Source: Publisher

ARC Review: Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index

Posted June 5, 2017 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Initial Excitement & Summary It was pretty obvious how excited I was for this book when I first heard of it. (I talked about it multiple times on here.) I can’t believe I waited until release week to read the ARC I was so pumped to receive. ? I always do this to myself because I get nervous that it won’t live up to my expectations, since they’re so high. I love books involving lists, letters, and other ~quests~ so this was right up my alley. When Juniper finds a letter addressed to YOU shortly after her sister, Cammie, passes away, she is determined to figure out who YOU is. In the meantime, she loses one of her own index cards with a secret on it that she doesn’t want people to find. Along the way, she develops relationships/friendships with others who are in need of a little something. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels Like I said, I had a great feeling I’d love this book from the moment I saw the synopsis (and, to be honest, the cover!). It’s pretty amazing when a book you hyped up like CRAZY for yourself ends up completely hitting the nail on the head. I’d say JUNIPER LEMON ended up even exceeding those expectations. I’ll talk more in the next section, but I loved all of the characters and the friend group Juniper pulled together. Juniper wasn’t alone on her quest to figure out who YOU was because these people helped her constantly. I don’t read many […]

#ReadADessen: Along for the Ride

Posted May 17, 2017 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I was sent a finished copy of this book for review as a part of the Penguin Random House Partner program. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Click the photo below to view the original source on the Penguin Read a Dessen campaign website! When Penguin invited some bloggers to join in with the #ReadaDessen campaign in honor of her new book ONCE AND FOR ALL (out June 6th), I hopped on board real quick. I’d been planning a Dessen-filled summer with Cristina already, but figured I’d give myself even more motivation to get rereading. True story: everyone has a favorite Sarah Dessen book. And if you ask them about it, they’ll be more than happy to gush about it for as long as possible. That’s why this summer we’re asking readers to spread the love by sharing their favorite Sarah Dessen novel with the world. Whether it’s because your favorite Sarah Dessen book gave you a love for reading, got you through a tough time, or changed the way you see the world – we want to know. [Source] Why Along for the Ride? In 2009 when this book initially came out, I was turning 18 years old and moving away to college in mere months. I was with my dad and family in Maine for one of the two weeks we’d spend there each summer, when we went to this little bookstore in Wells. The shop owner asked me what kind of books […]

#ReadADessen: Lock & Key

Posted May 8, 2017 / Book Reviews, Cover Colors, Features / 1 Comment

I was sent a finished copy of this book for review as a part of the Penguin Random House Partner program. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Click the photo below to view the original source on the Penguin Read a Dessen campaign website! When Penguin invited some bloggers to join in with the #ReadaDessen campaign in honor of her new book ONCE AND FOR ALL (out June 6th), I hopped on board real quick. I’d been planning a Dessen-filled summer with Cristina already, but figured I’d give myself even more motivation to get rereading. True story: everyone has a favorite Sarah Dessen book. And if you ask them about it, they’ll be more than happy to gush about it for as long as possible. That’s why this summer we’re asking readers to spread the love by sharing their favorite Sarah Dessen novel with the world. Whether it’s because your favorite Sarah Dessen book gave you a love for reading, got you through a tough time, or changed the way you see the world – we want to know. [Source] Why Lock & Key? I didn’t remember much about this one so I partially picked this story to remind myself of why I initially loved it! I remember there being a really excellent character arc in this one, where Ruby learns to rely on other people sometimes and admit she needs help. I’m ALWAYS drawn to sister stories because I love my sister and want […]

ARC Review: The Names They Gave Us

Posted May 3, 2017 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

NOTE: This is one of my favorite reviews I’ve ever written. It’s very long and discusses so many things, like the book does, so TL;DR… I highly encourage you to read this story. Even if religious books or “cancer books” aren’t your thing, I would be shocked to hear you didn’t enjoy it. Initial Excitement Full disclosure: I don’t do well with books involving religion. I like reading books about various topics – especially about people who are not like me – but religious main characters are some I never click with. I’ve only read a few books involving main characters who are openly very religious and reference it, but they didn’t work. I knew I was going to read this book even though any summary involving the world “faith” (unless it’s about cults…) doesn’t make it on my TBR. I just can’t do them, but Emery Lord made me change my mind. I couldn’t not read a book by her. I was cautiously optimistic that she’d use her superb writing style to make me love a book about faith. Quick Summary … and, spoiler alert: she totally did. Lucy and her parents (her dad is a pastor and her mom has cancer) head to their church camp over each summer vacation. Because her mom’s cancer is back, she pushes Lucy out of her comfort zone and into a different camp on the other side of the lake. Its meant for healing and has kids dealing with various home or personal […]

ARC Reviews: Cold Summer and Windfall

Posted April 24, 2017 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

I’ll be honest… I think three stars is generous for this one. I liked the ending, which does outweigh some flaws for me! I love second-chance-romance stories, especially when the two characters were best friends through childhood and reunite when they’re older. I also love anything involving time travel or alternate universes. In theory, this book is right up my alley! However… while the setup was interesting, SO much more could have been done with this premise. The biggest flaw for me – that can be applied to every single aspect of the story – is that the book lacked depth. It didn’t have any oomph to it. The romance was fine, the characters were fine, the time travel was fine… but that’s it. There wasn’t enough characterization for me to feel anything for the characters; I knew the bare minimum about them. Honestly, there were so many chapters where I forgot whose head I was in at the time. Characters (and their thoughts) should not be that flat and similar. I liked the side characters and their relationships, but they were even less developed. I don’t think we even know officially what happened to her aunt? And her relationship with her mom? I know the two things are related but the “closure” around those issues was either rushed or nonexistent. Time travel is a huge draw for me, but that was kind of boring too. Kale (yes I kept picturing the leafy vegetable) keeps traveling to the same time period for some […]

Mini ARC Reviews: The Adjustment, Secrets of a Reluctant Princess, and At First Blush

Posted April 10, 2017 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Like I did last week, I’m rounding up three ARC reviews for today! Sooo many March and April titles to catch up on… good lord! There’s a bit of a mixed bag, enjoyment-wise. Some of them were really great while others were… not so great. I hope you enjoy these slightly smaller reviews 😉 S H O R T & S W E E T A R C R E V I E W S Honestly guys, I have no idea how Suzanne Young does it. She is totally the master for crafting an incredibly interesting series, where each book is just as good (sometimes better) than the last. I really can’t fathom it. I’m not ready to leave the world of THE PROGRAM yet and thank god there’s one more book! This story happens after the Program has come and “gone” from the world. (I recommend reading these in published order instead of chronological order because it keeps the suspense going!) There’s a new thing called the Adjustment, which allows for someone’s memories to be essentially implanted in another person. Tatum and her boyfriend Wes end up giving it a try. He comes back from the Program and doesn’t remember how much they loved each other before, so they start working with the Adjustment because he starts to get feelings for her again. Of course, there are plenty of problems and mysteries to work through. These books are a wild ride. I have to say that I did […]

Mini ARC Reviews: Letters to the Lost, Pretty Fierce, Zenn Diagram, and Done Dirt Cheap

Posted April 3, 2017 / Book Reviews / 9 Comments

Am I the only one with a million ARCs of books releasing this month?! (Even this week in particular!) I wanted to bring together a few reviews here because there are just too many to include. I read some of these a long time ago and a couple of them more recently, but I’m going to pat myself on the back for getting a good portion of them done before their release date. All of these ones were mostly enjoyable – a few more than others – so be sure to read on! 😉 S H O R T & S W E E T A R C R E V I E W S I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Declan and Juliet were definitely interesting characters who were going through a LOT of shit. The premise of writing letters to each other was really sweet; I love the whole “hidden identity” letter-writing/online-chatting trope. There’s always the torturous waiting game to see when one or both of them realize who the other person is. In this case, it was fairly complicated as they grew to know each other IRL too. Like I said, both had a lot going on. Juliet was dealing with the unexpected death of her mother from earlier that year. Declan was dealing with community service requirements and big family-related issues. He was always angry and closed off from literally everyone, and Juliet was fairly similar except she was sad instead of mad. It […]

ARC Review: Geekerella

Posted March 29, 2017 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

Initial Excitement I heard a bit of buzz about this one early on from some bloggers, so I immediately requested it… then started it that same night! I’m not AS fandom-y as a lot of my friends (minus a couple of things) but I had a feeling this book would resonate with me anyways. I’ve only been to one Comic Con but love the feel of cons. I love that people can be themselves and geek out without being judged. I’m also a big sucker for Cinderella retellings! Quick Summary Elle is in the classic Cinderella situation – her stepmom is terrible and her stepsisters are just as bad, her dad (and much earlier, mom) passed away, and she’s constantly forced to do things around the house. She and her dad bonded like crazy over Starfield, a sci-fi TV show, and she has a popular-ish blog about the series. There’s a new movie reboot coming out and she’s not very happy with the main character’s casting, but that doesn’t stop her from entering a cosplay contest at ExcelsiCon (a con that her dad created). There were countless connections between Elle and the lead actor in the Starfield movie, Darien, without them actually knowing each other. LOTS OF CUTE THINGS HAPPEN. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels I loved how fandom-centric this book was. I haven’t read many “geek” books like this but my sister has (you bet your ass I preordered this for my sister). I have to say, it covered pretty much […]

Blog Tour Cover Colors | Chloe Snow’s Diary: Confessions of a High School Disaster

Posted March 15, 2017 / Book Reviews, Cover Colors, Features / 0 Comments

Hello friends! I’m here today for my stop on the blog tour for Chloe Snow’s Diary: Confessions of a High School Disaster! I read the book in one afternoon and couldn’t put it down. I loved Chloe so much; she reminded me of myself in my freshman year of high school. Below you’ll see my Color Covers post for the book’s cover, as well as the outfit I made for Chloe that represents various aspects of the book. I also included a small review down below, near all of the blog tour information. Hope you enjoy and want to read the book ASAP 😉 It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with book covers. I love the colors, the typography, the different designs that cover artists can create. I even have a guest post feature where people share their favorite book covers and bookmarks! I decided to start up this random feature where I draw color inspiration from my favorite book covers. I may create an outfit, pick out some nail polish, or design a quote graphic. Today’s cover is… Chloe Snow’s Diary: Confessions of a High School Disaster by Emma Chastain I have to say, this outfit below was probably one of the most fun to make! I put it together almost immediately after finishing the book so everything was super fresh in my mind. You’ll see a lot of different details below that directly correspond to things Chloe does, sees, wears, and receives. Some examples: the copy of Sense and Sensibility from Christmas […]

ARC Review: Close Enough to Touch

Posted March 3, 2017 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Initial Excitement BEFORE I GO by Colleen Oakley had been on my TBR – I even own a copy – for a loooong time. I won it in a giveaway, saw amazing reviews, and was incredibly intrigued by the premise… but still it remains on my shelf. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. In any case, I was eager to request CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH, as if Oakley was a favorite author of mine without me even reading her books. I decided to make it one of my final reads of 2016 – the second to last read, to be precise – and I’m so glad I did. Quick Summary Jubilee has been living alone in her house for 9 years, with her extreme allergy to other humans evolving into agoraphobia. When her mother unexpectedly passes away and the money stops coming, she has to get a job and get out of her house for the first time in almost a decade. The other character (and POV, as this book alternates between the two) is Eric. He’s struggling with his adopted son, who lives with him, and his biological daughter, who lives with his ex-wife and refuses to speak with him. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels While I feel like not much happened, there was plenty of character development that kept the plot moving. I loved seeing how Jubilee reacted out in the world and slowly developed various relationships with people. The library setting was awesome; I’ve always loved stories […]