Reddit reviews Why Chemical Reactions Happen

Atkins' Molecules and Why Chemical Reactions Happen? are great reads, The latter requires A2 knowledge at least, but it's an interesting read, it introduces a few first year topics but you should be fine anyway. Atkins' Molecules is a much easier read and written so well, there's some pretty interesting molecules you'll encounter in the book as well.

There's also this textbook called A-level Chemistry by E.N. Ramsden, this textbook is pretty old most school libraries have it (my secondary school and 6th form both had it). I used it during A2 as a reference book and it has some really good questions if you want a proper challenge, only problem is that it doesn't have all the answers to the questions so you will have to go to your teacher (this is good anyway, you'll get a better UCAS ref) for the answers.

I do chemistry at Warwick and absolutely love it here. The department falls a bit in the rankings due to student satisfaction but it's all bullshit. It's a great university and the chem department has great research facilities and brand new undergraduate teaching labs.

In terms of pre-reading i would recommend this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chemical-Reactions-Happen-James-Keeler/dp/0199249733
I found it a good transition from alevel to university

Why Chemical Reactions Happen by Keeler and Wothers is a very readable introduction to the theory underlying all of chemistry: Molecular Orbital Theory. I read it before starting my undergrad, and its what swayed me to chemistry over physics! All the fundamental theories of chemistry are rooted in quantum mechanics, using some really neat concepts! Well worth a read if you're familiar with high school chemistry!

Highly recommend the Why Chemical Reactions Happen book.. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0199249733/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_muitDbJVEXVQ4

Found this useful during my undergrad