Book Review: Beyond The Lens by Hannah Ellis

Hey guys, how are you today? I don’t know where my lack of energy is coming from but, thank God it’s Friday. 

Beyond the Lens by Hannah Ellis

Release date: November 10th 2016

Publisher: CreateSpace

Pages: 365

Source: The lovely author

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary

From Goodreads:

When twenty-six-year-old Lucy Mitchell loses her job, she momentarily loses her mind too and agrees to take part in a reality TV show. Before she knows it she’s jetting off to a piece of paradise on a beautiful Spanish island. 

Much to her surprise, Lucy makes new friends and has the time of her life, even indulging in a behind-the-scenes romance with a hunky cameraman.

Convinced the production will never make it to the screen, Lucy returns home on cloud nine, but soon finds that things are not always as they seem. 

Review

I went into this baby without knowing what it was about and I read it in like two sittings. Yes, it was that good.

At the beginning of the week, Lucy is just a regular girl that lacks the sense of adventure. All it took to trigger this journey was a “yes”. This book showcases the path from ordinary to famous. Who would have guessed that she would meet such a great group of people and a cute but shy cameraman in the process?

I found the plot to be extremely original; I’ve never read anything like it. The TV is plagued by reality shows, yet I’ve never read a book about what goes on behind the cameras. 

We’re presented with a very odd yet hilarious group of people, and it was lovely to see how their friendship got stronger as the days passed. We need more of these friends in the real world. Friends who take care of each other (well, mostly. I’m looking at you Ryan,) and don’t succumb to the claws of fame. 

What pleasantly surprised me was how in the span of a short book, we get to see how much Lucy grows as a person and how her confidence increases. We don’t get much of this in contemporary books. And when we do, it seems that the confidence boost is always related to a guy. Thankfully, that’s not the case here.

I loved the mystery regarding Maria’s apartment. And although I saw it coming, it was a great twist. 

The second twist, though. It hit me like a truck. It was great! Congrats, Hannah, you played us all.

My only issue with this book was the distribution of the “problems” to be solved. The first half was too perfect and then it all goes downhill. I thought there were way too many things going on. Or maybe it’s just that I’m not used to it. It’s not that bad, really. I’m just making it sound worse than it is.

This book is a perfect summer read, but it’s not just that. It highlights the importance of how not everything is what it seems. In an era in which we’re surrounded by technology and information at the reach of our fingers, we should be careful with who we trust and what we hear. 

With that being said, let’s end this review with the other important moral from this story: let’s say yes every once in a while. We have to take some risks. If not now, then when?

Rating

4 out of 5 stars

Rating System

I Want to thank Hannah Ellis for providing me with a copy of this amazing book! I can't wait to read the next one.

That's all for today! Check this book out, it's awesome.

Are you a yes or a no person? I'm more of a "waits too long and then the opportunity is gone". What reality tv shows do you like to watch? Let me know!

Netflix Rant

Hi guys! How're you doing? I'm happy and angry. I'll explain why in a second. It's raining today and I hadn't brought an umbrella with me to uni so I ended up soaked. That's not the reason I'm angry (an umbrella would have been nice, though.) Stick with me if you want to know why.

I'll first tell you why I'm happy. I got home today and found that my Goodreads' giveaway package had finally arrived! After a month and a half of waiting, the glorious book was waiting for me on the table. It's as gorgeous as I thought it was. It's the first time I have ever won anything, so I was quite stoked when I got the email. That's not the best part, though. Hannah Ellis, the author, is the loveliest person ever. Not only did we get to talk a bit through emails and messages, she also had the gesture of signing the book and attaching a sweet letter. I'll leave pics below! So, Hannah, if by any chance you're reading this, THANK YOU!

 Okay, enough mystery. You probably haven't bothered reading my about page, but I'm currently half-way through my Public and Literary Translation degree at university. And, not to brag, but I consider myself a pretty good translator. I found out a month ago about a Netflix subtitling test through a professor. She translates for them and suggested we did the test because they were looking for translators. A couple of my friends and I did it. I found it a bit hard but thought that I had done pretty good overall. I got my test results today, later than when they were supposed to arrive. I failed it. That's not the reason I'm angry, though. I can accept I'm not good enough. My problem is that all I got was a "failed" on the results. No explanation of what my mistakes were and no score. How am I supposed to learn and avoid them if I don't know what I did wrong? From what I've heard, the system got saturated, but that's not our problem. They should have known and prepared some type of filter to reduce the amount of applicants. I don't know if my test was actually that bad or if they just hired the first applicants that passed it. I sent them an email to see if they can tell me something about my test. Guess I'll have to wait and see. 

Update: They uploaded the scores. I got a 64%. From what I've seen on Twitter, you needed an 85% to pass. So, I was quite far. I also received an answer to my email and they said they only shared the scores and not your mistakes. So I have no idea what I did wrong. 

Thanks for standing my rant, guys. I'll update if I get an answer.

Isn't Hannah the sweetest? Have any of you done the Netflix test? Let me know!