Cordially Invited: A seasonal guide to hosting any occasion and making a memory out of every day

...so i'm unsure if the 5 star rating or this review is coming from my gushingly positive rainbows and unicorns side or not, so feel free to take all of this with a grain of salt and refer to other people's reviews before my own.first things first, let me state that i see myself as being an unbiased reviewer as i never knew of zoella/zoe sugg before this book came out and i've actually never, to this day, watched a single video of hers. i heard about her through the advent calendar drama that came about from eltoria through my recommended youtube videos, as people had refered to eltoria as a zoella clone due to the way she looks, talks, acts, and also because of following in zoella's footsteps with making her own (failed) advent calendar, and essentially "scamming" people (i put "scamming" in quotes because i'm neutral on the subject, and would prefer you to look up "eltoria advent calendar" or "zoella advent calendar" on youtube to form your own opinion on the subject rather than refer to a third party who may or may not know what they're talking about, despite no one on the internet lying, am i right?)now that my longwinded disclaimer is out of the way, let me comment from my own experience with the book so far based off of what other people say. it's been commented that she has a lot of filler content through her photographs taking up multiple, unneeded pages. i on the other hand, actually enjoy looking at all of them, and it doesn't matter to me how many pages it takes up, even if it was used to meet the requirements to be made into a book or whatever. i want to be a cute, small housewife and eventually a hostess of my own parties inspired by this book, and this is the perfect handbook for just such a dream (personally speaking), in my opinion. i love the in-depth pictures of the different settings, and that there's multiple of them so that i can get a better idea to each party/event/outing/etc that's set up in the book. i don't have much of an imagination when it comes to these things, as being a hostess (or party planner) of any sort has never been in my blood, and i really appreciate the supposed "filler" content ("filler" is in quotes because i don't see it as that, due to how helpful it actually is to me, but that's just me! maybe you feel differently, and that's okay).zoella/zoe sugg's been criticized as well for things such as telling you how to basically write on a chalkboard (page 97), or how to take a walk (bluebell walk, page 46) as examples that have been brought up, and i totally get it and see how and why that would be ridiculous. however, for me, when i read these pages, they have tips that i never would've thought of because these things never occur to me. i've never done things even remotely similar to what's listed in the book, and i don't have a knack for it like zoella/zoe sugg seems to. it seems to come naturally to her, all of these ideas, and that's kind of cool, as i wish it did for me. i've gotta give her some credit for being able to pull all of this so easily out of where the sun don't shine, as i could never do that with this topic (being a hostess). the bluebell walk has tips such as stopping with blankets to enjoy a view, having sandwiches and warm drinks, packing extra socks for your guests that may have stayed over the night before that have gone on the walk with you, and none of this would have occured to me. i think of a walk as literally just a walk through somewhere that has monuments and such that already give you something to do, and then stopping somewhere for lunch. there's no... fun or creativity (once more, say it with me now, in my opinion) involved. as for the chalkboard? that page gives me ideas on what to write, how to decorate it, how to make guests feel welcome and invited when they stay over or come and visit for an event i'm putting on. again, things i never would've thought of because i just don't have that sort of creative streak in me.i'm an artist, not an event organizer/party hostess, which is okay, it just means that it's not my calling in life to be one. and that's why i got this book, so someone could tell me what to do when it comes to that and give me tips and advice on how to be one, and give me ideas so that i could seem creative and like i know what i'm doing.so far, as of 7/30/19, this is all i have to say on the subject, and on the book as a whole. maybe i'll come back to edit it and add more as i get further along in the book. i've been taking notes, so i'm slowly getting through it. don't judge, haha.thanks for reading, if you have!

I know there has been a lot of hate surrounding this book but I did enjoy Zoella videos as a teen and I wanted to read her new book due to being a Girl Online fan when the series was first released.Let's start with the positives: the pictures are beautiful, the recipes are helpful, some of the ideas are cute and I like her personal experience tidbits.On to the negatives; the lists. The lists suggest that us readers aren't intelligent enough to understand that blackberries and blueberries are...berries. I also disliked the pages that ramble with "a tip is that you should remember to have a spare charger for a friend". I had to skim several pages because her writing style wore me out. Way too wordy, frankly uninteresting and I believe she might have run out of ideas because she tells us how to take a walk IN EVERY SECTION of the book! I also do not like the lists that advertise things the average reader associates with each holiday.I am not a hater and I really appreciated the good parts of this book although I was bored and felt lack luster 44% of the time.You are a unique, beautiful, artistic woman. But please don't keep writing books without your editorial consultant!

This book is cute I don’t see myself making a lot of the recipes but I liked looking at it

The book arrived in amazing condition! I’m so happy & it was at a great price.

The hate on this book is 100% underserved. The book is exactly what it advertises itself to be: a seasonal homemaking guide with emphasis on parties and guests. It is a book for beginners but has things for others too. It’s very cute and has a lot of great ideas. I have really enjoyed reading it.

I loved how this is broken into seasons! Also Zoe is an amazing woman and have been devoted to her content for almost 10 years!!

Bought this for my daughter and she loves it. Many fun ideas and very pretty table top book.

The book itself is great, but the spine on mine was broken and ripped. No way to do an exchange only a return

Loved this full of holiday ideas and simple recipes. If you are a fan of zoe or just looking for some simple decor and party ideas this is the book for you.

I bought this book purely for display purposes and I love it! The quality is fantastic

Très contente mais Le livre est arrivé déchiré 😔

Dieses Buch ist leider nicht was ich erwartet habe. Ich weiß, dass es ein „Youtuber-Buch“ ist, aber ich hatte gehofft einen schönen Bildband mit guten Ideen zu bekommen. Leider benennt das Buch wirklich nur das offensichtlich (zB, dass man im Winter eine heiße Schokolade trinken sollte) und fühlt sich insgesamt eher an als wäre es für die Zielgruppe 12-16 geschrieben. Mit Mitte zwanzig ist mir dieses Buch schon zu wenig informativ und die vielen Fotos und bunten Seiten sind mir viel zu sehr auf die Autorin fokussiert.Kurz und knapp: dieses Buch wirkt einfach unprofessionell und existiert in meinen Augen dann doch nur, um verkauft zu werden.Wenn man kein absoluter Fan ist, ist es das Geld leider nicht wert.

Das Buch ist in die 4 Jahreszeiten aufgeteilt. Es enthält Rezepte oder einfach Ideen passend zur Jahreszeit für z.B. Aktivitäten oder Feste mit vielen Bildern. Manche Ideen und Rezepte sind sehr simpel, manche etwas anspruchsvoller. Ich persönlich finde dass so gut, weil für jeden etwas dabei ist und oft braucht man auch einfach nur Inspiration.