Chasing Paper Cranes

by Courtney Peppernell

If you fold a thousand paper cranes, your wish will come true… Ever since her father left, Layla has held on to that ancient Japanese maxim with all her heart. Flying to London to meet the man of her dreams was her wish – but wishes never quite work out the way anyone expects. Alone in a foreign country and devastated by heartbreak, Layla meets a new, mysterious man in London who can show her the world. When he accepts her offer of friendly companionship, Layla realizes that her dreams might still come true after all. Courtney Peppernell is the #1 best-selling author of the romantic poetry collection Pillow Thoughts, as well as the forthcoming romance Keeping Long Island. Catch up with Courtney and all her latest books at

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

443 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2015

About the author

Courtney Peppernell is an acclaimed best-selling author from Australia, celebrated for her inspirational poetry collections, including the beloved Pillow Thoughts series, Watering the Soul, I Hope You Stay, Time Will Tell and more. With over two million sales worldwide, she continues to lead the forefront of today’s poetry genre. Courtney spends her days writing and working on many projects with her beloved dogs and chickens in tow. She hopes to continue exploring expression and the art of healing through stories, novels and poetry for years to come. Stay tuned for the latest releases from Courtney and her team!

Reviews

[Cappuccino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stop searching. This is the book you are looking for.
This book is a masterpiece and has a lot to teach you.

This is a story about adventures, opportunities, risks, heartbreak, friendship, forgiveness, happiness and so on, with a lot of humor which is, in my opinion, one of the essence of that book.

Furthermore, the construction of the relationships between every single character seems so authentic and many will find themselves in one of the main character.
The description of the places visited by the heroine is also simply amazing.

Here is a quote from the book which shows us that words can express much "There will be dozen of people that take your breath away, but it's the one that helps you to breathe again, that's the one you keep "
This book shows us that it is important to connect to people and be open-minded.
It also reminds us that we have got to love ourselves and try to be the best person we can.
It underlines the fact that life can be unexpected but you will find something or someone worth it along the way that will help you moving forward.

It made me cry and laugh and cry again as well as question myself about life and choices.
It gives us hope for what is coming to us in a world where everything can happen and nothing is set in stone anymore.

Congrats to the author, she is a very talented girl and I will not hesitate to buy her next book.
We can feel that she has put all of her heart in her first book.
She is one in a million; nowadays it is hard to find someone has real and genuine as her.

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Arrêtez de chercher. C'est le livre dont vous aviez toujours rêvé.
Ce livre est un pure chef-d'œuvre et à beaucoup à nous apprendre.

Il relate une histoire avec diverses thématiques comme : l’aventures, les opportunités, les risques, le chagrin d'amour, l'amitié, le pardon, le bonheur et ainsi de suite. Tout cela avec beaucoup d'humour, qui est, d'après moi, l'essence même de ce livre.

De plus, l'histoire semble si réelle en ce qui concerne la construction des relations, autant familiales que amicales. En effet, beaucoup d'entre vous pourront se retrouver dans l'un des personnages principaux.
La description des lieux Européen visités par l'héroïne est aussi tout simplement incroyable.

Pour vous convaincre, voici une citation tirée de son livre "There will be dozen of people that take your breath away, but it's the one that helps you to breathe again, that's the one you keep "
Ce livre nous montre qu'il est important d’essayer d’établir des liens avec d’autres personnes et être ouvert d'esprit.
Il nous rappelle que nous devons apprendre à nous aimer avant toute autre chose ainsi que d'essayer d'être la meilleure personne possible.
Il évoque également le fait que la vie est quelque chose d'assez inattendue mais qu'en chemin nous finirons toujours par trouver quelqu'un ou quelque chose qui vaut la peine de continuer à avancer et que nous ne pouvons pas simplement tout abandonner.

Il m'a fait pleurer et rire et pleurer à nouveau ainsi que me questionner sur la vie et les choix que j'ai faits dans le passé.
Il nous donne de l'espoir pour les épreuves que l'on va rencontrer par la suite dans un monde où tout peut arriver et ou rien n'est gravé dans la pierre.

Félicitations à l'auteur, c'est une fille très talentueuse et je n'hésiterai pas à acheter son prochain livre.
Nous pouvons ressentir en lisant son premier bouquin qu'elle y a mis tout son cœur.
C'est rare de nos jours de trouver quelqu'un qui arrive à transmettre autant d'authenticité dans ses écrits.

[Casca Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy, howdy, I am a little bit in love with this novel. It’s a little bit YA coming-of-age, a little bit heartbreak and recovery, a lot European adventure. It features a Manic Pixie Dream Boy who manages to be completely endearing and completely human, juxtaposed with an intelligent, aching, life-seeking female protagonist whose narrative seems less about finding herself and more about remembering herself and her own relevance to the world. Layla’s poetry of emotion, her immersion in her experiences far from familiar people and things, her immediate devoted friendship with Pistachio Cal Delgardo (yes, that’s his name; this makes more sense than many things pertaining to Cal. Just go with it!), all ring with the earnestness of youth and the Millennial online social reality.

I recommend this novel to young adults, people in long-distance relationships, people coping with heartbreak and betrayal, and especially anybody who passionately loves travel. Peppernell brings the myriad spirits of Europe to intense proximity with the reader, and it’s hard not to fall in love.

[Mila Caron · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Maybe we’re the paper cranes. Maybe we guide ourselves home.”

This is it. This is the book. This is the book that's going to make you want to jump on a plane and go traveling everywhere. This is the book that is going to make you want to live adventures, truly live it, with everything it has to offer. This is the book that will teach you a little bit more about heartbreak and how to move past that. This is the book that will make you start longing for places you never been. This is the book that will make you love your friends a little harder. This is the book that will make you appreciate small things and gestures again. This is the book.

[Nancy G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have followed Courtney since her days on Tumblr. So I was stoked to buy her first book.

It’s a bit of a slow start but once Layla takes off with Cal it’s a crazy adventure. Traveling Europe through the eyes of a heartbroken girl. The places they go makes you want to jump on a plane right now and hopefully find your own Cal to go with you. Side note: have snacks near by when reading. Courtney talks a lot about food and it will make you hungry.

[Nyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read from Courtney Peppernell ❤️ makes me want to travel and go adventuring in places I've never been.

"You know, I have always said that there is something much worse that a broken love, and that something worse is a wasted love." -Cal, in Chasing Paper Cranes

[Vangie Deleon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a book. I love her poetry but enjoyed her prose.

[Ricky · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Zach Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paper Cranes

Courtney Peppernell is an incredible author from poetry to even writing a novel. She’s definitely a great writer all around.

[Steph · Rating 1 out of 5]

Edit: I have changed my rating from two stars to one because of the author didn't like that I was critical of her work, so she fired back.

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I was realising that the things we haven’t learnt about ourselves are the very things people come into our lives to teach us.

Chasing Paper Cranes is filled with beautiful, often poignant quotes like this one. Quotable quotes are a staple to all coming-of-age stories, this one being no exception. Yet in Chasing Paper Cranes, it felt like the story had been built around these quotes—as though the author was determined to provide the reader with these little life lessons, and went to any means to ensure that the story was able to get there. It made these lessons feel disingenuous, and therefore the rest of Layla’s story unengaging.

Chasing Paper Cranes is a coming-of-age story with realistic ambition. The young adult market is currently swamped with coming-of-age stories about fifteen-year-olds realising their potential as a part of their world, something that I think is so incredibly unrealistic for young people these days. (I don’t think we truly come of age until our twenties.) Chasing Paper Cranes tells a coming-of-age story about a twenty-two-year-old university student as she travels through Europe, chasing love and realising its feebleness and unexpectedness.

The story is told from Layla’s point of view as she goes to meet her boyfriend from the very first time after beginning an online relationship with him a few months ago. They meet up in London where their partnered universities are holding a conference, but Sam’s nothing like what Layla expected. Misguided expectations and unrealistic fantasies work together to bring Layla and Sam’s relationship to its final end, and from here Layla’s real journey begins. With her new friend Cal, she goes on a spontaneous backpacking journey through Europe, meeting new people and learning important little Life Lessons along the way.

The premise had me excited for this book. The fact that it was written by the incredible Courtney Peppernell had me itching to get my hands on it. The beautiful cover had me sold. I went into this book expecting to read the most incredible story of my life, but I came away only mildly satisfied. It was a nice enough story, but it left me feeling underwhelmed.

There were two key elements of Chasing Paper Cranes that disappointed me the most: the characters and the writing. The beginning of this book was the most enjoyable because there was a handful of characters who were consistently involved in Layla’s life. I was able to get to know these characters, to understand their intricacies, to appreciate them as indiviuals helping to build the story. They weren’t necessarily likeable characters, but they were consistent, and relevant to the story.

Then Layla’s story moved away from these characters, and suddenly more and more new ones were introduced. There was a new group of characters for each European country that Layla visited with Cal, with very few remaining relevant after a mere chapter or two. It was incredibly frustrating, because I can’t even remember any of their names. There were so many characters, and they all seemed to be exactly same as the others. There was nothing remarkably notable about any of them: they were all overly kind and accepting and funny and full of life knowledge to give to Layla. There was no antagonist to the story, and every character was so unrealistically good. I can understand the sentiment behind this choice, but it just didn’t read very well.

The writing, too, was difficult to read at times. Chasing Paper Cranes is Peppernell’s debut, which she has released independently with very little distribution beyond Amazon, so it is likely that her editorial team was limited. This led to a lot of grammar and syntax issues throughout the book, and the interruption of incorrect punctuation took something from the reading experience for me. There were full stops where there should have been commas, commas where there should have been full stops, semicolons used incorrectly, inverted commas in all the wrong places, and general awkward sentences that didn’t flow well at all. It’s something that would send me into an absolute rage if I weren’t aware that this was an independent debut.

I think that Peppernell can only improve from here, and I hope that she takes on all the wonderful feedback that readers have given. Chasing Paper Cranes has so much potential to be improved, for scenes to be revised and the purpose of characters to be re-evaluated.

Despite its setbacks, this book was still a lovely little gem, and a breath of fresh air in the new adult market. It is a coming-of-age story with high ambition and an emphasis on finding yourself as it tells the story of a young woman coming to value the love between friends. You will have to be a little bit forgiving when reading this book, but remains a sweet little gem of potential.

[Ria Fritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is an author I will be following in the future, because she definitely has a talent for writing! There's a ton of potential in her work, and while there's room for improvement, it's worth reading if you're a fan of books that prioritize platonic relationships and self-realization over romance.

The book opens somewhat slowly, but the writing is so wonderful that I didn't find myself caring much. Layla is a pleasant yet believable main character, and most of her companions are worthwhile additions to the story as well. There are definitely a few too many characters, and not just because of the number of places Layla travels to. (Did we really need Mick, Kevin AND Alec in Paris? Heck, were those even their names?) By the end of the book, though, I was definitely invested in Layla and her travels. The narration and dialogue range from poignant to hilarious at perfectly appropriate moments, fleshing out the characters and their struggles enough to keep me engrossed through the slower moments.

If you're a fan of faster-paced reads, consider yourself warned: this is a pretty slow-paced plot. Philosophical musings are scattered throughout the book, and that will certainly be tedious for some readers. I think this may be a classic example of a love-it-or-hate-it book, and if you have zero patience for first-person narration of feelings, this is not your book. Luckily, these emotive musings come in fairly small chunks, so they should be easily digestible for most fans of romance and coming-of-age stories.

The whole book needs some trimming, as the description sometimes rambles on and on. This is the main thing that keeps this from being a five-star read. Peppernell's writing is truly great, albeit sometimes struggling with a few grammar and syntax issues, but it needs an ax taken to it in more than a few parts. I think only major history or travel buffs will appreciate the amount of detail poured into the descriptions of different landmarks.

For the next book, I think the author should keep about 80% of the descriptive bits that include the characters, their feelings and their actions. Keep no more than 50% of everything else. There are also entire scenes that didn't do anything for me and can possibly be cut, though they were moderately fun to read.

Overall, this is definitely a recommended read for folks who love chick flicks with wonderful platonic friendships, or cozy, emotive weekend reads. The ending was satisfactory enough to make the rest of the book worth it, and Layla is a very relatable character who I'd like to read more about in the future.

[Chlo Lean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!

I read it in a day.

There were some grammar issues, but I know this a debut and also somewhat 'self-published'. The publishing world is harsh these days which can make authors self publish which can affect the quality of the writing due to limited editorial teams.

The characters of Layla and Cal have depth and hold this novel up.

There were some flat parts, but I think that gives us a break from the constant moving throughout different countries and meeting so many new people.

Would 10/10 recommend and also read anything else Peppernell publishes.