Source: Publisher

ARC Reviews: Deadly Little Scandals and Twice in a Blue Moon

Posted October 28, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I have loved every Jennifer Lynn Barnes book I’ve read, even including the ones that were not necessarily up my alley synopsis-wise. I still have to read THE NATURALS series and I can’t wait to be blown away by those too! In any case, I was sure to read this one relatively quickly to continue the story I loved so much. I didn’t remember that much from the first book but Barnes did a good job of recapping without overdoing it or feeling like an actual recap. I think the biggest issue with these books, which became even more of a problem in this one compared to the first, is that there are SO many characters. I could never keep anyone straight! The book, like the first one, also has chapters in the present and small flash-forward chapters that you’re working up to timeline-wise. This book additionally had some chapters set 25 years in the past, with the parents of all of the main characters. I was constantly trying to remember who was who. On top of the amount of characters, there are so many secrets around everyone’s parentage and family lineage too. Just when you think you’ve figured out who gave birth to someone or is related to someone else, everything changes again. I can’t say much more without being spoilery so I’ll just try to leave it at that. Overall though, this made it challenging to follow the story. There were a lot of big reveals though. I […]

ARC / Anthology Review: His Hideous Heart

Posted October 23, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I can’t lie: unlike most anthologies I request or read, I don’t have a lot of experience with this “topic.” I like to read retellings in general and have been so curious about this compilation of Edgar Allen Poe reimaginings since Dahlia first spoke about it on Twitter years ago. I thought, why not give it a shot? I saw that the original stories by Poe were in the back of the book in case I wanted to read those too, but I figured I’d read quick synopses online for each instead. I also decided to break this up over the course of October to (a) not pressure myself too much and (b) break up the spooky across the whole month! With there being 13 stories, I needed to complete a story every 2-3 days to finish by the end of the month. Therefore, I decided to read one story approximately every other weekday and move things around if I knew I had plans that wouldn’t allow for much reading. I ended up really liking the vast majority of these though, which led to a bit quicker of a read time than I expected! As usual, here are mini reviews for each story in the anthology and the overall rating (above) is an average of all the stories’ ratings. She Rode a Horse of Fire by Kendare Blake | Inspired by: Metzengerstein This was nice and spooky! I was invested and curious without knowing as much about the original tale. […]

ARC Reviews: She’s the Worst and Love on Lexington Avenue

Posted October 4, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I have to say, I was super excited about this one but a bit nervous too. I didn’t like Spieller’s debut that much and was nervous that I’d be disappointed here. Honestly, it was so cute and fun! I read it in one sitting on a Saturday morning when I was desperate to read a little more on the final day of the month; it was the perfect book to just read at once. April and Jenn were definitely “opposites” in most ways, with Jenn being the perfect sister that always helped their parents and got good grades. April was a bit younger and reckless, playing soccer instead of working at the family’s store. It was hard to read about how easily they grew apart, and the fact that it was honestly mostly their parents’ fault. I don’t want to dive too much into them because I HATED THEM SO MUCH but they were incredibly unreasonable. I have to say, they were some of my least favorite parents I’ve read about. April decides to give Jenn a tour of their memories around LA, where they live, and I won’t disclose Jenn’s secret, but it was a good idea for their sister day. They had a lot of issues to resolve within their relationship, as well as how they were impacted by their parents’ choice to open – and fight about – an antique store for years. There were other things touched upon, like Jenn’s feelings about college, her boyfriend, and […]

Blog Tour | Review: Glow of the Fireflies

Posted September 24, 2019 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

More purchase links: BookDepository | Kobo | Google Books | iTunes Review I’ve been really trying to move out of the contemporary romance bubble I tend to live in when reading. Magical realism is always fascinating to me and this book feels like it’s more along those lines than fantasy, because the main character discovers some magic in her hometown when she returns for the summer. I’ll backtrack a little bit: this story is about Briony, who was moved to Knoxville by her father after a fire and the disappearance of her mother. Her grandmother, years later, needs help for the summer, and she returns to Firefly Valley with her best friend Izzy in tow. She meets her childhood friend, Alder, that she doesn’t remember, and a lot of ~*magical things*~ happen from there! The main point of the story is that Briony discovers her mother didn’t abandon their family – she’s trapped in-between our world and the spirit world. The story escalates fairly quickly… the moment she arrives to Firefly Valley, she’s learning ALL the things about how magical this place is. The action started quickly and somehow she came to terms with it fairly easily? There were some interesting additions to the story in the second half, so things picked up exactly where I needed them to. The magical system and general premise of the story was pretty darn interesting, albeit a bit confusing. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m fairly inexperienced with fantasy, though. There […]

Blog Tour | Cover Colors: The Babysitter’s Coven

Posted September 12, 2019 / Book Reviews, Cover Colors, Features / 3 Comments

About the Author Goodreads | Website | Instagram I’m a YA write or die, originally from Kansas but now living in California. I’ve written for Cosmopolitan, NYLON and Seventeen, amongst other magazines, and worked with brands including Urban Outfitters, Vans and Calvin Klein. The Babysitters Coven is my first novel, but fingers crossed it won’t be my last. Blog Tour Stops September 11th The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club – Welcome Post September 12th Moonlight Rendezvous – Review + Favourite Quotes Bookmark Lit – Review + Cover Colours TBR and Beyond – Review + Playlist + Dream Cast The Reading Chemist – Review Musings From An Addicted Reader – Review September 13th Here’s to happy Endings – Review Hauntedbybooks – Review + Favourite Quotes Flipping Through the Pages – Review Phannie the ginger bookworm – Review + Favourite Quotes The Bibliophagist – Review September 14th Confessions of a YA Reader – Review + Favourite Quotes Ambivert words – Review + Favourite Quotes The Art of Living – Review Pages Below the Vaulted Sky – Review The Book Dutchesses – Review + Favourite Quotes September 15th The Book Nut – Review + Playlist Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile – Review The Layaway Dragon – Review + Favourite Quotes Kait Plus Books – Review + Favourite Quotes A Dream Within A Dream – Review September 16th Bookish Geek – Review Artsy Draft – Review + Favourite Quotes We Live and Breathe Books – Review Bookish In Bed – Review + Favourite Quotes The Desert Bibliophile – Review September 17th Wishful Endings – Review Novel Nerd Faction – Review Lili Lost in a Book – Review The Mind of a Book Dragon – Review […]

Review Round Up | A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Well Met, and We Came Here to Forget

Posted August 26, 2019 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! ARC August Edition As always with fantasy books, I kind of waited forever to read my review copy of this book. I was hoping to mix in the audiobook but I couldn’t track it down in my usual places, so I just broke up my reading and charged through. I also made sure it was both my August book club selection AND a pick for my Disney-a-thon TBR, so I would be guaranteed to have read it. I’m not 100% sure if this book is classified as a true portal fantasy, but I loved that it featured both “our world” and another fantasy world – Emberfall. It was fun to learn about that world and those who inhabit it (Rhen, Grey, etc.). The curse and Beauty and the Beast elements were really well done and more unique than the traditional Stockholm Syndrome-esque story or other retellings. I appreciated that a lot. Harper was kind of a badass main character and it was cool to read about a fantasy heroine with cerebral palsy. Like the author’s note said, she wasn’t defined by it throughout the story but there were clear mentions about how it affected her daily life. I do wish I read this all in […]

Late ARC Reviews: When the Light Went Out and The Last Resort

Posted August 14, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I hadn’t seen much about WHEN THE LIGHT WENT OUT, both before I requested it and after the pub date. I went in with no preconceived notions or expectations. I think I did expect it to have more of a mystery/thriller vibe than contemporary, but not enough to have that ruin the book. I love books about scavenger hunts or to-do lists, especially when left behind by someone who has passed away. In this story, a group of neighborhood kids were forever affected when Marley was accidentally shot by Nick five years ago. Olivia, the main character, was the only one of the group who witnessed it. Bigs, Teeny, Ruby, Harrison, and Olivia’s sister Aidy, join in with Olivia and a returning Nick to follow on Marley’s final “Adventure” scavenger hunt for them. To be honest, there’s not much to say about these characters. They were all fine and moderately developed but there’s not much more. Marley was essentially a manic pixie dream girl character throughout most of the book, which was unsurprising – a lot of books like this memorialize and glamorize the lost person. I can’t even say too much about the plot without spoiling how everything ends. I will say that I really didn’t enjoy how it ended. I ended up starting this one on a complete whim one Sunday and finished it before the day was over. I didn’t want to stop reading; the writing style and setup were so intriguing. I’d read more from this […]

Review Round Up | The Life Lucy Knew, The Devouring Gray, and The Last Book Party

Posted August 2, 2019 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I was destroyed by the first Karma Brown book I read years ago and she’s one of those authors where I can’t believe I’ve only read ONE book by. All of her stories sound so intriguing! When I started up yet another book club with a couple of friends, they were looking for TJR-esque books/authors. I knew Karma Brown would be perfect, so I shared a few options. We settled on this title for our first meeting! I was completely addicted to this. I read the vast majority of the book in one sitting and was so enthralled by the characters. I do feel like the overall premise is a bit simplistic; sometimes the “memory loss” trope can be a little boring or not overly inventive. I’m drawn to these books usually, so I knew there’d be some level of interest for me. I think Lucy and Matt made this book because I was SO invested in them, wanting them to make it work despite the memory loss erasing their relationship from her mind. So I definitely enjoyed this one overall, but the ending was incredibly bizarre and out of nowhere. I don’t mean what happened was out of nowhere, but the book literally ended so abruptly. I […]

Blog Tour Cover Colors: Notes from a Former Virgin – Chloe Snow’s Diary

Posted July 26, 2019 / Book Reviews, Cover Colors, Features / 1 Comment

I’m not usually one to enjoy covers with real human faces on them (I like illustrated people most of the time though!) but these covers are so playful and in tune with the books themselves. All of the covers for the first three books really reflect Chloe’s kind-of goofy personality quite well. I love the color scheme for this one too! Some of my favorites. I’m kind of obsessed with this collection that I pulled together! I have the focal point of the cover as one of the main pieces of the collage: big blue heart-shaped sunglasses. I included a planner/diary that matches the cover’s color scheme because obviously this book is written as diary entries. There’s a pretty close replica of Chloe’s pink sweater and some denim shorts with blue sandals to go with it. I include some pinky/purple makeup items, like the blush, lipstick, and eyeshadow palette. I also added a contour kit for bronzed skin and a backpack for her to take during junior year of high school. Amazon: 2019 Stay Focused Planner // Jansport Superbreak Backpack // Meyison Heart Sunglasses // Floopi Sandals // HOCAIES Jean Shorts // Winjoy Casual Knit Pullover Sweater ||||| Ulta: NARS Orgasm Blush // Anastasia Beverly Hills Norvina Palette // Tarte Tarteist Glow to Go // Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Backtalk About the Author Website || Twitter || Goodreads Emma Chastain is a graduate of Barnard College and the creative writing MFA program at Boston University. She lives in Brooklyn with her […]

Blog Tour Review: Truly Madly Royally

Posted July 25, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

More purchase links: iTunes | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo Review I’m new to royal-related fiction. This is primarily because I don’t love the real-life royals, compared to other people, but I HAVE turned a corner on fictional royal romance. I’ve loooooved a few books/series on the topic and have been opening myself up to them a lot more lately. I thought this blog tour would be the perfect way to keep my momentum and feels going. This royal romance featured an interracial couple, which was a breath of fresh air. Zora was an extremely passionate and dedicated character, who spent all of her time thinking of ways to improve and showcase her community of Appleton, NJ. When she meets the Prince of Landerel, Owen, she can’t deny their chemistry, despite all of their differences. While Zora was fully developed and vibrant, Owen fell a bit flat for me. He wasn’t anything special IMO and it was harder for me, as the reader, to feel their chemistry as a result. The plot moved very quickly and touched on a lot of events in a short amount of time. Therefore, much of the book felt rushed and underdeveloped. That includes her relationship with her father (something that was essentially dropped by the end), the budding romance between her friend and brother, and more. It was a light and breezy read with little drama, which I certainly appreciated. The synopsis implies that the royal wedding invitation is a major part of […]