PRETTY LITTLE LIARS BOOK REVIEW

Saturday

So as you may know from my recent Comfort TV Shows blog post, one of my favourite TV shows to watch over and over is Pretty Little Liars. This is pretty much because I started watching it as a teen and grew up watching it.

Related: My top 10 comfort TV shows

I have only recently started getting into reading, I had to read at uni so I didn't really want to read for fun in my free time too. So after watching all the PLL series over and over, I thought why not try reading the books?


At first, I was only going to read the first one just to see what it was like in comparison to the TV show, and here I am a whole series later.


Pretty Little Liars Book Series


pretty little liars image
Image from Rotten Tomatoes.

The PLL book series was written by Sara Shepard and there are a total of 16 books in the main series. Yes, I read them all pretty recently.


I don't want to give too many spoilers in case any of you would like to read them after this but what I will say is that it is so different from the series.


The first couple of books are a little similar to the first episodes in season 1 but after that, the stories get so different with all kinds of different characters that weren't in the series. For example, Caleb is such a huge character in the series but he's not even in the books at all.


The massive difference is what made me enjoy the books so much because there were so many twists and turns that I didn't expect so it was great to be able to experience those again because I can't with the series now really as I've watched it so many times.

Related: 5 reasons why books still matter

In terms of more differences, I feel like, in the book Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily are heightened versions of themselves. Like their personalities are way more dramatic in the book than what we see in the series.


As the books came out first, and then it was made into a TV show it felt like I had kind of done it back to front by watching the series first. But it was interesting to see the original bits in the book that I could tell the producers had based scenes off of.


It was also interesting to see how they changed storylines in the series. Throughout the books, each chapter is from the different perspectives of each liar. For example, one chapter will be based on Emily, and the next will be about Aria, etc. Therefore, the story kind of went a bit slower because everything was so in detail, but it's not like that with TV so they had to add so much more into the storylines.


Should you read the Pretty Little Liars books?


If you are like me and you loved the series, I would definitely recommend reading the books. I know they are primarily aimed at teens but it doesn't make it unenjoyable for young adults. And, the books are quite short so you can get through them quite quickly. I think I read the last one in 3 days because I wanted to see how it ended so badly.


Also, it is the same but different. It's still the Pretty Little Liars we know and love but so different and it's so interesting to see how their lives differ from the book to the series. Also the whole A storyline is quite different and A is a completely different person. I'm not going to tell you who it is though!


There are 16 books so it is quite a lot to get through but it's good as like a background series that you keep coming back to when you don't know what else to read. I think they took me about 6 months to read and I read some others along the way too.

Related: Books I read in 2021

Have you watched Pretty Little Liars or read the books?

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3 NIGHTS IN CORFU, GREECE

I am currently writing this through my tears from holiday blues. OK, I'm not really crying but I am NOT happy about being back from my holiday. If you follow my Instagram, you can probably tell because all I'm posting are holiday pictures, and I don't plan to stop any time soon.


swimming pool and ocean


I recently went to Corfu with five of my friends from uni and had the best time! Not only was it just an amazing time anyway, but my last summer holiday abroad was in 2019, and because of Covid I haven't been able to go on another one until now, which made it even more special and I feel like I appreciated it so much more. It really is a privilege to be able to travel and I can't wait to travel more whenever I can - it's my favourite thing to do.


Traveling to Corfu


We traveled to Corfu on a Thursday morning from Gatwick Airport and our flight was at 8:25am. In true Lauren Kenny style, we got to the airport 3 hours early but there have been so many staff shortages at the moment you never know how long it's going to take! And we wanted to sit down and have breakfast (and a beveragini). Luckily, there weren't any major queues, just a short delay to our flight which was fine.


airplane window


The flight time on the way out was about 2 hours and 30 minutes, and on the way back it was around 3 hours and 5 minutes. I may be wrong but I feel like Corfu is the closest Greek Island to travel to from the UK? If not, one of the closest.


We landed in Corfu after 3pm I think because of the 2-hour time difference there, but our transfer to the airport was quite short so we still had some pool and sun time when we got there.


The hotel


The hotel we stayed in was called Aeolos Beach Resort, which I would really recommend. It is a 4-star, all-inclusive hotel with a main buffet restaurant, and 2 a la carte restaurants. From pretty much every part of the hotel, you can see the sea too, I could never get tired of the stunning views. The rooms were good, the staff were really nice and I couldn't fault anything.

It was about a 20-minute bus or taxi journey to Corfu Town too, so definitely worth visiting if you stay there.

Day 1


So I have already told you about traveling there and getting some pool time on Day 1. After that, we all got ready in our rooms and went for dinner in the a la carte restaurant on the beach which we had booked prior to our stay.

beach at aeolos resort corfu

The menu is quite small but had really great options. As there were 6 of us, they pretty much brought out all of the starters for us to share which included tomato and mozzarella, prawn risotto and octopus, maybe some bread too. Weirdly, the octopus was so nice even though I don't normally like it. I think it's because there were no tentacles on it and they are what makes me cringe.

For the mains you could choose between a range of dishes including lamb, beef, chicken, etc, it was mainly meat dishes. I had the beef which fell apart. Then for dessert, you could either choose cheesecake or fruit salad so I had the fruit.

After dinner, we went for some drinks at the main bar and they had some live music in the entertainment area. Because it was our first night with "free" all-inclusive drinks, we may have got a bit carried away, some of us more than others but no naming names ;).

Day 2


On day 2 we got up and had our first buffet breakfast which was really nice. I get a bit apprehensive about the buffet food at all-inclusive hotels, depending on where you go it can be hit and miss, but all the food we had was great.

After that, we had a chilled day by the pool, then got ready to go to Corfu town in the evening when it was a bit cooler.

Corfu town is really pretty and reminded me a lot of Italy with the architecture and the various gelato stalls dotted about. There is a harbour there too where we went at sunset and got some really stunning pictures.

sunset at corfu town harbour

We had our dinner in the town at a restaurant we kind of picked at random because we were getting a bit angry (mainly me) and it was close to where we were. Sadly I can't remember what the restaurant is called but it was on the square close to the harbour and next to a big red church. 

This restaurant is everything you want when you eat in Greece. They gave us lots of starters to share again, which included 2 huge loaves of bread, tzatziki (my fave), saganaki, and greek salad. It was literally so much food I can't even tell you but it was so nice and I couldn't stop eating it.

For the main (which I really struggled to eat after all the starters) I had chicken souvlaki which was really simple but so nice! Some of the other girls had gyros and moussaka too.

girls on holiday at greek restaurant

souvlaki in corfu

For all that food and a couple of bottles of wine, we paid about 35 euros each which was so good for the amount we got and the excellent service.

Day 3


On day 3, AKA the best day, we went on our boat trip. The 6 of us booked a private yacht which was about £55 each and so worth it! It was a 4-hour trip, and they do have longer ones in Corfu for cheaper, but as we only had 4 days we didn't want to use a whole day up on the boat.

As part of the trip, you get 2 swim stops at various points around the island and they give you snorkels too, there were some fish but not loads. On our second swim stop, we did see an abandoned boat at the bottom of the sea which was pretty cool.

corfu town by boat

girls swimming in the sea

boats at corfu harbour

You also get a sandwich, crisps, and salad platter around lunchtime and as many drinks as you want. They had white wine, beer, water, and then soft drinks like coke.

It was literally like being in a film it was just so nice I can't even explain it to you!

Then we got back in the afternoon and went to lie by the pool again, and in the evening we went for our first dinner in the main buffet. Again, I found the buffet food so nice. I think it was a Chinese-themed night, so I had the crispy duck which was amazing, and pretty much had tzatziki with every meal.

After that, we sat down at the entertainment bit again and made the most of the all-inclusive drinks. One thing I will say about the drinks is that the wine wasn't very nice, but there were some good cocktails, especially the frozen ones.

Day 4


Day 4 was traveling home day which was very sad, but our flight wasn't until 22:45 so we pretty much had the whole day before we had to leave the hotel.

Check-out was at 11am so we all just put some money into paying for one of the rooms to be extended so we could use it and shower before leaving which was 60 euros (10 euros each).

palm trees in corfu

girls on holiday by the sea

I feel like this was the day I went full ham on the buffet making the most out of the all-inclusiveness before leaving. The dinner that night at the buffet was Italian themed which was also good.

We got picked up at 8 to go to the airport which didn't take long at all because we were quite close. Sitting by the pool, you could see the planes taking off and landing really low which I thought was pretty cool.

Our flight going home was delayed by about an hour again, the reason for both delays was just shortages of staff on the ground at both airports, so bear that in mind if you are traveling soon.

I am in two minds about flying home that late because I didn't get home until 4am, so I was really tired and needed the next day off work to recover, but also we got 4 pretty much full days instead of 3 so it has pros and cons.

Overall


We definitely had a 10/10 time and I can't fault anything about the hotel, except maybe the all-inclusive wine but that's just me being picky and there are plenty of other nice drinks. The food, views, weather and location were all great.

Incidentally, we actually saw Arrdee the rapper at our hotel and he was staying there. Famous people go there, you heard it here first. Although now I am telling everyone at home none of them know who he is so aren't finding it that exciting. I am not sure how I know, to be honest, I don't listen to his music but seeing a famous person who has been on Radio 1 added to the excitement.

Have you been to any Greek Islands, where would you recommend for me next?
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MY TOP 10 COMFORT TV SHOWS

Let me start off by telling you what a comfort series is and why I'm writing about it. A comfort series is a series that you watch over and over again because it brings you what? Comfort. You can have comfort films too, my comfort films seem to be Disney films a lot of the time because I watch them a lot to make me feel happy.


Why do we watch comfort series' over and over?


Television in living room with bojack horseman

Watching a series over and over usually brings us comfort because it brings an element of predictability to our lives, especially at times that are unpredictable in our lives. For example, when the pandemic first hit, I took comfort in watching old series that I love because it brought stability in a time when I didn't know what was going to happen. Not to mention the lack of Covid in the series distracted me from the Covid in real life.


We can always rely on our favourite TV shows to bring us comfort, laughs, and even cries when we need them most.

Related: 30 things to do before I'm 30

There are probably a lot of psychological reasons why we find comfort in watching TV shows over and over but for me, I just feel like I can't beat my favourites.


I am ALWAYS trying to find new TV shows that compare (I don't always watch old ones), and it is very rare that I find any that make me feel the way my favourites do.


My top 10 comfort series


1. Gossip Girl

2. Pretty Little Liars

3. Desperate Housewives

4. 9-1-1

5. Glee

6. Waterloo Road

7. Peep Show

8. Blue Planet (or pretty much anything David Attenborough)

9. Hannah Montana (yes I am 23 but this one is for my inner child)

10. RuPaul's Drag Race

If you are judging me, I know at least one of your comfort series is probably on this list too!!
What are your top comfort shows?
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THE STRUGGLES OF BLOGGING IN 2022: THE LOW DOWN

Does anyone actually read blogs anymore? Well, you are reading this right now, so the answer must be yes but the truth is, it can be difficult to get people to read your blog.


I have heard a lot of people saying that nobody reads blogs anymore, even Amira from Gogglebox said it in an episode not too long ago.


My opinion on blogging is still a big thing is mixed. However, I do love writing my blog posts so either way, I am going to keep writing them.


Laptop at desk next to plant


The rise of video content


For me, it feels like a lot of people get their entertainment on social media through watching videos on TikTok and Instagram reels at the moment rather than reading through a whole blog post.


I really like making video content as well as writing my blogs, so I have been doing both to stay relevant online and to just make things that I enjoy making. 


If you are a blogger who struggles with reader numbers but want to make a big impression online, I do think video content like this can reach a lot of new people organically.


I feel like with blogging, you have to put a LOT of effort into making it SEO friendly so that people can find your blogs through searching on Google. Also, a lot of my readership comes from sharing my blog posts on social media anyway.


Advantages of blogging


There are a lot of bloggers out there that are really successful at the moment and I think a lot of people don't realise the success you can make for yourself blogging.


Some bloggers I follow, have left full-time jobs to pursue blogging, and they can make thousands a month by doing freelance blog work. Paid opportunities include paid blog posts, affiliate marketing (which is adding links to your blog and getting a commission whenever anyone purchases something through your link), creating digital products to sell, and many more.


Although people may come to the conclusion that people don't read blogs anymore, the ways to make money online are definitely on the rise, so for this reason I would say blogging is still very much a thing.


Don't give up


If you are an avid blogger and love doing it - don't give up! I have to admit, since the world has started opening up more since Covid, I have been getting a lot fewer reads on my blog. I am not taking this as a negative though because I would much rather everyone be able to go out and do stuff than being stuck in reading my blog!


This also makes me more appreciative of the readership I have now, and even though the reads on my blog posts have declined a little, I am still getting exciting opportunities and growing my social media following.


My advice would definitely be to stay current and keep up to date with new platforms that come your way, but if you really enjoy doing something, there is no need to stop just because there are new things coming.


What are your thoughts on blogging in 2022?

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