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YA Mystery/Thriller ARC Reviews: Very Bad People and The Counselors

Posted July 7, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

For some reason, Kit Frick remains on my auto-read list even though her books never fully do it for me. I just feel like she’s a known quantity at this point and her books will be moderately good, which is sometimes all I want from a YA mystery? Add in the fact that this was a dark academia set at a boarding school with a secret society and I was ready to give it a read. Calliope is heading to Tipton Academy, where her mom went, with the hope that she’ll uncover some secrets and understand more about her late mother. Six years prior, her mom drove Calliope and her two sisters into a lake and she was the one who didn’t survive. Why did she do it? Where were they heading that day? Was it murder-suicide or an accident? She’s hoping to get some answers about her mom by transferring to the school. She’s immediately invited to join a secret society and finds out that her mother was also a member. Calliope tries to uncover some of the mysteries of her mom’s past while starting to date a boy, getting involved in the secret society’s pranks, taking down a shitty teacher, and making friends. In hindsight, there was kind of a lot going on, but it didn’t really feel that way while reading. I didn’t love her as a character and the writing style really bothered me. Calliope’s inner thoughts were very formal, like she would say “I am heading […]

ARC Review: The Change

Posted June 3, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

It isn’t very often that I request a book on Netgalley that I don’t really know anything about. I sometimes will see a contemporary romance with a cute cover being published by a favorite imprint and just request it, but that’s the extent of it. Requesting a mystery-fantasy-combo is definitely not something I usually do on a whim. Needless to say, I went into this with almost no expectations but hoped it would be a fun ride. THE CHANGE involves a few middle-aged women as they start to age and gain witchy powers. Jo has superhuman strength and some kind of fire energy that can melt things. Harriett has power over plants and nature. Nessa can see ghosts of the dead when they haven’t been laid to rest and/or have unfinished business. The story starts with these three women coming together, finding a dead body that a ghost led Nessa to, and helping figure out what happened to her. They each use their powers and strengths to solve the mystery, find other girls who have been murdered, and avenge them. The book is set in Mattuak, a fictional town on Long Island that I have to imagine is a play on Montauk in the Hamptons. The story also feels a littttle bit like a riff on the Long Island Serial Killer murder, where girls were kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered on Long Island and left on the beach. The cases are still open today and a lot of that has to […]

ARC Review: See You Yesterday

Posted May 18, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Rachel Lynn Solomon DOES NOT MISS. She really doesn’t. Is this what I start all of my reviews for her books with?? Maybe. Whether she’s writing YA or adult, I end up loving it. Add in the fact that this book featured one of my favorite tropes, and I was sold. I love books where people are stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again. Usually there’s some kind of message or lesson they need to learn and they try to go through each day differently to figure out what it is. The first one I read and loved was BEFORE I FALL and I will pick them up every dang time. In this story, there were quite a few twists to the typical Groundhog Day story that made it a winner. Barrett begins her first day of college with a physics class and ends it with burning down a frat house. When she wakes up the next morning and realizes she’s reliving the same day again, she’s eager to right those wrongs. She soon learns that the boy sitting next to her in physics, Miles, is also stuck in the time loop with her. I’ve never read one like this before! It was a unique take on the story because they were able to work together to figure out how to get out of it. These stories can admittedly get a little repetitive. Sometimes hearing the same dialogue bits or repeating scenes with slight differences […]

ARC Reviews: The No-Show and The Wedding Season

Posted May 12, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Oh man. This was such a fascinating reading experience and not what I was expecting at all. THE NO-SHOW story centers around Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane, as they all date Joseph Carter. They each suspect him of cheating or think he’s hiding something when he doesn’t show up for their Valentines Day plans. The story alternates between their three perspectives, so I expected this to be some kind of John Tucker Must Die story (like Cristina said in her review!) where they all figure out what’s happening and go for the jugular with this dude. Overall… that was kind of masterfully written. I shouldn’t have doubted Beth O’Leary like I initially did. The first 3/4 of the book was honestly a little tough to get into. I mean, this dude is dating three women. Why would I want to read that? Who am I supposed to root for as a couple? Are the girls going to get together and seek revenge? Well, without spoiling anything, things certainly changed in the final act. I got very unexpectedly emotional and it was not a light or girl-power-filled “rom-com” like I thought it would be. I’ll leave it at that! It’s hard to fully review this without majorly spoiling where things go. I think this was definitely worth the read and in the end, I REALLY enjoyed it. I think I could have rated it a bit higher but it was not the most fun to read for the first half or so. I […]

ARC Review: Part of Your World

Posted April 18, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

How are all of her books so good!? PART OF YOUR WORLD centers around Alexis, a doctor with a strong family history in medicine at a specific hospital in the city, and Daniel, a mayor/carpenter/B&B manager in the country. When Alexis is driving through his small town and runs her car off the road, Daniel helps her out of the ditch. They cross paths later that night when she stops by the local VFW for dinner and end up having a great night together. Their relationship picks up over the coming weeks until they’re basically a couple (at least in his small town). She could never bring Daniel into he world. Her twin brother’s new wife doesn’t pass her parents’ test of a suitable partner so clearly a tattooed, bearded man who is 10 years younger than her won’t either. She tries to protect Daniel from their scrutiny and the other side of her life but it gets harder and harder. I wasn’t fully sold on the age-gap romance (not my cup of tea) but it wasn’t the “main issue” these two had going for them, so it worked out fine for me. I really loved their chemistry in this one and the kind of opposites attract vibe. (Clearly I can’t resist it because this is the second book with that trope in a row where I read 60% or more of it in one sitting.) Daniel’s small town and all of the people in it were so cute. I loved […]

ARC Review: In a New York Minute

Posted April 13, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

This was definitely on my radar as a top anticipated read for 2022. I tend to love the rom-coms from Forever Romance and was hoping Kate Spencer would be added to my auto-buy list. Spoiler alert: definitely has been! This story centers around a meet cute that goes viral. Franny is having a terrible day – she gets laid off from her job and then her dress rips in the subway door, exposing her butt to the world. Luckily a kind stranger (Hayes) shares his fancy suit jacket with her so she can get home. They start trending as #SubwayQTs and inevitably meet up again in real life to appease the masses. I like that this was an “opposites attract” romance. They were both drawn to each other for different reasons and complemented each other well, despite being so different. Franny is loud and confident while Hayes is a bit awkward and professional. On paper, they don’t make a ton of sense. I also love that New York City was like a third main character in this story, as it often is! I live close enough to NYC where I could go there every weekend if I wanted, but I don’t like the place in real life – just enjoy reading about it in books. This was another book that made me feel that New York magic. I loved that Franny and Hayes were both passionate about the city but had very different experiences there. They were able to share […]

ARC Review: The Suite Spot

Posted April 8, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I really loved FLOAT PLAN so I had pretty high hopes for THE SUITE SPOT. These books were both similar and different from each other and therefore perfect companions. I could spend this whole review comparing the two books and sisters but I’ll try to keep it (mostly) about this one. When Rachel is fired from her job at a fancy boutique hotel in Florida, she and her daughter Maisie aren’t sure what’s next. She receives a lead from a friend that a guy on a small Ohio island is looking for someone to run his brewery-centered hotel/glamping spot. When her “boyfriend” disappoints them once again, she decides to take the plunge and the job. Mason, the owner of the place, wasn’t fully up front with her when he offered the job – the cabins aren’t even built yet and the brewery is barely done. He’s mourning the loss of a few things/people in his life too and remains pretty guarded around Rachel and Maisie. I adored the small island setting AND brewery hotel storyline. I would 100% stay at a glamping resort like this one! Small town vibes are my favorite to read and this setting had the perfect little town of people to flesh that out. Maisie was super cute and Mason was an excellent love interest. I like how this series so far has been very heavy on the family feels and/or overcoming some kind of grief or loss – taking relationships and romance slowly after disappointment […]

Review Round Up | Kamila Knows Best and Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead

Posted April 1, 2022 / 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’m enjoying Farah Heron’s books a lot! This book, like the first one I read by her, made me so hungry! This time for biryani instead of beer and bread. In KAMILA KNOWS BEST, she is struggling to balance everything in her life. She loves her job at a small accounting firm run by her father and family friends, volunteering for party planning and with an animal shelter, and hosting elaborate weekly Bollywood movie nights for her friends. She has a ton on her plate and still manages to take on more. Kamila was a…challenging character to get along with for me. Her actions and the fact that she constantly cut people off, assuming she knew what they were going to say about her, was so frustrating. I know that her father and Rohan sometimes acted like they knew what she wanted and assumed things when they shouldn’t, but she totally did the same thing to them too. Aside from those frustrating moments, she otherwise had a fun personality and generally wasn’t afraid to be herself… I just struggled to LIKE her a lot of the time. The ending was so cute and I love the way everything wrapped up. The romance was top-notch for most of […]

Blog Tour Review: Killing Time

Posted March 11, 2022 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

More purchase links: Bookshop.org // B&N // Amazon Books-a-Million // IndieBound // Google Play // Kobo // Apple Books Book Review KILLING TIME immediately sparked my interest – any time a mystery/thriller includes a true crime podcast element, I’m there. I’m also always excited to read books set in Connecticut. This one ticks both of those boxes. I didn’t realize right away that there’s a “past” and “present” back-and-forth throughout the story too, which was really intriguing. I kept wondering how the two timelines would connect. I have to admit that I didn’t love the main character, Natalie. She was kind of frustrating to read about because she dove headfirst into things without thinking. She definitely ignored red flags all over the place. Her mom was arguably even worse to read about. She was extremely strict. I assumed from the beginning that this connected to her past that we were reading about in alternating chapters, but it didn’t make it any easier to read. It made it harder to stay focused on reading and it took me longer to read than I hoped. The setting and references to Connecticut places were definitely some of my favorite parts of this. The ending of the story was pretty fast-paced after a major THING happens and I was intrigued to see what would happen. It was hard to put down – I was super tired and literally fell asleep with my Kindle in my hands because I didn’t want to stop reading. About the Author Brenna Ehrlich is […]

Review Round Up | Of Princes & Promises and Reckless Girls

Posted February 25, 2022 / 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! This series continues to baffle me a little bit. I enjoyed this book a similar amount to the first one. I was really hoping it was the characters from book one that prevented me from loving it but that turned out to not be the case here. If I were to read this without knowing Sandhya Menon wrote it, I’d be shocked to learn that she did. It just does not have the same feel as her other books, like the Dimple/Rishi universe. I think it’s mostly because she writes the characters as posh boarding school kids and her writing style feels weird as a result, like she’s trying hard to be fancy or something? In any case, this story followed Catarina and Rahul. She’s the pretty rich girl who rules the school and Rahul is the socially awkward kid whose family doesn’t even include him in public photos (his cousin stands in). The two of them had a ~moment~ after the school dance and Rahul is dying to capitalize on this. Catarina starts to “train him” to be a prince instead of a frog; she wants to make her cheater-ex-boyfriend jealous at some important events with a transformed Rahul on her arm. They acquire a magical […]