York, expecting her life to look like a scene from Sex and the City. Instead, she found a city full of people who knew where they were going and what they were doing and didn't have time for a girl still trying to figure it all out. Lonely and depressed, she noticed a woman who looked like she felt the same way on the subway. Hannah did something strange--she wrote the woman a letter. She folded it, scribbled If you find this letter, it's for you on the front and left it behind.
When she realized that it made her feel better, she started writing and leaving love notes all over the city--in doctor's offices, in coat pockets, in library books, in bathroom stalls. Feeling crushed within a culture that only felt like connecting on a screen, she poured her heart out to complete strangers. She found solace in the idea that her words might brighten someone's day.
Hannah's project took on a life of its own when she made an offer on her blog: She would handwrite a note and mail it to anyone who wanted one. Overnight, her inbox exploded with requests from people all over the world. Nearly 400 handwritten letters later, she started the website, The World Needs More Love Letters, which quickly grew.
There is something about receiving a handwritten note that is so powerful in today's digital era. If You Find This Letter chronicles Hannah's attempts to bring more love into the world,and shows how she rediscovered her faith through the movement she started.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review.
I first heard of The World Needs More Love Letters years ago, just when it was on the brink of becoming the extraordinary movement it is now, I just never put a face to the wonderful woman behind it all. This book changed that entirely, not to mention my perspective on everything. That's when you know you are holding a masterpiece, when it feels like the equivalent of a soul-searching trip through the mountains.
There's a lot to be said about this book, more than will ever be able to be expressed by simple words, but if there is one thing we can try to start with is Hannah Brencher's engrossing magical writing. Throughout the entire book I felt bewitched and hypnotised by the brilliance of Hannah's words, the passion, self-discovery and honesty she transmitted through the page. It was an incredible experience to see how such a young woman was able to create so much, and how beautifully she was capable of transmitting it to us, readers. Hannah Brencher is the perfect example of powerful defyance of oppressive sadness, a rebel to depression and a heroic person to look up to.
I found the story itself to be one of the most inspiring moments of my recent reading experiences, especially given the fact that it is a memoir, the real story of a real person, and it made me feel something I hadn't felt in a very long time: the sudden urge to do something greater than myself. If You Find This Letter is so full of love and emotion and reality, it's the perfect portrait of a life worth fighting through, while showing that the best way to help ourselves is to help others. I immediately signed up to be a part of the More Love Letters team, so I can help to share the love Hannah Brencher planted with that first letter she wrote.
I must say this was the easiest five star rating I have given this year, and I can't recommend this book to enough people to be content with my efforts.

The Worrier's Guide to Life (Gemma Correll)

Release Date: May 26th 2015 

Synopsis:  
If you're floundering in life, striking out in love, struggling to pay the rent, and worried about it all -- you're in luck! World Champion Worrier and Expert Insomniac Gemma Correll is here to assure you that it could be much, much worse.
In her hugely popular comic drawings, Gemma Correll dispenses dubious advice and unreliable information on life as she sees it, including The Dystopian Zodiac, Reward Stickers for Grown-Ups, Palm Reading for Millennials, and a Map of the Introvert's Heart. For all you fellow agonizers, fretters, and nervous wrecks, this book is for you. Read it and weep...with laughter

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
I had no idea what to expect going into this, only that I knew the author's style would interest me, as I had been following her work for a while. I related to the title on a spiritual level, and took a kind of leap of faith by downloading it. I can't say I regret that decision, at all.
First of all, I need to officially acknowledge Gemma Correll's art and, most importantly, the way she is able to show her humour through it. The combination of the two, through subtle and not-so-subtle ways, shows how talented she is, as well as how connected she is with what she is drawing. She understands and knows very well what she's talking about and that shows in every page.
As a class A introvert, I was able to relate to every message and I was glad someone was able to understand it and do so in such a clear and appealing way. There was so much to see and, most importantly, laugh at, that we don't even realise we are nearing the end. That is how you know you are holding a great book.
From knowing exactly how my brain and heart works, to puting into images basically how a session of meditation works for me, Gemma Carroll got every detail, illustrating my life in a colourful biography. To me, this was a way of making something as serious as social anxiety understandable and funny, functioning, simultaneously, as a guide to someone who doesn't understand what it's like, and as comic relief to those of us who see their lives completely overwhelmed by it.
I applaud the author on this incredible, fast read... as I run to the nearest bookshop to buy more of her work.

Edward Scissorhands Volume 1: Parts Unknown (Kate Leth, Drew Rausch - Illustrator)

Release Date: May 19th 2015  

Synopsis:  
An all-new adventure revisiting Edward Scissorhands' two decades after the end of the fan-favorite movie! In a castle just outside a sleepy suburban town, a brilliant inventor created Edward Scissorhands... but left him tragically unfinished. Two generations of exile have left Edward digging through abandoned experiments, but once he wakes up a creature left buried, he discovers he isn't the only one missing a vital piece. As Edward tries to fix a grave mistake, he comes face-to-face with a teenage girl who was sure he was only myth... despite the stories her grandmother told her about the man she could never touch.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
When I saw this on Netgalley I had to take a moment to go back to the first time I watched Edward Scissorhands. It's one of my absolute favourite movies and I remember that time so clearly I almost cried when I had the honor of reading this amazing tribute set two generations after the end of the movie.
Edward is one of the most fantastic and fascinating characters I have ever encountered and I bet he's not easy to portray in an adaptation of this nature. However, both the writer and the illustrator did a stellar job at making him show through the barrier of words and image with no sound and motion. He was as real and sweet as we've always known him and I have to admit that he is probably the best part about this whole volume, although everything was very near perfect, in my humble opinion.
We are introduced to new characters and a new plot, including one of Edward's 'relatives' and each one of those elements came together so beautifully.
I have to acclaim the amazing artist who worked on 'Parts Unknown', because the drawings were absolutely beautiful and haunting and carried that same feel of the original movie.
The only thing that lowered my rating (just a tiny tiny bit) was the ending. Even though the story itself was extremely fast-paced and exciting, the ending felt just a little bit rushed and predictable, but, of course, that's not something I wasn't expecting already.
I am sure I will only fall even more in love with the characters and connect with the story with the next volumes.
I absolutely recommend this to anyone, not just fans of the movie. I believe anyone would love Edward, no matter if they have seen it or not, but I also think people who have will automatically feel the nostalgia factor and that will definitely increase the experience and enjoyment.

The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks (Sam Maggs)

Release Date: May 12th 2015

Synopsis:
Fanfic, cosplay, cons, books, memes, podcasts, vlogs, OTPs and RPGs and MMOs and more - €”it'€™s never been a better time to be a girl geek. The Fangirl'€™s Guide to the Galaxy is the ultimate handbook for ladies living the nerdy life, a fun and feminist take on the often male-dominated world of geekdom. With delightful illustrations and an unabashed love for all the in(ternet)s and outs of geek culture, this book is packed with tips, playthroughs, and cheat codes for everything from starting an online fan community to planning a convention visit to supporting fellow female geeks in the wild.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review.
Let me just start by saying that this is a must read for every fangirl (or fanboy). Although this is mostly aimed at fangirls, I wholeheartedly believe fanboys could take a lot from it, not only in terms of tips for conventions, new books and fandoms, but also in the matter of understanding your fangirl friends.
Overall, this is basically a how-to guide, a Bible, almost, for fangirls all over the world, veteran or new to a specific fandom. I am relatively new to most pop culture fandoms, but with this I feel like I just read a manual on fan culture.
The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy covers everything that matters, honestly. It teaches you how to start crashing into the world's favourite fandoms, how to fangirl over them, how to show your love, how to pack for, handle and react at conventions, how to speak fanfic language, how to deal with online friends and trolls and how to be proud of your gender and fangirl-dom.
Sam Maggs was able to write such an empowering, honest and funny book that teaches you the ways of the world and how to make it a better place through your love of Sherlock and Harry Potter.
It's written in an insightful, inspiring, hilarious and true manner, making you feel like you are part of all of it, and, most importantly, that your input and your existence in the geek world matters.
This is, most of all, a way of showing you that your passion for the things you love and your imagination and creativity can change the world and improve your life, if you just embrace it and don't let yourself get defeated by the haters. It features interviews with women that have made fangirl their jobs (kinda) and grown into loving what they do and sharing it with the rest of human kind.
While reading this I felt like I had finally met someone who understood the true awesomeness of being a nerd in real life. It was my favourite part of the book, besides its useful information on all of the things. I felt included while laughing the whole time.
The perfect book to read at all times, and I can't recommend it enough to everyone who is curious about the huge part of today's culture that are fandoms.

A Free Man (Michel Basilières)

Release Date: May 1st 2015

Synopsis: 
An unusual and remarkable dystopian novel
A Free Man is a satirical tall tale presented as the drug and alcohol fuelled conversation of two old friends getting reacquainted over one night. It’s also a boy-meets-girl story of the worst kind and a time travel story about a future where the world is ruled by robots and humans are vermin. When timelines cross, the world as we know it bends . . .
Skid Roe is completely self-absorbed and delusional. His struggle to exercise free will is constantly hampered by the physical manifestation of his inner demons and by the norms and rules of contemporary life. He’s both aided and hindered by Lem, a robot from the future whose good intentions leave Skid on the run from a shadowy state security agency.
A surreal, beautiful, and powerful literary mash-up, Basilières’ long-awaited sophomore effort is inventive and darkly funny.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review.
My first impression of this book was a bit mixed and I couldn't help but feel rather confused and, to be honest, turned-off by the beginning. However, from the very first page there is just something in A Free Man that makes you keep reading, something so obscure and fascinating that you can't realise it until you finish. That something, for me, was the thought-provoking message that was deeply rooted in the overall story, which was as weird and bizarre as it was possibly the most provocative idea I have read about in a very long time.
The main idea of this book is to consider and ponder about the future and what it may hold for us, humans, as a species, through the story of an extremely curious set of characters. That theme was dealt in such a peculiar way by the author that you are kind of distracted from that plot in favour of another major theme: drug use. I couldn't help but wonder, all the way through, if that was actually a real story lived by the main character, Skid, or just product of his drug-fueled delusions.
There was a massive group of bizarre and almost grotesque characters, sub-plot lines and elements all throughout the story and I must give kudos to the author, Michel Basilières, for his extraordinary storytelling technique that he demonstrated in A Free Man.
There is a lot going on, but it felt like it just went by in a flash, leaving us there to deal with the aftermath of what we had just witnessed. That was one of the best parts about this, as I'd never before felt like I did after finishing this story. I felt almost like I should keep it hidden, not tell anyone I'd read it because it was so strange and rude.
As far as characters go, they were all definitely flawed and incredibly complex in a way that is impossible to describe, not to mention utterly cringe-worthy and detestable.
When it comes to thinking about the future, I believe this book adopts a certain Orwell-esque approach while thinking of what will be of our world and ourselves in hundreds of years. Like I mentioned before, this was one of the most thought-provoking dystopian books I have ever experienced and I reckon it will feel that way for a lot of people. Absolutely recommend this, despite it's strong language and heavy themes.