Icon Tag: Book Love

ARC Review: Caraval

Posted January 12, 2017 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments
ARC Review: Caraval

This book was insanely cool. Completely lived up to the hype for me. I went in expecting an atmospheric, magical story, and that’s exactly what I got! I absolutely loved it. There were a few things that bugged me a little that prevent it from getting a full five stars, but I would still count this among my favorites. The plot, in a few words: Scarlett, our main character, had been writing to the creator of Caraval, an insane traveling circus (to put it mildly), for years, in order to try to get him to come perform. Her grandma had gone years ago and told her and her sister, Donatella, all about it. The girls finally receive invitations, plus one for her fiance, and decide to sneak away from her father before her wedding. A sailor named Julian comes along with them for the final ticket because Scarlett hasn’t actually met her fiance. Her sister essentially gets kidnapped when they arrive and the mission of this year’s game is to find her. Loved It Magical Setting and Atmosphere The setting was easily the best part of this story. I loved learning about Caraval and trying to understand how it all worked. They warn you that it often feels real – and it partly is – but it’s mostly a game. It was amazing to follow Scarlett along as she tried to figure out what in the fresh hell was going on up in there. The atmosphere and magic of the story was […]

ARC Review: History Is All You Left Me

Posted January 9, 2017 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments
ARC Review: History Is All You Left Me

I’m not totally sure where to begin with this review, but let me just say – Adam Silvera is now on my list. (That sounds bad, but I obviously mean must-read-all-this-author’s-books list.) HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME is the first book I’ve read by him, but I’ll definitely be going back and reading his debut sometime soon. Do yourself a favor and do the same, if you haven’t read him yet. I’m already predicting I’m going to love that one too. The synopsis honestly wasn’t super appealing to me, compared to the books I usually read, but I decided to try it out for some reason. I’m obviously glad I did. Griffin has OCD (something I was kind of nervous to read about) and recovering from the sudden death of his ex-boyfriend/best friend (something I also don’t do as well with). I like reading books where characters are moving on from grief, but those books generally take place months later when the person has had to some time to cope. This book completely exceeded my expectations. Literally within the first paragraph, I loved his writing style. I don’t know why but there’s just something about it that clicked with me instantly. The rest of the book was very much the same – such an engaging style that’s easy and enjoyable to read. Griffin was an interesting character. His OCD was actually quite interesting to read about and wasn’t overwhelming *there* to make it feel like a book exclusively about […]

ARC Review: This Adventure Ends

Posted September 26, 2016 / Book Reviews / 11 Comments
ARC Review: This Adventure Ends

Initial Excitement After loving FIRST & THEN to absolute pieces back when I read it, I was so eager to read THIS ADVENTURE ENDS. I loved Emma Mills’ style of storytelling and super charming, yet flawed, main character(s). I was so excited to end up with an advanced copy of this one and I’m surprised I waited until the end of August to finally read it. Summary in a Second Sloane and her family move to her childhood vacation town in Florida after living in NY. Her father is a famous author and he needs to get his writing mojo back, so the family opts for a change of scenery. Sloane quickly falls in with a pair of twins, Vera and Gabe, and their friends Aubrey, Remy, and Frank. When Vera/Gabe lose sight of a painting their deceased mother left them, Remy and Sloane make it their goal to track it down. This is a story about friendship, love, family, and fandom! Storytelling & Setting The whole premise behind this story was so intriguing. It had elements of my favorite tropes, like road trips, slow burn romance, friends-to-more romance, fandom/writing/reading, and strong, sassy main characters. I loved following Sloane on her journey with Remy to track down the painting while watching her friendships strengthen with the various people in the group. She was also a fantastic singer, so there were some elements of “will I be singing for the rest of my life and/or college career?” that were fun to […]

Review: Tell Me Three Things

Posted August 5, 2016 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments
Review: Tell Me Three Things

So yes of course I’m going to take the obvious review style here and tell you three things about this extremely wonderful book that landed on my favorites shelf… Thing #1: Super realistic and relatable While some things about the main character, Jessie, bugged me, it really felt like a realistic portrayal of the inside of a teenage girl’s head. She wasn’t perfect and was a bit too judgmental about those around her in her new school, a lot of it felt like a defense mechanism. She moved across the country essentially on a whim and was reacting honestly to what she saw around her. I usually like there to be some kind of character growth around this, but I have previously loved books where this happened too. I think it’s a story worth telling because some mean girl situations ARE real and the people DON’T change. Aside from Jessie’s internal monologue, I really just felt like the book was so enjoyable and, again, REAL. I loved her voice overall. Thing #2: Adorable romance I shipped her and SN from the beginning… and knew who SN was from the beginning. Jessie did frustrate me as it got further and further into the book and she STILL didn’t know. HOW? It was so obvious to me! It did involve some of those classic annoying things were she assumes it’s someone else with zero evidence and is a dummy about it for way too long. Oh well. Regardless, I LOVED reading about the […]

ARC Review: One True Loves

Posted June 22, 2016 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments
ARC Review: One True Loves

Woooof, where do I begin with this one? Because it’s Taylor Jenkins Reid, I already had sky-high expectations. I’ve read all of her books now except one and they’ve all blown me away. This is the lowest rating and its 4.5 stars! That being said, it wasn’t my favorite by her, but was still utterly fantastic. Loved it I love the fact that TJR’s books always focus more on character development and emotions than plot. Obviously a lot of things happen to move the story along, but there’s so much emphasis on the character working through her feelings that it takes center stage. This makes her books incredibly quoteable and rereadable. Just fantastic. I really felt the struggle that Emma had to deal with. I mean, what could you possibly do in that situation? You think your husband is dead, you finally move on and get engaged, then the husband returns!? It’s unthinkable. I love how Jenkins Reid gives a thorough backstory on the characters and their relationships before diving in. Like in AFTER I DO, she goes through the whole relationship first to see how it breaks down. You get to know the characters and can really see all sides of the dilemma. The same thing happens here in ONE TRUE LOVES. You learn about Emma and Jesse and Sam, so you really understand why she has a hard time deciding what to do. I was really nervous about the ending of this one. I had a feeling it […]

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

Posted May 19, 2016 / Book Reviews / 15 Comments
Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

I was able to attend the ACOMAF tour stop in Warwick, RI, which was moderated by my friend and former Secret Sister Sarah! Both Sarahs were so fun to listen to. Seriously, seeing SJM and hearing her talk about Throne of Glass makes me want to hop on reading those books ASAP! It was also great to see Sarah and catch up about everything. It definitely was worth the 1.5 hour drive! Plus, it was near my old college and I had all the nostalgic feels. Here are a few photos from the event before I kick off my review: It took me a very long time to read this book. I have trouble with fantasy sometimes and I remember having the same issue at the beginning of ACOTAR as well. I just needed time to settle into the world, but everything picked up so much after the first couple hundred pages. This makes it sound like those millions of pages were boring or not good. Believe me, that’s not the case. I found myself reaching for lighter, faster reads in the middle of ACOMAF because I just needed a break. I know I could have sat and read forever if I had the time, but I just needed to take my time and savor it. ACOTAR was also one of those books I felt slightly disillusioned with over time. The more I thought about Tamlin, the more he bugged me. The ending of ACOTAR was an absolute fucking whirlwind […]

Review: Right of First Refusal

Posted April 13, 2016 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments
Review: Right of First Refusal

Dahlia Adler has literally never let me down. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of her books (and now I have officially read ALL of them) and I can’t see it changing any time soon. This is the second in her Radleigh University NA series and I liked it even more than the first book. Every book by Dahlia is so well-rounded, covering every important topic in a young person’s life, without feeling like it’s “too much.” This book had strong friendships, romance, family issues, and – of course – a few sexytimes. Every single thing you could want in a book, really. Our main girl Cait was fierce and I fucking loved it. She wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted and be super intense doing what she loved: playing lacrosse. I LOVED that she prioritized it above a lot of other things, because it shows how dedicated she was. She never let anyone tell her otherwise; she didn’t care if they didn’t get it. I really loved how strong she was. Friends & family Lizzie (from book one) and Frankie (book three coming next, eeeeek) were, as usual, fantastic, supportive friends. They had Cait’s back, even when she kept things from them to protect someone else. I love their relationship so, so much. I could probably go on about it all day. Their personalities are so distinct and fleshed out. I have to say though, the best part is the constant sexual innuendos 😉 Those are my people! Her sister, Cammie, […]