Title: The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree

Author: Paola Peretti (translated by Denise Muir)

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Genres: Childrens, Contemporary

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: August 9th, 2018

Pages: 256

Synopsis (Goodreads): A novel for all ages about a young girl losing her sight, inspired by the author's own life story. For fans of Wonder, The Little Prince and The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly.

Mafalda is a nine-year-old girl who knows one thing: some time in the next six months her sight will fail completely. Can Mafalda find a way through a seemingly dark future and still go to school, play football and look after her beloved cat? With the help of her family, and her friends, Mafalda needs to discover the things that will be important to her when her sight has failed. A moving, empowering tale of courage and determination that will inspire young and old.

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My rating: 5 / 5 ★

There are good reasons as to why it took me almost a month to finish reading The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree: The first one would be my book slump. Even from the start, I had loved this book, but I was slightly stressed due to uni so I could not read much. Secondly, almost each chapter of this book made me tear up. It was hard for me to flip through the pages quickly as all I felt was to cry my heart out. This book breaks me, in the softest and warmest way possible.

The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree is about little Mafalda who has been diagnosed with the Stargardt disease and how she struggles to get used to her progressively vision loss. It is a story of how a girl has to learn to be independent and how she copes with it emotionally and physically. It's hard to swallow that people as young as Mafalda had to go through such a rough journey, and the fact that this story is inspired by the author's own experience made it more genuine and sincere. It had never occurred to me how people with visual impairment had to live their lives, and I believe these people are very strong.

Nine years old Mafalda is a sweet girl, but due to her condition, she had no best friend. It breaks my heart to see how lonely she feels, and how she longed to have someone next to her now that the darkness is taking over her. Her "talks" with a fiction character, Cosimo, is enough to make me tear up. So, when Filippo comes along with his own merry spirit and curiousity, it delights me that both children connects with each other. The same goes for Estella, one of the school caretaker that befriends Mafalda. Her character plays a rather large role in shaping Mafalda to be stronger and I am truly thankful towards her. Mafalda's friendship with Estella and Filippo made me feel warm, and there you go, I'm crying again.

The story progresses as Mafalda loses more of her vision, and even though this is a children's literature, the language and words spun to describe the experience of the girl feels mature, yet we can still be aware that she is still only nine years old. Mafalda may be scared of the darkness threatening to take her in, but she still faces it head on with much courage, though she only realised it later that she is actually not giving up at all. "Fear will always be there, but live your life. Never ever give up." These messages are possibly highlighted throughout the story.

All in all, I really feel deeply emotional towards this book. The characters, the plot and the issues contained in the story is warm, heartbreaking and bittersweet. Almost every chapter did make me tear up, but the ending is very touching to the point that I actually cried in public. It's more than I hoped, and I just love the ending as much as I love everything about The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree. To Paola Peretti, you might never read this, but I am utterly grateful for this story and the message it carried within. They say experience matures you, and I believe your own experience made this story so beautifully woven and it thought me a lot of good things. I hope you'll live your life with more happy moments, because you deserve it ♡



This book is definitely one of the prettiest books that I own. I love every single part of it, from the front cover till the back, everything is too beautiful. The illustrations are truly remarkable!

Thank you Pansing for providing me with this review copy. The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree is available in all good bookstores. I believe that I can recommend this book to all ages, especially to younger readers because it contains great morals and you'll find yourself warming up with the characters in no time.

Till next time ♡ Love, Aishah Humaira'

Title: Snowglobe

Author: Amy Wilson

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: October 18th, 2018

Pages: 271

Synopsis (Goodreads): When daydreamer Clementine discovers a mysterious house standing in the middle of town that was never there before, she is pulled towards it by the powerful sense of a mother she never knew. The place is full of snowglobes, swirling with stars and snow and each containing a trapped magician, watched over by Gan, the bitter keeper of the house. One of these is Dylan, a boy who teases her in the real world but who is now desperate for her help.

So Clem ventures into the snowglobes, rescuing Dylan and discovering her own powerful connection to the magic of these thousand worlds. Vowing to release the magicians from the control of their enchantments, Clem unknowingly unleashes a struggle for power that will not only put her family, but the future of magic itself in danger.

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My rating: 4 / 5 ★

Throughout my whole life, I have always find snowglobes to be a very magical thing. If I ever step inside any shops that sell snowglobes, you can definitely find me shaking all the snowglobes and staring in awe at the snow storms swirling inside the delicate glass orbs. That is the reason why I was so excited when I was offered the chance to review Snowglobe by Amy Wilson before it's published date! The synopsis was enough to let me know that I will definitely fall in love with the book.

Snowglobe tells a story about young Clementine who struggles with her magical powers, simply because she has no one to teach her about it. The only person that could have done it would be her mother, but she was no longer around since she was a toddler. The only remaining family she has left is her father, but he possesses no magic. She then happens to find a large house that seemed to pop out of nowhere and inside it she finds it to be full of snowglobes—which also contain trapped magicians. Somehow, she finds a boy that she recognises and upon trying to save him, the magical world threatens to destroy them instead.

To be honest, I might have misunderstood the book at first. I initially thought the story would be in the young adult section and that when the main female character saves the male character, love would bloom. Alas, I realised after I already dived into the story that Snowglobe is actually under children's literature and the love that is highlighted in it is mainly family love. There is nothing wrong with it though, the misunderstanding did not affect any of my feelings for this book.

It was slightly difficult for me to get into the story in the beginning because it has been so long since the last time I read any children's literature. But it took me no time to warm up with Clementine. Her headstrong character that is also brave and kindhearted is easily loved, and I found myself constantly anticipating her next actions. Despite her father's pleads for her to stop giving in to her true powers, she fought for what she think is rightfully hers. I am sure that if I have read this book when I was younger, I would have idolised Clementine.

There are so many good elements being part of this wonderful story. Family love and friendship would be the biggest part of it. The friendship that blooms between Clementine and Dylan warms me up, and I'm actually glad the story focuses only on them being friends. The bond and trust for each other that they created during the times they are trapped in the snowglobes are just delightful. Aside from that, there is also the element of forgiving others and accepting oneself as who they are. I believe that Snowglobe will be able to teach so many goodness to young readers.

And not to forget the magical snowglobes present in the story. Each snowglobe has its own kind of uniqueness and character, making the whole idea of snowglobes more enthralling. It makes me keep on getting curious as to what kind of world that Clementine and Dylan will find as they jump to the next snowglobe.

Overall, the whole world building and plotline of Snowglobe are so full of magical elements and wonder. I cannot help but be moved by its warmth as it is filled with so much emotions.

Thank you Pansing for providing me with this review copy. Snowglobe by Amy Wilson will soon be available in all good bookstores, starting from the 18th of October, 2018. If you're a person that is very fond of magical stories, this is just the right book for you. It is a children's literature, but I believe that anyone can read it and love it as much as I do.

Title: Snow White

Author: Matt Phelan

Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)

Genres: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Format: Paperback

Publication Date: July 10th, 2018

Pages: 216

Synopsis (Goodreads): Award-winning graphic novelist Matt Phelan delivers a darkly stylized noir Snow White set against the backdrop of Depression-era Manhattan.

The scene: New York City. The dazzling lights cast shadows that grow ever darker as the glitzy prosperity of the Roaring Twenties screeches to a halt. Enter a cast of familiar characters: a young girl, Samantha White, returning after being sent away by her cruel stepmother, the Queen of the Follies, years earlier; her father, the King of Wall Street, who survives the stock market crash only to suffer a strange and sudden death; seven street urchins, brave protectors for a girl as pure as snow; and a mysterious stock ticker that holds the stepmother in its thrall, churning out ticker tape imprinted with the wicked words "Another . . . More Beautiful . . . KILL." In a moody, cinematic new telling of a beloved fairy tale, extraordinary graphic novelist Matt Phelan captures the essence of classic film noir on the page--and draws a striking distinction between good and evil.

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It's finally the time to unbox another Duality Box ♡ I received this box early last week, but uni had me all over the place, I couldn't find a proper time to take pictures. The moment I had some free time, I immediately took the chance to prepare a special post for this amazing box that is full of magic and happiness! ✨

"September box is all about being wanted and constantly living on the edge. Imagine making one small mistake and costing your life." — Duality Box, 2018.

Dangerously Alive is the theme for September box, and I got to say, this is one hell of a fabulous theme! I love anything dangerous and badass (as long as I am not the one in danger), and Duality Box proved that their version of dangerous-ness totally lived up to my expectation. In fact, I think they made it 200 times better than I expected. It seems that a theme colour was included too among the merchandise: purple! This colour has never looked this gorgeous 😍

From the previous boxes, the details of the merchandises are always on the back of the main artwork for the theme, so when this time, the back of it was blank, I got confused. I had to dig in to find this "Stolen" piece of paper and it just made the experience a lot more fun because it's as if we Dualities did actually steal these stuff! 

— Theme art designed by @parvaillust

So, let's move on to the "stolen" things:

1. Booksleeve of Everless

— Exclusive by @tieqa_rika

Resources:

PSD Colouring (base) - psd #168 by wildfireresources

Background/border - Alli-ce

Fonts -

My rating: 3.5/5 stars (★)

Till next time ♡ Love, Aishah Humaira'

Synopsis: A wrong-number text sparks a virtual romance between a smart but unpopular teen and a sweet jock who thinks he's talking to a gorgeous cheerleader.

My rating: 2/5 stars (★)

Do you want to know how it feels to be catfished? Watch the trailer of this movie and then think of every positive things that comes to your mind—and then watch the movie, only for your positive thoughts to be diminished over the obsession of a girl towards a boy. Yes, that's basically what the whole story is about: an obsession towards a boy.

I was super excited when the trailer was released. I had thought, after some horrible teenage shows Netflix was releasing, they decided to make it up by releasing a film that promotes self-confidence and body positivity. Sure, I expected the catfishing, but I didn't expect it to get to this extent. 

Right, let's get into the characters. Sierra (Shannon Purser) is okay at first; though she is the textbook girl that nobody likes and avoids, has only one true friend and is often bullied by the pretty girls at school. A typical representation of the main character for a chick flick. But what I liked about her was how she was able to defend herself from the mean girls. The best part about Sierra is that she's good with her words. Sadly, that's probably just it. She didn't shine in the story at all despite her being the main character.

And then we have Veronica (Kristine Froseth), another textbook character. Beautiful, "has 20k followers", acts bitchy towards the unpopular kids and not so smart in academics. But what actually intrigued me to watch this movie is how Veronica ends up befriending Sierra after their toxic encounters. It's good to see how much a mean person can actually change when they're desperate, and Veronica actually changed for the good. To see how raw she became when Sierra saw how her actual life is; a genuine friendship even bloomed through their deal to catfish the guy. Beneath all the layers of attitude she showed to the world, there's kindness in her. I actually love Veronica, after she befriended Sierra, of course.

Jamey (Noah Centineo), well, I wouldn't really say he's a textbook character of anything, but his character fell rather flat. He's just a boy in love with a pretty girl. I appreciate that even though he has the looks, his friends are still regular kids and not the jocks. He's very nice to his little brother who is deaf, which is a plus. Yet other than that, I couldn't find other qualities of him that I like. As for Sierra's friend, Dan (RJ Cyler), I immediately liked him the moment he was introduced in the story. He's a funny and happy guy, also the one loyal friend. His character really helped in making the story better.

Plotwise, I really would like to call it cliche, but I can't come up with any example of films to prove it. But, I did almost stop halfway through this movie, simply because it gets predictable and there were really nothing special about it.

One thing that I appreciate in Sierra Burgess Is a Loser would be the essence of friendship that it has, of course, during the good moments. I enjoyed Sierra and Dan's friendship, though I do admit that it's a lot better thanks to Dan. Sierra and Veronica's friendship is surprising but not impossible, they actually fit each other so well. If the toxic part of what Sierra did to Veronica after misunderstanding a situation with Jamey is excluded, I think this movie do have something good in it. It's all about trusting each other and accepting someone you love for who they are.

What I don't appreciate is that as a main character, Sierra's character did not develop much. Until the end, when things go wrong, she blamed her physical instead of actually realising that it all started with her own attitude. There is actually truth being portrayed in her character of course, but at the same time it feels absurd too. All in all, I didn't end up liking the movie much.

Any thoughts on this movie? Did you enjoy it?