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michalice's review against another edition
4.0
I had not heard of A Month with April-May before, so when I was contacted by the publisher to review this book, I read the synopsis and thought it sounded like a light, fun read. The minute I began reading I did not want to stop, and finished the book in a few hours.
When I started reading my first thought was 'I feel sorry for this girl having a name like April-May February'. I don't like my own full name, for reasons I won't go into, but if I had a name like that I would definitely be changing it at the first possible opportunity. Even though the name is strange, it actually fits the character perfectly. I love her sense of humour, her attitude and how she thinks about things and rationalises doing things she shouldn't, and even how she categorises teachers into 'the bunch that barely make it out of bed to come to school' and 'people you just don't want hanging around your classroom'.
April-May goes into great detail about her surroundings, which makes for an amusing read, for example her desk-mate is the class mouth-breather, or how much she loves Edward Cullen . I loved her game of Russian roulette with a thesaurus and having to use similes five times that day for her chosen word.
The hi-jinx that April gets into, and ends up dragging her friends into as we'll had me laughing, and its not until the very end that April-May realises exactly what she has got, and finally realises the truth.
Edyth Bulbring has taken a normal school girl with everyday problems and turned her into an intriguing, quirky character that I needed to know more about. A Month With April-May is a quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed from the moment I began, but one that also ended far too soon, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
When I started reading my first thought was 'I feel sorry for this girl having a name like April-May February'. I don't like my own full name, for reasons I won't go into, but if I had a name like that I would definitely be changing it at the first possible opportunity. Even though the name is strange, it actually fits the character perfectly. I love her sense of humour, her attitude and how she thinks about things and rationalises doing things she shouldn't, and even how she categorises teachers into 'the bunch that barely make it out of bed to come to school' and 'people you just don't want hanging around your classroom'.
April-May goes into great detail about her surroundings, which makes for an amusing read, for example her desk-mate is the class mouth-breather, or how much she loves Edward Cullen . I loved her game of Russian roulette with a thesaurus and having to use similes five times that day for her chosen word.
The hi-jinx that April gets into, and ends up dragging her friends into as we'll had me laughing, and its not until the very end that April-May realises exactly what she has got, and finally realises the truth.
Edyth Bulbring has taken a normal school girl with everyday problems and turned her into an intriguing, quirky character that I needed to know more about. A Month With April-May is a quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed from the moment I began, but one that also ended far too soon, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
shereadsbookssometimes's review against another edition
2.0
This book is a simple short story based in Africa with many ANNOYING references to the popular series Twilight.
April-May is a teenage girl who has a not so rich family and struggles with irritating teachers, I suppose her constant whining and experimental actions was meant to relate to a teens behaviour. Wrong! I'm just going to say not every teenager is a school skipping, smoker who enjoys tormenting the living daylight out of their teachers.
The writing style was rather basic and the story wasn't exactly captivating but it was an okay read. Now I just want to mention one thing when you read a book you do NOT want to see the words: twilight, vampire, Edward, Bella, new moon, blood and any other reference to Twilight 50 million times, that is not a way to engage your readers. But I guess the story had a moral to it, keep your real friends because fake friends are pathetic.
April-May is a teenage girl who has a not so rich family and struggles with irritating teachers, I suppose her constant whining and experimental actions was meant to relate to a teens behaviour. Wrong! I'm just going to say not every teenager is a school skipping, smoker who enjoys tormenting the living daylight out of their teachers.
The writing style was rather basic and the story wasn't exactly captivating but it was an okay read. Now I just want to mention one thing when you read a book you do NOT want to see the words: twilight, vampire, Edward, Bella, new moon, blood and any other reference to Twilight 50 million times, that is not a way to engage your readers. But I guess the story had a moral to it, keep your real friends because fake friends are pathetic.
thebookaddictedgirl's review
4.0
“I should have known from the first moment I met her: it was either me or Mrs Ho. One of us was going to have to go.”
Everyone knows staring a new school is hard. And April-May February may have just had the worst first day in the history of ever.
First, her bag was the wrong colour. Then she got yelled at (again) for having too bright socks. Then she makes a new worst enemy in the form of Mrs Ho, the evilest person ever. Next her clothes get nicked. And on top of it all, she's totally addicted to Twilight and can't get her hands on the second book (begin panic attack now!). Yup, day one, and already she has the big, fat label of 'Trouble Maker'.
On the bright side, she does have a new best friend in Melly. There's also a totally hot guy on the scene (he's called Seb and might just be her own Edward).
Who said childhood was innocent and carefree? Whoever did obviously never had to live through Trinity College. Or have a to-the-end battle against the persistent Mrs Ho.
Or have a freaking calendar as a name!
I do love funny books, me. I read so many tearjerkers and dystopias and paranormals, so down-to-earth funnies are always more than welcome. Of course, A Month With April-May wasn't overly down-to-earth, instead being more bonkers, kind of like the Georgia Nicolson series – something I loved! It was completely barmy and bundles of fun. I'll admit, there are some darkish moments and bits where I wanted to smack April-May on the back of her head, but I stormed right through the book in a single sitting, gobbling it up. I can't wait for the next in the series!
I just adored all the characters in this book – they were all absolutely mad! Since the book was only short, we didn't really get to know everyone overly well, but I liked loads of them anyway. And I loved April-May, even if she was an evil, sneaky, crafty, sore-losing genius! She was just hilarious – cheeky, funny, witty – everything you could want in a teen lead! I found myself instantly falling in love with the wacky April-May – she was just brilliant! Plus, her evil-genius moments were pretty scary-brilliant! I loved Melly, her sweet bestie – she was the best bestie a girl could have! And Mrs Ho was a brilliant character – poor woman, the lady was in charge of a sinking ship and had an evil genius as an arch nemesis! No wonder she was tightly wound, hey?! I can’t wait to see more of her. Seb was a bad boy – I don’t really know what April-May saw in him: I think she just wanted an Edward – but what teen doesn't? I also liked Fluffy, her dad. He was kind of scattered but was really sweet and loving. Speaking of, April-May's family was insane and so, so dysfunctional. I'm sure people will be able to relate to April-May's situation – she felt like she had to be two people for her parents, like being pulled apart. And all she wanted was for them to be together again. I felt so sorry for her – and very impressed by her crafty get-Mom-and-Fluffy-together-again tactics!
I loved Bulbring's voice – it was snarky and funny and so teen. And I felt like I totally got and loved April-May! Oh, and I loved all her "Cold Facts" – some of them were really funny and all were so interesting. I also loved all the Afrikaans words that were scattered about. And I found April-May's war both amusing and the kind of thing only an evil genius can cook up! And with the short chapters and non-stop hijinks, I found myself zipping through it – y’know the sort: just one more chapter ... Dangerous! And the ending was just perfect – and left me wanting more of April-May's insanity!
I must say, I was kind of expecting a tween book when I picked this one up – I'm not sure why, maybe the length? – but this is a very teen book: I can't wait for the teens of England to be set loose on this one, cause they're gonna love it!
Now, with a lovably flawed and crafty heroine, a battle of wills between her and a teacher and a series of mad and funny events, A Month With April-May has left me wanting much more time with her! Perfect for fans of Jess Jordan and Georgia Nicolson, April-May is going to be a huge, huge hit with teen girls. Yay to April-May! I'm super excited about your next book - but please be longer!!
Everyone knows staring a new school is hard. And April-May February may have just had the worst first day in the history of ever.
First, her bag was the wrong colour. Then she got yelled at (again) for having too bright socks. Then she makes a new worst enemy in the form of Mrs Ho, the evilest person ever. Next her clothes get nicked. And on top of it all, she's totally addicted to Twilight and can't get her hands on the second book (begin panic attack now!). Yup, day one, and already she has the big, fat label of 'Trouble Maker'.
On the bright side, she does have a new best friend in Melly. There's also a totally hot guy on the scene (he's called Seb and might just be her own Edward).
Who said childhood was innocent and carefree? Whoever did obviously never had to live through Trinity College. Or have a to-the-end battle against the persistent Mrs Ho.
Or have a freaking calendar as a name!
I do love funny books, me. I read so many tearjerkers and dystopias and paranormals, so down-to-earth funnies are always more than welcome. Of course, A Month With April-May wasn't overly down-to-earth, instead being more bonkers, kind of like the Georgia Nicolson series – something I loved! It was completely barmy and bundles of fun. I'll admit, there are some darkish moments and bits where I wanted to smack April-May on the back of her head, but I stormed right through the book in a single sitting, gobbling it up. I can't wait for the next in the series!
I just adored all the characters in this book – they were all absolutely mad! Since the book was only short, we didn't really get to know everyone overly well, but I liked loads of them anyway. And I loved April-May, even if she was an evil, sneaky, crafty, sore-losing genius! She was just hilarious – cheeky, funny, witty – everything you could want in a teen lead! I found myself instantly falling in love with the wacky April-May – she was just brilliant! Plus, her evil-genius moments were pretty scary-brilliant! I loved Melly, her sweet bestie – she was the best bestie a girl could have! And Mrs Ho was a brilliant character – poor woman, the lady was in charge of a sinking ship and had an evil genius as an arch nemesis! No wonder she was tightly wound, hey?! I can’t wait to see more of her. Seb was a bad boy – I don’t really know what April-May saw in him: I think she just wanted an Edward – but what teen doesn't? I also liked Fluffy, her dad. He was kind of scattered but was really sweet and loving. Speaking of, April-May's family was insane and so, so dysfunctional. I'm sure people will be able to relate to April-May's situation – she felt like she had to be two people for her parents, like being pulled apart. And all she wanted was for them to be together again. I felt so sorry for her – and very impressed by her crafty get-Mom-and-Fluffy-together-again tactics!
I loved Bulbring's voice – it was snarky and funny and so teen. And I felt like I totally got and loved April-May! Oh, and I loved all her "Cold Facts" – some of them were really funny and all were so interesting. I also loved all the Afrikaans words that were scattered about. And I found April-May's war both amusing and the kind of thing only an evil genius can cook up! And with the short chapters and non-stop hijinks, I found myself zipping through it – y’know the sort: just one more chapter ... Dangerous! And the ending was just perfect – and left me wanting more of April-May's insanity!
I must say, I was kind of expecting a tween book when I picked this one up – I'm not sure why, maybe the length? – but this is a very teen book: I can't wait for the teens of England to be set loose on this one, cause they're gonna love it!
Now, with a lovably flawed and crafty heroine, a battle of wills between her and a teacher and a series of mad and funny events, A Month With April-May has left me wanting much more time with her! Perfect for fans of Jess Jordan and Georgia Nicolson, April-May is going to be a huge, huge hit with teen girls. Yay to April-May! I'm super excited about your next book - but please be longer!!
bookflix's review
3.0
(3.7 stars)
This book is meant for a middlegrade or younger YA audience, which does mean that I am not the target demographic. However, I did enjoy the writting style it really showed April May's character, she was consitent, smart and whitty. And she was likable. And she was being portrayed completely accurately as a 14 year old girl, however, this does mean that she often can be infuriating, make really poor decisions and be a brat and sometimes cruel. She tends to be manipulative and cruel, but I can't fully fault this as it is accurate. Though I liked the unique writing style that mirrored a thought process, if you are someone that likes world building and detailed description then this isn't the book for you. In fact if she wasn't on the cover we would have no clue what she looked like. In fact, sometimes the lack of detailing does bring my rating down, because so many things are left undeveloped and we do just skip to what is relevant to the ending. Like, her mentioning she's in a covern and basic things like her classmates. And even with the consideration that it is a short novella, it is a little basic. Saying this the 'facts' section before every chapter is really enjoyable and spices up this book. My last point is that unfortunitly this stories heavy reliance on Twilight does really date it, but it doesn't ruin it. DECENT AND ENJOYABLE.
This book is meant for a middlegrade or younger YA audience, which does mean that I am not the target demographic. However, I did enjoy the writting style it really showed April May's character, she was consitent, smart and whitty. And she was likable. And she was being portrayed completely accurately as a 14 year old girl, however, this does mean that she often can be infuriating, make really poor decisions and be a brat and sometimes cruel. She tends to be manipulative and cruel, but I can't fully fault this as it is accurate. Though I liked the unique writing style that mirrored a thought process, if you are someone that likes world building and detailed description then this isn't the book for you. In fact if she wasn't on the cover we would have no clue what she looked like. In fact, sometimes the lack of detailing does bring my rating down, because so many things are left undeveloped and we do just skip to what is relevant to the ending. Like, her mentioning she's in a covern and basic things like her classmates. And even with the consideration that it is a short novella, it is a little basic. Saying this the 'facts' section before every chapter is really enjoyable and spices up this book. My last point is that unfortunitly this stories heavy reliance on Twilight does really date it, but it doesn't ruin it. DECENT AND ENJOYABLE.
lollalong's review
4.0
An interesting story about a young girl who lives in Johannesburg. It was good to read something about a character who isn't completely sympathetic and also who had a different style of life.
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