A review and discussion by Kate O’Brien.

I think it is safe to say that the Barbie movie was one of the most anticipated movies of 2023.  The PR team went above and beyond. I’d been looking forward to seeing the movie for months and months and I am so delighted that I finally got to see it.  

I have never worked so hard to avoid spoilers before, because as I’m sure many of you know, this movie has generated a lot of discussion online.  

So before I dive into my discussion, let’s get two things clear.  

First of all this is not a children’s movie. So to all the parents who are making statements about how  this movie is inappropriate for children and that they had to leave early with their nine year old …  this is not a children’s movie. It is rated 12A in Ireland which means that the material is not  considered appropriate for anyone under the age of twelve years old.  

Secondly, and most importantly, the Barbie movie is NOT anti-men. This movie has been called  “woke.” It has been called “anti-men” and that just simply is not true. In fact, it is disappointing to  see that quite a lot of people have either missed the point entirely, or they’re refusing to see the  movie and its themes properly. It should be noted that this line of criticism is coming from a  specific kind of audience, however it is still disappointing to see a movie be dismissed when Barbie  has arguably brought some very important points of discussion to the table.  

I’ve seen the movie referred to as “feminism 101” and while I somewhat agree with this  statement, I don’t think this is a bad thing. Some people need a basic introduction to feminism.  

Is the movie very blunt with its messaging? Yes. Is this a bad thing? I don’t think so.  Was it a perfect movie? No. In fact there are some things that I wish were done slightly differently  in order to allow for more nuance in the piece, however I think that overall Barbie is a fantastic  movie.  

It is incredibly funny. It is packed with a great cast. The sets are absolutely gorgeous, and they have  that real old Hollywood feel because so many of them are hand painted instead of everything being  done on a green screen. The soundtrack is upbeat and fun, and in all the bright, pink glory, this  movie still hits you right in the heartstrings because it is filled with such poignancy.  

The movie was released on July 21st 2023 and it was directed by Greta Gerwig. The plot follows  stereotypical Barbie as her perfect life is interrupted by cellulite and impending thoughts of death.  Suddenly Barbie’s dream house is a place of nightmares and in order to go back to the way things have always been, she must travel from Barbie Land to the Real World. In the Real World, Barbie  must find the girl who has been playing with her – all Barbie dolls are being played with by  someone – because Barbie’s existential crisis is due to the girl’s thoughts merging with Barbie’s.  

So it is a quest, a bright pink quest as Barbie sets off from the idyllic Barbie Land, a place where  women rule, to the Real World, where she faces the complex realities of being a woman. 

The opening narration explains the impact of Barbie, you see, before there were Barbie dolls, little  girls played with baby dolls, and ironing boards, and mops. Little girls played pretend at being  mothers for being a mother and a homemaker is what girls could aspire to be.  

Now it is important for me to state that there is nothing wrong with aspiring to be a mother and/or a homemaker. This fact is often forgotten in the hustle culture that we often see society subscribe to,  however it also must be noted that there is a huge difference between wanting to be a mother, and  being told that being a mother is all you are allowed to aspire to be as a woman. So the fact that  Barbie had her own job, her own house, and her own car, and could be anything in a time where  women could not even have their own bank accounts was hugely significant and the motto that  Barbie can be anything was and still is hugely inspiring.  

In Barbie Land, all of the Barbies believed that this belief that women could be anything and that  they were fully empowered had liberated all women in the Real World, so Barbie was expecting a  very warm welcome, however things didn’t go as Barbie planned. 

Before fully diving into the themes of Barbie, it is crucial to talk about Ken. Ryan Gosling was the  perfect Ken to Margot Robbie’s perfect Barbie. He was brilliant, his comedic timing and his  commitment to the role of Ken was hysterical. He had the entire cinema laughing.  

At this point I’d like to note that I cannot remember the last time I was in a full cinema. The entire  screening room was booked out and every single seat was filled. The sea of pink was delightful to  see. Everyone was excited, everyone was taking turns taking photos in the Barbie box in the lobby, and the overall atmosphere was just so much fun. I think we could all do with some more “We’re  going to see the Barbie movie” energy in our lives.  

Back to the plot. Ken desperately wants Barbie to open her heart and her dream house to him. He  ends up accompanying her on her journey to the Real World and while Barbie is horrified by the  patriarchy, Ken is overjoyed.  

This is where one can start to jump into the themes of Barbie. In Barbie Land, the Kens are just  Kens. She’s everything and he’s just Ken. It is Barbie’s dream house and she does not want him  there. He does not stay over because it is girls night. Every night is girls night. As the narration  says, Barbie has a perfect day everyday and Ken only has a good day if Barbie notices him.

Ken feels left out and under appreciated so when he sees that men are powerful due to the patriarchy in  the Real World, he is eager to bring that philosophy back to Barbie Land.  

So this is where I can see why some people would call this movie “anti-men” because Ken is  presented in a fur coat, a bandana, there are horses and trucks everywhere, and he comes across like  a macho idiot. This is too easy, and it does not pay attention to the way that the movie addresses  how the system of the patriarchy is harmful to women and men. I will say that the patriarchy is  more harmful to women than men, because men benefit from the patriarchy. Ken’s experience in the  Real World highlights this. Immediately after arriving Barbie is catcalled, she is groped by a  stranger who slaps her on the behind, and she senses a violent undertone in the way that people leer  at her. For the first time ever she is self-conscious and nervous about her personal safety, whereas  Ken feels admired, powerful, and emboldened when he sees a man very rudely dismiss a woman, a  colleague, and get away with it. He sees the patriarchy as a system that will appreciate him and give  him power, and he does not think about the way it hurts women. 

While Barbie is searching for the girl who is playing with her, Ken goes back to Barbie Land and  without Barbie there to stop him, he begins to take over and turn the place into a Kendom.  He takes over Barbie’s dream house, completely destroying it, and as all the Kens get onboard, the  Barbies become brainwashed. These powerful women who were doctors and lawyers, and the  President, are reduced to beer bringing maids. No, this is not an exaggeration, they’re literally given  French maid outfits to wear because the patriarchy views women as subservient to men.  

While it is clear that Ken was taken for granted at the beginning of the movie, it is interesting that  him gaining more power involved stripping women of theirs. He could not just be on the same level  as these powerful, intelligent, accomplished Barbies, he could not just give the Kens the same  status, he had to be on top.  

In the Real World, Barbie finds the girl who has been playing with her or at least Barbie thinks she  has when she finds Sasha. She is devastated to learn that Sasha and her friends think that Barbie has  not helped women at all. Sasha states that Barbie has made women feel bad about themselves due to  setting impossible beauty standards, but Barbie argues that that was never the point, the point was  supposed to be that Barbie could be anything.  

I found this very interesting because initially I thought that this would be the core argument of the  movie. I played with Barbie dolls when I was a little girl. I had the dream house and the plane, and I  always remembered the tagline of you can be anything! Barbie was magical, she was amazing, and  I never felt any kind of societal beauty pressures because of a doll. Barbie was always empowering  and I say that as a woman in my twenties. I’ve never heard any of my peers say that Barbie had a  negative impact, we all have very fond memories of playing with Barbie dolls when we were  younger and watching all of the Barbie movies. That is not to say that I’ve never heard Barbie being  critiqued, but I will say that any criticism I’ve heard about Barbie was always from people who  were older than myself, who never really played with Barbie dolls, and who kind of seemed to miss  the “You can be anything” memo. So it was interesting to see a teenager have that negative opinion  of Barbie in this movie. 

The plot twist came in the form of Sasha not being the girl that Barbie needed to find, instead it was  her mother. All of the memories that Barbie was seeing of young Sasha playing also included her  mother playing with her. Her mother Gloria works for Mattel. She’s been drawing Barbie dolls, one  of them being “Thoughts of death Barbie” It is Gloria’s thoughts and feelings that are merging with  Barbie’s and it is Gloria who delivers the most poignant and powerful monologue of the whole  movie.  

In her quest to fix everything, Barbie brings Sasha and Gloria back to Barbie Land where she  discovers what Ken has done. While confronting Ken, he asks her how it feels to be dismissed?  He informs her that every night will be boys night from now on. The parallel is clear.  

Now. I have two conflicting thoughts about this point, because on one hand I think that the Kens  were overlooked and dismissed by the Barbies at the start of the movie. When Ken asks her how it feels to be treated like this, Gosling did an amazing job of letting the hurt break through the  faux-macho facade. I don’t think anyone, man or woman, should be dismissed and treated as less  than, however I also worry about saying that Barbie’s lack of attention caused Ken to act this way.  He lashes out due to being hurt yes, however I think it is worryingly easy to twist the entire plot in a way that blames women for men’s anger and harmful reactions due to affections not being returned.  It is a slippery slope and I do wish that the movie would have handled this more carefully.  

Barbie is devastated by the loss of her dream house and by seeing her friends reduced to mindless  carriers of beer, and she is still struggling with all the new feelings she is having about life and  death and meaning. She breaks down crying and when asked what is wrong, she tells Gloria that she  is not pretty anymore. She’s weird.  

Gloria, played by the brilliant America Ferrera delivers a powerful monologue about the  complexities of being a woman. She passionately lays out how it can feel impossible, because so  many expectations are placed on women and so many of them are contradictory. You have to be a  boss but never hurt feelings, you have to lead but listen to everyone, you have to be a mother but  never talk about your kids, you have to be pretty but not too pretty. The list goes on and on.  At this point the narration interrupts to say that Margot Robbie was the wrong person to cast to talk  about not feeling pretty and this line got a laugh in the cinema, but this got me thinking.  

I think Margot Robbie was the perfect person to cast to make this point because yes, she is  gorgeous. She is extremely conventionally attractive, yet she still feels the pressure that comes with  the expectation to be pretty. If the beautiful Margot Robbie sometimes feels unattractive, it just  highlights even more in my opinion how someone can be beautiful, but they will still struggle and  feel the pressure that society puts on them. Gloria’s speech breaks the Barbies out of their trances  one by one and together they take back Barbie Land.  

It is at this key point that the movie highlights how damaging the patriarchy is, not only to women  but to men too. Ken sees everything he has done crumble and he is upset, but he does not cry  because he feels he can not and should not cry. Barbie tells him that it is okay to cry.  

Hilariously, he tells her that he lost interest in the patriarchy when he found out it was not actually  about horses but he felt such pressure to lead, to keep up the facade. This moment highlights how  men face enormous pressure too. Pressure to be leaders, to bottle their emotions, to put on a tough  facade all the time, to like huge trucks, and sports and to never go against the grain because if you do that then you’re not a “real” man. Of course it is okay to like trucks, and to like sports etc.  The problem arises when society tells men, you must like these specific things and behave in this  specific way, because if you don’t, then you’re not a “real” man.  

Ken has been defining himself by his girlfriend, his job, his car, his house, by all of the things in his  life instead of figuring out who he is. He needs to learn how to be just Ken, without those things,  and he needs to learn that that is enough. It is interesting because I think women are often defined  by the things in our lives. We’re asked if we have boyfriends, are we engaged, do we want kids, and  then if we have kids we get asked about mam guilt and how we handle being a mam while working  etc. etc. It was interesting to see that trope subverted as so many romantic comedies follow a  woman who must find her own identity outside of the relationships in her life. 

Barbie apologises for taking Ken for granted, and I really wish he would have apologised for how  he treated the Barbies and for ruining her dream house, but instead he just thanks her for her  apology and supports her on her quest for meaning in her life. 

This is the point that I really wish had been handled differently, because while it is true that  Ken was taken for granted, he did treat the Barbies badly. The Kens were just Kens yes, but they  were never stripped of their jobs and made to bring the Barbies drinks while wearing French maid  outfits. So I do think Barbie was owed an apology too. If that scene had been a few minutes  longer, if Ken had apologised for his wrongdoings too, that would have felt better in my  opinion.  

The movie ends with Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, giving her a choice. It is another poignant  scene because Ruth tells Barbie that she named Barbie after her own daughter, and she always  wanted her daughter and Barbie to do great things. She says that mothers stand still so that their  daughters can look back and see how far they’ve come. That line made me cry all over again. It is  such a beautiful line. It is so easy to critique women of the past. I discuss a particular pet peeve of  mine a lot which is when women of a certain time are critiqued by today’s standards, especially in  period pieces. It is not fair to judge a19th century woman by today’s rules or a 1950’s woman by  today’s rules. So many women of their time did what they could when they had very little rights,  very little education, and very little autonomy. While it is still not perfect in 2023, we’ve come a  long way. My great grandmother, my grandmother even, my great aunt who is in her nineties, she is  in awe of the things that I get to do and say and be, and she is so proud. This line made me think of  her, and of all the women who were young at a certain time, who had to leave school at fourteen or  younger, who were considered “on the shelf” at just twenty-five or even younger if they weren’t  married by then. It made me think of how they raised another generation, who raised another, who  raised my generation. I’m so proud of my mam, of my grandmother, of my great grandmother, and  the thing that Barbie really highlighted, the thing that made me, and so many other women in the  cinema so emotional is the fact that we were all girls once.  

So the movie ends with Ken accepting that he is “Kenough.” Glorious! The entire cinema laughed  again. I don’t remember the last time I laughed so much at a character.  

Barbie makes a choice. She no longer wants to be an idea, she wants to be the person making the  ideas. She wants to be real, to experience life and have all the feelings. So that is exactly what she  does. She becomes real.  

Overall I thought Barbie was lots of fun. It was bright, it was pink. It was a celebration of girlhood  that touched upon the complex realities that come with maturing into a woman. There is internal  pressure, there is external pressure, and it is so important to know your own worth and not be  defined by other things. Again, while it is not a perfect movie, and its message could be more  nuanced at times, this movie is definitely not anti-men. I don’t think it is anti-anybody. I think it  brings really important topics to the table. I think it is a movie that opens the conversation. I think it  shows how women and men can be negatively impacted by issues, and how the key really is to be  kind and respectful and caring to everyone.  

I would absolutely recommend it. I will be going to see it again.  

This Barbie is a movie lover! This Barbie is a literary reviewer!  

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @katelovesliterature for all updates.  

My Florida Travel Diary is #comingsoon and my feed is full of the new #beautifulbooks that I’ve  been adding to my bookshelves. Check it out!

London is one of my absolute favourite cities. I always have a ball there. 

It is without a doubt an incredibly #literarycity as London is home to so many incredible writers. They may not all have been born in London, but there are some really fantastic spots that visitors can enjoy. We had the most fantastic four days that were filled to the brim with amazing activities. If you’re planning your own trip and need some inspiration, I hope that my itinerary gives you some ideas. If you’re reading for fun then I hope you enjoy! 

We landed in London on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon. 

First on the agenda was a trip down the rabbit hole. We had a magical Mad Hatter’s tea party in The Sanderson Hotel. The plates, cups, and fantastic food were all inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. We had sandwiches and mini burgers, we had scones with fresh cream. We had tiny, sparkly potions that read “Drink Me,” and darling cupcakes that read “Eat Me.” The sugar cubes came in a music box and the champagne sparkled in the glass. It was a delicious, and absolutely gorgeous way to spend an evening. If you’re a fan of Alice in Wonderland then you will be just as excited as I was.

I was giddy over the John Tenniel illustrations on the cups and plates. 

This wonderful treat was on the pricer side. It was definitely a splurge for a special occasion, and if you’re a big literary lover then I would recommend it as I do think the attention to details alone are worth it. I also want to take a moment to say that the staff at The Sanderson were absolutely fantastic and so attentive, especially as my table had allergy questions and concerns. They answered all of our questions and ensured that we had an amazing tea that was safe for everyone to eat. So I can’t say enough good things about my experience, but be warned, a trip to Wonderland is on the more expensive side. 

*I can provide a full breakdown of costs if people would be interested, although it should be noted that this was a celebratory trip so we splurged more than we normally would.* 

Thursday was an amazing day from start to finish. We had breakfast around the corner from our hotel – don’t worry, I will talk about our accommodation in another point. Knowing that we had a #theatretrip to look forward to that evening, we set out to enjoy our morning in the Tate Modern. It was an excellent way to spend a few hours. We happily wandered around the museum, we really enjoyed all of the different exhibits. We did not pay to see anything, we would have loved to see Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms, however they were fully booked for the foreseeable future. We hadn’t planned out each day in advance so we didn’t know that we would be going to the Tate Modern until that morning. It is amazing that a museum like this offers free entry and free access to certain exhibits so you can have a brilliant day without having to spend money if you’re trying to save. 

*Important Note – London is an expensive city so I was saving in preparation for this trip as I know before even getting there that it is an expensive place to visit so saving while there can be a challenge but not every single thing has to be a splurge.* 

On Thursday evening, we were off to Her Majesty’s Theatre to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. It was an amazing night at the theatre. The show was incredible. You can read all about it by clicking the link to my #theatretrip discussion. 

The Phantom of the Opera.

Before we went to the theatre, we had a gorgeous dinner at Dirty Bones Soho. 

The food was delicious. The cocktails we had were two for the price of one, so fantastic value and very tasty. The staff were so friendly and fun. We had a great time and I would go back there for dinner in a heartbeat the next time I’m in London.

Dish tip – The spicy chicken salad and the high baller cocktail were delicious. I know a salad may not sound like much bit it was so big, so tasty, and so filling. I also ordered a side of fries. It was a perfect meal. 

Friday was a really fun day. We had no plans, nothing booked, no agenda. We decided to be spontaneous and so we set off with a coffee in our hands and we headed back to Soho. We spent the morning at Tattoo 13 in Soho. Every single person who worked there was amazing. Really talented, really welcoming, really fun. I got another ear piercing. Nothing too exciting, I just got another lobe piercing (I do have four now though so I pretend I’m cool). That was six weeks ago now and the piercing has healed perfectly.

I can not recommend this place enough if you’re in London and you want to get a tattoo or a piercing. I wouldn’t normally do something like this when I’m away, but we read brilliant reviews, had word of mouth recommendations from people we know, and when we got there the staff really were so lovely that we just got great vibes and we felt confident about being there. So if you live in London or you’re visiting and this is something that you’d do, Tattoo 13 is an amazing spot. It is fun to do something spontaneous now and then. I had no piercing plans when I left Dublin, but I’m so happy that we spent the morning in Soho. They do accept walk-ins too so if you get there early like we did, you might be lucky enough to get a slot. Hurry though, the place got busy fast and it is clear to see why it is so popular. This is one of my all-time favourite memories from this trip. 

After spending the morning at Tattoo 13, we headed to Burgers & Beyond in Soho. 

The food was amazing. We were starving when we arrived and going to this restaurant was one of my favourite food places of this trip. It just hit the spot. If you’re in Soho, this is a great spot. Dish tip – I got a classic cheese burger with bacon and a side of dirty tots (fried potatoes with bacon, sour cream, cheese, chives, and spicy sauce). It was delicious. I still think about that meal. 

After eating we decided to have a wander around a few different book shops – obviously. I do love literature after all. After some browsing, we decided to be the ultimate tourists and even though it was a chilly day, we walked through Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Chinatown, and we ended up standing outside Big Ben so that we could see Big Ben and the London Eye because when in London, you simply have to see the big clock. I don’t make the rules. It was a really fun day and I love that we had no plans so we could do whatever we wanted and we just decided where to go next as the day went on. I understand that when your time is limited in a city that having free days like this may not be an option. It was not an option for me the last time I was there in May. We had a busy itinerary and there were places that we didn’t get to see that I made sure we got to this time, for example the Dickens Museum which I am talking about more in my next point. 

So while having a day set aside for spontaneous exploring may not be an option, if you’re lucky enough to be returning to a place you’ve been to before like we were and you do have some decent knowledge of how to get around then I would say having some time set aside where you have no plans so you can just do whatever you want could be lots and lots of fun.  

On Friday night we decided to have a wander down Fleet Street. Those of you who have been subscribed to katelovesliterature.com for a while now may remember that one of the highlights of my last trip to London was getting to visit the building that was allegedly once the barber shop of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street. 

You can read all about my last trip to London by clicking this link. 

There’s No Place Like London.

My last trip was back in May 2022 and it was completely different to the trip I just returned from. We visited completely different spots and stayed in an entirely different area so if you’re planning a trip to London and want some inspiration then I do recommend reading my previous travel diary because if this current itinerary doesn’t suit you, my previous one may suit you better. Check it out! 

I do love Fleet Street so it was great fun exploring it again. There are some fantastic pubs – Dickens allegedly drank in one. There’s some amazing churches, St. Dunstan’s and St. Bride’s. The architecture is amazing and there’s a really cool exhibition in the crypts of St. Bride’s. Overall, Fleet Street is just a really cool street to explore and it is so close to St. Paul’s and Covent Gardens is only twenty minutes away (roughly) so it is a really fun area to visit. We were adventurous and decided to walk down the Hen and Chicken court alley in the dark to see the Sweeney Todd Barber shop one more time. This is one of the narrowest alley-ways in London, but while we did have fun and even though we certainly were not the only ones there to take a picture of the alleged spooky spot, I would never recommend walking down an alley in the dark. This is definitely a do as I say and not as I do moment as it is extremely important to be safe and cautious when one is travelling. 

We finished the night in Fleets cocktail bar. This is one of my favourite cocktail spots in London. The cosmopolitans are delicious and the pink floral decor is so pretty. It is a gorgeous spot for pictures and the atmosphere is really fun. Perfect for a date or for a group of friends. 

Saturday was our last day but our flight wasn’t until the evening so we were able to have an amazing morning. We started out the day with a full English breakfast and then we set off to the Charles Dickens Museum. 

For those of you who may not know, I am a huge fan of Charles Dickens. The first thesis I ever wrote was an analysis on the idea of home and homelessness in the fiction and journalism of Charles Dickens. I absolutely love his work. I studied A Christmas Carol in drama class every December for a decade. I could not wait to explore the Dickens Museum. An unexpected bonus was that during our visit there was a particular exhibition taking place – To Be Read at Dusk: Dickens, Ghosts and the Supernatural.

Charles Dickens wrote and performed ghost stories for over thirty years and he expressed himself and explored the supernatural in his imagination. This particular exhibition explored Dickens’ interest in, love of, and scepticism of ghost stories, as well as celebrating some of his most popular ghostly works. 

I absolutely love ghost stories and gothic literature, in fact, I have some exciting news about this particular topic coming soon, but for now I’ll just say that as someone who is a fan of Dickens in general, and as someone who loves ghost stories especially, this exhibition was a real treat. 

Before heading to the airport we decided to take a stroll through Hyde Park and so the last thing we did on this brilliant trip was visit the Peter Pan statue as Kensington Gardens  is right beside Hyde Park. The bronze statue has quite a memorable backstory. It was erected in the middle of the night in 1912 so one day there was an empty space, and the next there was the boy who won’t grow up. I’m someone who always strives to encourage wonder and curiosity so mysterious statues that “magically” appear are right up my alley. 

After making a wish at the Peter Pan statue, it was time to go back to the hotel to quickly grab our bags so that we could make our way back to the airport. 

When I was in London last May, we stayed in the Premier Inn in Blackfriars. It was a brilliant location and we got a great price. This time we stayed in the Park Grand Paddington Court Hotel which is located near Paddington station and Hyde Park. 

Full disclosure, we opted to stay here this time because the price was simply better.

Again – London is expensive. The hotel was lovely. It was clean, the staff were kind, the location was great. There are plenty of coffee shops and bars around, the Swan being one that we had a great time in on Wednesday night, and I think that if I got the same great deal then I would stay in this spot again. I will be honest and say that I did prefer staying in Blackfriars in May, simply because I found it to be even more central, but to be fair getting from place to place was extremely easy. We got the tube and/or walked everywhere and it is so easy now to use public transportation such as the tube because you just tap your Revolut card (if you have one) when getting on and off. 

It was an amazing trip and I loved every second. It seems like an age ago now. 

I had intended to publish this travel diary the week after I got home, but if you’ve been following along here and/or on my Instagram @katelovesliterature then you will already know that I had to be #outofoffice for much longer than I intended to be because the week after I got home, I got very sick. I had strep throat, conjunctivitis, nausea, and then another sinus infection so I was sick in bed, taking antibiotics for three weeks straight. I was unable to type or edit anything. Thankfully it was not covid, and thankfully I am finally much better and now I am able to be back to work, back to college, and back to publishing pieces here on Katelovesliterature.com. I try not to talk about my personal life too much, and usually I wouldn’t share that I was unwell because it is unrelated to literature, however I was absent for a long time, and so many people were kind enough to send me well wishes and ask about how I was feeling so I did want to take a moment to say thank you so much for that. Those of you who reached out, you know who you are. It was so kind and I really do appreciate it. 

Things are going to get busy again here on Katelovesliteraure.com. I have some pieces that have been on hold while I was unwell that I am excited to finally be able to publish.

I also have some brand new reviews coming very soon. 

I am #currentlyreading Hell Breaks Loose by Derek Landy. This book is the prequel to the Skulduggery Pleasant series. This book takes readers back to 300 years before Valkyrie Cain was born. I am really enjoying this new adventure so stay tuned because when I am finished reading, my review will soon follow. HarperCollins Ireland were so kind to send me a copy of this book on Publication Day, however the review I will write is not a paid review. 

There is some other exciting news that I am looking forward to sharing soon, but for now all I can say is that there is some really fun work going on behind-the-scenes at the moment. 

I am also in the home stretch of my master’s degree programme. All of my lectures are behind me, my proposal has been submitted and now all I have to conquer is the actual, official dissertation. There is still an academic mountain to climb, but it is always encouraging when you can see the top. When I am finished my course entirely, I will finally share what I have been studying and striving towards for the past two years. 

I hope that you like the pictures that I am sharing below. There some more snaps on my Instagram grid so if you don’t follow me already then head on over to @katelovesliterature for my photos and regular updates about what is happening here on Katelovesliterature.com. 

*All photos shared here have been taken by myself with my own phone and they may not be shared or used without my permission. Thank you. *

I hope you enjoyed my Lovely London Travel Diary.