Format: Hardcover

Last Book of 2016 & First Book of 2017 | Reviews: The Night Circus and The Secret of a Heart Note

Posted January 23, 2017 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments
Last Book of 2016 & First Book of 2017 | Reviews: The Night Circus and The Secret of a Heart Note

I thought it would be appropriate to put my reviews for my last read of 2016 and the first read of 2017 together. I ended up cutting it very close with my Goodreads goal because I decided to be lazy with my final book. I ended up finishing it 20 minutes before I had to leave for New Jersey for my NYE plans… whoops. That’s what happens when you tell yourself to meet your Goodreads goal exactly – no more, no less. I started my first book of 2017 on New Years’ Day while Chris and I were hanging out at home before bed. I was hoping to spend a good portion of the day reading but I ended up watching lots of football (duh). In any case, here are the books that ended one year and started another! I had pretty high expectations for this book. It ends up on a LOT of people’s all-time-favorites lists. I bought this on Scribd forever ago with one of my credits, solely because it was narrated by Jim Dale. The story itself intrigued me because I find circus settings to be fascinating, but I really only went through with the purchase because of Jim Dale. He is perfection. His narration did end up being a major highlight for me. It was jarring at times because he used similar voices to the Harry Potter characters (like one character in this book sounded a lot like Dumbledore) and the book had some similar words I […]

Holiday Mini Reviews: Winter Storms and What Light

Posted December 24, 2016 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment
Holiday Mini Reviews: Winter Storms and What Light

Story Winter Street swept me away pretty quickly for some reason. I was instantly intrigued by the Quinn family and wanted to get to know all of them. Once I finished with the bit of a cliffhanger, I moved on fairly quickly to Winter Stroll. The characters, over the course of the year between stories, regressed so much. They went back on decisions they already made and then made stupid ones. I didn’t like it nearly as much, but you know I was ready for the final book in the WINTER trilogy to arrive at the library. It unexpectedly did last week, so I was quick to hop right into it to finish it off. This book was definitely worse than the first one but better than the second one. I was incredibly annoyed by Ava mostly, with her love triangle that turned into a square. (Yep.)  I thought she became much snootier and more guarded than necessary. I think her character “developed” in the wrong direction. The other characters were their usual selves and I didn’t mind them as much. I love where the story went for Kevin and Isabelle, Margaret and Drake, and somewhat for Patrick and Jennifer. The ending was very abrupt and I kind of hated it. I think things were left too open-ended for my liking.  So, there was some good closure with a few characters but not all of them. Wintery Setting and Holiday Feels This story was interesting because it started in the spring […]

Holiday Review: Winter Stroll

Posted December 16, 2016 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Holiday Review: Winter Stroll

Basics and Initial Excitement Winter Street wasn’t perfect, but you better believe it made me invested in the Quinn family. I immediately requested this one from the library and it came in faster than expected. So, you also better believe I started reading ASAP! (I also requested the third one but since its a new release that might be a pipe dream this month.) The story takes place one year later, after a fairly big cliffhanger surrounding a member of the family. I won’t say who but it might come up later in this review… so be warned if you haven’t read book one! In any case, the Quinns went through a lot of changes since the previous Christmas where we left them. This story takes place at the beginning of December so the ~holiday season~ vibes are different too. Characters and Story Every character regressed so much from book one. Each person had decided on a partner or a future plan or SOMETHING in book one, but there was a bit of cliffhanger in some ways. In WINTER STROLL, all the fucking characters (okay, minus like two of them) went back on what they previously planned on or chose for themselves. I don’t want to spoil anything but there are some annoying characters that return (Nathaniel, Mitzi) to fuck shit up. Ava can’t make up her mind between her current boyfriend and her old boyfriend. Kelley can’t make up his mind between letting Mitzi back into his life or letting her go. Margaret, […]

Holiday Review: Winter Street

Posted December 2, 2016 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments
Holiday Review: Winter Street

Basics and Initial Excitement I decided to make this my first Elin Hilderbrand novel, as well as my first holiday book of this season. The synopsis grabbed me right from the beginning… and it helps that it takes place on Nantucket, one of my favorite places to read about. (It’s a couple of hours from me and I’ve never been there, but it’s similar to Cape Cod – one of my actual favorite places.) The book came in quickly at the library and I set off on my first seasonal read. Characters and Story The story is set over the Christmas holiday and begins on December 23rd. The Quinn family is used to gathering for the holidays at the Winter Street Inn that their father owns (and some of them still live at). This year, a wrench is thrown into the works when their stepmom is found kissing Santa Claus and leaves their father. The family has to move through the holiday parties and Christmas morning without one of the main caretakers of the inn. I liked that the story alternated between all of the main characters so you could get into their heads a little bit. Some of them were harder to connect to or get a read on (because of all the POV switching) but I’m glad that format was chosen for this book regardless. The children include Patrick, who is having a breakdown over some things happening at work; Ava, a schoolteacher that lives at the inn and can’t get […]

Review: The Amateurs

Posted November 23, 2016 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments
Review: The Amateurs

Initial Excitement I think everyone knows at this point how I feel about Sara Shepard? If you don’t, check this post out. I’ve read all of her YA books/series and 1 out of 3 of her “adult” books. She’s one of my favorite authors because her books are so quick and easy to read; I’m second-guessing my theories of whodunnit until the very end. I knew that reading this book would further propel me out of my reading slump, so it was released at the perfect time. I’d also like to point out that any book set in Connecticut is going to make me excited! Quick Summary Five years ago, a high school senior named Helena disappeared from her backyard in Connecticut. Her case remained unsolved and amateur detectives on the Case Not Closed website recently opened it again. Helena’s younger sister, Aerin, posts for help and Seneca is on the case. She used to be obsessed with it and is ready to dive in with two other members of the board – Maddy and Brett. They all head up to Connecticut over spring break to help Aerin, learn more, and hopefully crack the case. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels If you’ve read other Sara Shepard books you’re probably sitting here thinking that it sounds the same as her other series. Yes, they all seem to involve some kind of mystery and/or murder, a group of teens coming together to solve it, and other drama along the way. I have to say – […]

Review: Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies

Posted November 18, 2016 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
Review: Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies

Initial Excitement Do you ever NEED a book so much, you just can’t believe how perfectly it fits in to your mood? I have been in such a weird reading mood/slump for the past month and a half, for essentially the first time since I started blogging. I was intrigued by this book from the moment I saw it because it sounds exactly like a rom-com I’d love. However, when I sat down to pick up this book for the first time, I just knew it would break my slump and make my reading heart happy again. I was right, thank god. Quick Summary Harper finds out that her summer is going to be better than expected. She ends up getting an internship with Shift magazine (kind of like a Seventeen) in New York City as a dating blogger. She didn’t apply for that internship and has essentially zero dating experience, but she goes for it anyways. She lives with her awesome aunt in a gorgeous, huge apartment, makes new friends at the office, and deals with the “little white lies” she has to tell about her dating history. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels Harper was definitely the classic “clumsy and often clueless” main character that can be really irritating for me to read about. I have to say, the author pulled this character off better than I expected. I hardly ever found myself annoyed with Harper – with a few exceptions of course – and that made for some fun, light reading. […]

Review: The Unquiet

Posted November 14, 2016 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Review: The Unquiet

Initial Excitement This book actually flew quite under the radar when it came out last year. I saw Jamie read it and mentioned how underrated it was, so I just added it to my TBR. My book club ended up picking it out randomly using our extremely scientific method of choosing books *cough* and it was really out of our comfort zone! (We use this infographic to choose. One of us picks one number 1-20 and that corresponds to the box/category, if we count them in order. Then, the other one of us picks another number 1-6 and that corresponds to the book within that box.) So, I was intrigued by the premise and excited to read this underrated story! Quick Summary In this book, there are two connected earths and each person has an “alternate” (aka identical twin kind of thing) that lives on the other earth. Because the second earth is dying, the people are training to take over the first earth. They learn everything about their alternate so they can eventually come across, kill them, and replace them on the main earth. (This is all somewhat hard to understand in the beginning but I don’t think anything I said can’t be inferred from the synopsis.) Storytelling, Setting, and Feels Sometimes getting thrown right into the action can be fun. Sometimes it can be confusing. And sometimes (okay, this time), it can be both! I liked getting off to a quick start and trying to piece things together […]

Review: How to Hang a Witch

Posted November 7, 2016 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments
Review: How to Hang a Witch

Initial Excitement This book is truly out of my norm. I’ve only read a handful, at most, of books about witches. I just don’t go down that path for some reason. Actually, paranormal books in general are some of my least-read across YA fiction. In any case! I was in the mood for a somewhat creepy, a little scary maybe, book to read around Halloween. I started it that weekend and finished a couple of days later. Quick Summary Sam moves to Salem when her dad, who is in a mysterious coma, is transferred up to Boston. Her family has a huge history in the town and her ancestor, Cotton, was directly involved in running some of the Salem Witch Trials. She moves into her grandma’s house with her stepmom, Vivian, and quickly becomes a pariah, like she’s always been; kids think she’s cursed and they always somehow get hurt around her. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels The coolest part of the book was how atmospheric it was. I was a huge fan of the Salem setting. I live about 2 hours away from there but have never made the journey. I’m thinking that needs to change next year! I absolutely loved the parallels to the history of Salem – lots of the events of this book mirrored the old days of the Witch Trials. The story itself was really interesting too. I’ll get more into Sam soon, but I did like her as a main character for the most part. […]

Review: The Thousandth Floor

Posted October 27, 2016 / Book Reviews / 11 Comments
Review: The Thousandth Floor

Initial Excitement I mentioned this book way too many times on the blog before it came out, so clearly I was ready. I loved Gossip Girl and still enjoy reading about rich and terrible main characters. Call it a guilty pleasure if you must, but I don’t care – there’s something about it I love and it makes me nostalgic. This book promised to be a futuristic, sci-fi GG. Color me incredibly intrigued, okay? Quick Summary The main area of NYC that we know and love has been transformed into a thousand-floor tower, where everyone tends to work, live, and go to school. The higher the floor, the richer you are. Most of the main characters lived up towards the top, while a few were closer to the bottom. The story alternates between Avery, Leda, Eris, Watt, and Rylin as their lives become intertwined and secrets are revealed. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels I was promised a futuristic Gossip Girl and that’s what I got. The story itself was really intriguing because all of the characters had so many secrets. They were all certainly less-than-perfect and often ruthless in getting what they wanted. They broke the law and partied and spent insane amounts of money. Seriously, GG all over it. Adding in the futuristic elements and the tower itself was SO fun and a nice twist on the typical mean-rich-people-YA story. The setting of the tower was unreal. I wish I could picture it better, but it sounds like they just put everything in […]

Mini Adult Contemporary Reviews: Nine Women, One Dress and The Hating Game

Posted September 28, 2016 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments
Mini Adult Contemporary Reviews: Nine Women, One Dress and The Hating Game

I recently checked out a few adult contemporary fiction books from the library – both very recently released. I have been reaching for this genre (target age group?) so much lately for some reason. I think I needed somewhat of a break from YA. Both of these books were fantastic and I highly recommend them. I didn’t have super high expectations going into this book but I was really excited for it. I let the library fines pile up a little bit and decided to just go for it. I have to say, NWOD really impressed me. Most of the reviews implied a rom-com-style book that wouldn’t really blow your mind. I completely agree that this book would make a PERFECT romantic comedy movie. Seriously, I hope that happens. The plot summary reminded me a little of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but the story wasn’t really set up that way. THE little black dress of the season, size small, gets passed around between multiple ladies who don’t know each other throughout the course of the book. Each chapter features the POV of one character – some are those women who wear the dress, the salespeople, the men they’re dating or want to date, the maker of the dress, etc. I was pretty nervous I wouldn’t be able to keep track of everyone or let the story impact me, but that wasn’t the case at all. I honestly can’t remember every single character anymore but am left with a great overall impression. […]