Tag: eGalley

Spoiler Free Book Review: Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan

Title: Ruthless Gods (Something Dark and Holy #2)

Author: Emily A. Duncan

Pub. Date: April 7th 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Macmillan

Pages: 544 Pages

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLES | AMAZON

🖤ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review🖤

🖤Although this is a spoiler free review of Ruthless Gods, you will probably be spoiled for the first book Wicked Saints if you haven’t read it🖤

Is it possible to love a second book way more than you did the first? ABSOLUTELY! Although I did enjoy Wicked Saints, I felt like Ruthless Gods really put me through the ringer of emotions. Our characters are bruised and battered after the events of the first book. Nadya shows a tremendous amount of character growth & development now that she’s left without the blessing of the Gods. She’s lost her direct line to them & any sparks of power she may have are dark in nature & unknown because she’s tapped into Malachaisz through blood magic. She’s lost the boy she loves & has so many complex feelings to sort through. Seeing him twisted into the demon shape he is leaves her constantly at war within her self over feeling she feels she shouldn’t have for him. Told in multiple POV’s we are also following Serafin the new Crown Prince who this book mainly focuses on. Serafin is the character I cherish the most & that’s just because he is silently fighting a war no one sees & he isn’t looking for a shoulder to lean on. Serafin is an alcoholic who has lost vision in one eye. More like he’s lost control of it to the God who has possessed him. We see him stumble about trying to hold thoughts of going mad at bay whenever he hears voices in his head or sees stars in the one eye he’s lost all vision in. Serafin also discovers some HARD truths in this book that will complicate many of his decisions along the way.

We also get a lot more background info on the REAL war taking place & it goes much deeper than Tranvians Vs. Kalyazin. Although I will say that as someone who roots for the underdog, there was something satisfying about Kalyazin making generous progress in the fight & pushing back. They went from having terrible odds to actually standing a chance because they’ve found something to sort of even the odds. Of course we can’t forget our “villain” or favorite Black Vulture Malachiasz (just found out I’ve been pronouncing his name allllll the way wrong smh) who is hella wicked yet I can’t hate him. Quite the opposite, this dark little soul just manages to leave me wanting to understand him all the more SMH! especially after getting a glimpse into his childhood *heartstrings* 

Content Warning: body gore/eye horror, self harm, alcoholism

I have pictured Emily A. Duncan in a dark little dungeon baring her soul to write this book. These characters have gone through hell & back but they’re only now getting to the heart of the matter. All of our characters are mentally tortured & coping as best they can given the circumstances. I loved getting the POV’s of Parijahan who is basically the closest Malachiasz has to a friend. I was very intrigued by her royal back story & the reasons that placed her on this journey to begin with. We also were introduced to a new character, Katya who is the Crown princess of Kalyazin and should be ready to strike Serafin down. Katya however finds herself relating to Serafin & it was also interesting seeing them cross paths and gain perspective from one another. As for the writing itself, I won’t lie the pacing really tested my patience here but it was SO worth it. I find this is the case with any stories the are centered around an actual journey. About 50% of the story is build up and backstory. The second half of the book raises the stakes with the presence of the Gods, at this point I couldn’t stop flipping pages fast enough. Considering this story focused a lot on Serafin, my best guess is that book 3 will be more Malachiasz focused & for that I will drop everything! *evil hands* haha!

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March 2020 Monthly Wrap-Up

March, the month of audiobooks and self care/luvin like never before! Mid-month was the start of social distancing, work from home, and remote learning. Like many of my fellow bookworms I saw myself struggling to do what I love most & that is reading. While finding my groove in this new normal I found comfort in audiobooks. The one exception I made was House of Earth and Blood which also happened to be the last book I physically picked up in Barnes & Nobles. I listened to 3 quality audiobooks and read the tome that kicks off the Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas. In between reading, I fell down the rabbit hole of Pinterest & Latin food recipes. The kitchen has become my little piece of heaven, creating meals while listening to books or watching my favorite content creators on Booktube. It’s now Mid-April & that means this post is hella late but prioritizing self care during these trying times is where a lot of us are at. Cutting myself a break here & just enjoying the little things while safe at home 🖤

*Reviews linked down below*

UNDERCOVER BROMANCE BY LYSSA KAY ADAMS – ✨4 STARS✨The follow-up to The Bromance Book Club which follows Mack & Liv. This is a hate-to-love romance that covers the #metoo movement. We get the see all of our old cast members while they team up to help Mack help Liv get rid of her dirt bag of a boss. LOVED this & I cannot wait for the next installment Crazy Stupid Bromance (Bromance Book Club #3) *eeeeK!*

THE LAST HOPE BY KRISTA & BECCA RITCHIE – ✨3.75 STARS✨LOVED the full cast audiobook production so much! this follow up to The Raging Ones was one I was MOST looking forward to & it did NOT disappoint. I haven’t read anything else by this author duo but my curiosity has been piqued to the max. I got so attached to Court, Franny, and Mykall making this conclusion all the more bittersweet. This duology is definitely one to keep on your radar if you’re looking for Sci-Fi + Romance.

HOUSE OF BLOOD AND EARTH BY SARAH J. MAAS – ✨5 STARS✨ THIS BOOK PUT ME THROUGH IT! I’m so glad I read this at the same time my Twin BFF Gretchen (ChicNerdReads) did because we got to experience this emotional rollercoaster together! Best word of advice for those who haven’t read but plan on reading this one soon…DON’T READ THE SYNOPSIS!!! the effect of certain events won’t be the same if you do. All in all, I really enjoyed getting to know this world & characters. Eager for the next book in this series!

AN ANONYMOUS GIRL BY GREER HENDRICKS & SARAH PEKKANEN – ✨3.5 STARS✨ This was an audiobook I picked up after hearing much buzz about the author duo ( see The Wife Between Us) the narration was on point & gave you that spider stuck in a web vibe. The only reason I gave it 3.5 stars is because the MC is HIGHLY inquisitive & yet she continued to irrationally allow herself to fall deeper.Eventually I started to get a bit frustrated but won’t deny I couldn’t stop listening to the story unfold. I’d def check out this author duos future works.

BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN

I’m a HUGE Harley Quinn fan but seeing Margot Robbie in The Suicide Squad solidified my love for this character. Birds Of Prey gave us a good dose of Harley as she picks up the pieces of her broken heart. The opening scene alone is very cathartic for Harley as she accepts the truth & cuts ties to her past to the Joker. Of course it’s Harley & wherever she goes trouble shortly follows but you can’t help but love her. One of my favorite ICONS Rosie Perez also had a role in this film & ahhhh! I Was LIVING for this HIGH adrenaline rush flick till the very end. Can’t wait to see Harley in future films & what is planned for her role in this universe.

BLOODSHOT

This isn’t my typical type of flick but my boyfriend was looking forward to it having had read the comics. I was curious enough to check it out & I’m pretty much game to anything Sci-Fi. Well, overall I wasn’t a fan of this movie & that’s simply because the plot failed to keep my interest. Still, Vin Diesel pretty much won my loyalty when I first saw him in The Fast & The Furious (yea I’ve given this franchise too many years/Dollars to stop now) which makes it a sure thing I’ll watch all his movies. Don’t ask me why but I just can’t disappoint Dom Toretto haha!

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WWW Wednesday 4/15/2020

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On a World of Words and to participate all you have to do is answer the three W’s listed below. Once you’ve posted your WWW, drop a link to your post in Sam’s comments <3’s!

The questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

Who else is experiencing all of their library holds coming in at once? 🤷🏻‍♀️I wasn’t expecting my 8 week long holds to show up on my Available Now shelf & now I’m thinking its time to get serious about possibly creating a TBR? 🙈DREAD that for me! 😂 but I also don’t want to pass up this opportunity. I’m choosing to divvy up my reads between eGalleys & Library holds for the time being. This all the while I try to stop myself from falling into the next binge worthy Netflix show. All bets are off if we get anything along the lines of The Tiger King cause 🤦🏻‍♀️I can’t help watching the circus #jussayin! These books down below are what I’d like to focus on while I work from home 🖤

INCENDIARY (HOLLOW CROWN #1) BY ZORAIDA CORDOVA-I’m 170 pages into this book & can honestly say it will probably make my top 20 of 2020. Described by many as being inspired by 15th century Spain and the Inquisition, this is in my opinion Zoraida Cordova’s best book yet. Having read two of the Brooklyn Brujas books, I can see the growth in this authors writing. The world building is EXACTLY what I look for in Fantasy, to see this well done in YA Fantasy makes it stand out all the more. Incendiary deals with rebels & spies who are conspiring to bring down a kingdom hell bent on eradicating those of Moria descent. More specifically those who are wielders of magic. HOOKED & totally invested in these characters! 🙌🏽

FROM TWINKLE, WITH LOVE BY SANHYA MANON-30% into this audiobook & am loving all of the cheesy smiles this book is getting out of me. Twinkle is a MC who hasn’t found her voice yet when dealing with confrontation. However, she has BIG dreams & a hunger to one day be a filmmaker. I’m still early on in the story but I’m enjoying so far seeing Twinkle, a self appointed wallflower come into her own while also falling in love.

DOCILE BY K.M. SZPARA (My Review)-This is a dark one Bookworms! My review does have content warnings, it is a M/M BDSM Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopian. Docile is quite the page turner that will probably keep you reading at all hours of the night. I rated this one 3.5 stars because of the way that it ended. It’s not a bad rating at all but I did feel rather uncomfortable with how certain things played out. I would however still check out any of this authors future works.

RUTHLESS GODS (SOMETHING DARK & HOLY #1) BY EMILY A. DUNCAN -I have a review in the works for this highly anticipated sequel here on the blog. I rated this one 4 stars & really am looking forward to the final book in this trilogy. I’ll admit I struggled with about 50% of the book, pacing was definitely an issue. It took us a while to get to the climax but once it was reached it took off & had me fully enthralled. I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again, The Darkling from Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse has NOTHING on Malachiasz! this guy is 50 shades of complex & as such, will leave you feeling just as messed up smh 😂

MY DARK VANESSA BY KATE ELIZABETH RUSSELL –“Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.” – I’ve been mentally preparing myself as best I could for this read & when I received the notification from Libby I knew it was Go time!

CLAP WHEN YOU LAND BY ELIZABETH ACEVEDO -This author is one of my favorite auto-buy authors, The Poet X & With the Fire On High were both 5 star reads for me last year. Seeing this title hit Edelweiss I quickly hit request & hoped for the best. No other title has made me feel this HYPED up to receive an approval email. This see Acevedo return to her well known written in verse format I absolutely LOVE! I was almost hesitant to request this book simply because if you’ve listened to any of her audiobooks that she narrated herself, you’d understand the raw quality behind this authors voice. Two girls separated by distance share the same father however neither know of each others existence. It isn’t until they’re made aware of his passing on a plane crash that their lives connect. BEYOND the moon grateful to have received an early copy! 🙌🏽

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Review: Docile by K.M. Szpara

Title: DOCILE

Author: K.M. Szpara

Pub. Date: March 3rd 2020

Genre: Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopia/LGBTQIAP+

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Tor

Pages: 496 Pages

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLES | AMAZON

🖤ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review🖤

Having heard so much about this Dystopian Sci-Fi & its heavier themes I was driven to request a eGalley from Tor. Thankfully the Book Gods delivered & I found myself flipping through digital pages faster than I have any book in quite some time. We get introduced to this society where the elite have found a way to settle debt & that is through a system of what can only be called sex slavery. Whether you owe mortgage payments, student loans, or bills there is a way to settle your debt & avoid being dragged away by the police. Marriage is down because debt is transferrable, therefore families with shared surnames are rare. We meet our MC Elisha whose parents have incurred enough debt to no longer be able to evade the authorities. His mother has settled some debt when she signed up & completed 10 years as a Docile. She’s never been the same since her time as a Docile because of the drug taken while under contract. Dociline is the invention of one of the MOST elite families & is promoted in order to make Dociles more submissive. Elisha decides he is going to take over the family debt & sign up to be a Docile. He plans on excerising his right to decline Dociline. Elisha had no idea he’d be signing to be Alexander Bishop the III’s Docile, the very man working on the next version of the drug Dociline. Nonetheless they enter a life long contract & Alexander sets out to prove that he can get Elisha to be a well behaved submissive. There are some very dark & heavy themes that play out in this book like consensual non-consent, rape, PTSD, verbal & physical abuse, attempted suicide & torture. This is a Sci-fi with BDSM featuring a male/male partnership of sorts.

Elisha Wilder – We don’t get much time with Elisha before he sets off to be a Docile so it’s pretty hard to form a picture of him other than he was very inexperienced. Elisha is Gay & at the time of signing up to be a Docile has not kissed or had sex with anyone. I had this feeling the entire time that Elisha was in way over his head & I honestly wanted to protect him. Elisha is very naive & experiences so much trauma it legit broke my heart.

Alexander Bishop III – Son to one of the MOST elite families & a Scientist who is always working on the next version of Dociline. Alex has some very big shoes to fill with his father at the helm of huge corporation. He’s a bachelor expected to marry soon if he is to be taken seriously. At the very least, he is to take on a companion or Docile to be seen in social circles with. The pressure is something that drives him to do things that don’t really match up with his authentic self. Regardless, Alex easily becomes my least favorite fictional character.

My experience with Docile at best can be described as a non-stop page turner I could NOT turn away from. Considering our MC has declined Dociline for personal reasons, we then have to see his rapid decline into total submission. This is to say that we see him broken down bit by bit until he’s this empty vessel. Elisha endures so much humiliation, torture & outright rape that it legit hurts your soul. Towards the midway point (as with almost any Dystopian story) we do get introduced to the opposition. By then however, Elisha is so far gone in submission that he’s absolutly petrified at the very notion of accepting help. He isn’t even aware that he needs the help being extended & at that, those offering also have questionable tactics. I truly felt Elisha was utterly alone all throughout & was hoping he’d get to take back his power by the end. Although we do get a version of this, the ending still left me feeling very uncomfortable. Overall, I’d say this book was unlike anything I’ve ever read & I’d probably give any future works a shot. If you’re looking for a compulsive read & are in the right headspace (please check out the content warnings), this is one Sc-Fi that will leave quite the impression.

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Spoiler Free Review: Undercover Bromance (Bromance Book Club #2) by Lyssa Kay Adams

Title: Undercover Bromance (Bromance Book Club #2)

Author:Lyssa Kay Adams

Pub. Date: March 10th 2019

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 320 Pages/9 hours & 7 minutes

GOODEADS | BARNES & NOBLES | AMAZON

🖤ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review🖤

Isn’t it awesome how we didn’t have to wait long for more of our fave characters? In The Bromance Book Club we met Mack & Liv who are probably two of the unlikeliest characters you’d imagine shipping & yet their banter made the chemistry undeniable. Mack has always been charming, women find him attractive and easy to talk to. He had yet to find the one who’d stir in him feelings of wanting to settle down but always eyed married life/kids with admiration & keen interest. He’s the member of the Bromance Book Club dishing out advice and now he finds himself on the opposite side of the fence. Liv has moved out of her sister Thea’s home & is working at her dream job in Nashville as a Sous Chef. The only/last interaction she had with Mack was when finding out he’d helped himself to her leftover Chinese food at Thea’s. Liv is a feminist who views Mack as a self appointed Romance expert. She knows all about the book club & isn’t interested in being the next female he can rescue. When Liv discovers that the Chef aka her boss has been sexually harassing one of the other Sous Chefs, she sets out to expose him.

Content Warning: Sexual harassment, Domestic Violence, sexual assault, gaslighting, alcoholism

We follow Liv as she attempts to gather evidence to bring to light & stop him from ever taking advantage of his position. Mack gets wind of her cause & asks to join her on the mission to which she begrudgingly accepts. This of course leads the Bromance Book Club’s to their next read…a Romantic Suspense! We get to see the Book Club guys back at the table discussing toxic masculinity, this time helping Mack recognize where he’s going wrong with Liv. Sometimes throwing the script away is necessary in order to win the heart of someone who doesn’t trust easily & has been hurt in the past. We see Mack & the fellas become allies with regards to stopping the sexual degradation of women in the workplace. We also see both Mack and Liv sort through their own personal baggage, emotions tied to their parents and upbringing. It was interesting and at least for me, very relatable to see how toxicity stemming from childhood can have an impact on your own relationships as an adult. My only wish was for there to have been more of the courting aspects of this relationship. This follow-up was definitely more focused on bringing down the villain which I enjoyed but also would’ve loved more of Liv & Macks fun flirtattious interactions. Nonetheless, it was a really good time seeing some of my fave characters back on the page. Also, was anyone else cheesy smiling when we learned “The Russians” real name? 😂🙌🏽 I wouldn’t mind seeing him get a story arc…Jussayin 🤷🏻‍♀️💜

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SPOILER FREE REVIEW: THE LAST HOPE (THE RAGING ONES #2) BY KRISTA & Becca Ritchie

Title: The Last Hope (The Raging Ones #2)

Author: Krista & Becca Ritchie

Pub. Date: August 13th 2019

Genre: YA Sci-fi

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Pages: 400 Pages/12 hours & 53 minutes

Rating: 3.75 Stars

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLES | AMAZON

*This is the sequel to The Raging Ones & although it is a spoiler free review for The Last Hope, you will get spoiled for The Raging Ones*

Taking off right where we left off, our three main characters Court, Franny & Mykall have been captured and are accused of being humans and not Salterians. Turns out there is a huge war taking place between Earth & Saltare with Earth being at a huge disadvantage. Saltarians all know their death days from the day they are born & as such have made great strides in winning the war against Earth. The trio are rescued at the very beginning of this story by Stork, a new character in the mix who has sought them out as part of his plan. Stork holds his cards close to his chest, he’s on a mission to even out the playing field between Earth & Saltare. Plotwise, The Last Hope had a lot going on with many twists & turns. Ultimately though, towards the very end it felt as if too much was thrown into the pot which made the story feel off kilter. That being said, the driving force for this book is the bond shared between Court, Mykkel, and Franny. I LIVE for character driven stories which is what made me LOVE The Raging Ones when I picked it up in 2018. Reconnecting with these characters once again makes you feel like you’re experiencing a rare bond that is truly unconditional. This time around Franny gets a love interest which I was full on hoping for. If anything, I only wish we’d had more time for their relationship to be as fleshed out as Court & Mykkels. Connected by taste, touch, and smell these characters EVERYTHING is intertwined. Some steam was brought this time around as these characters explored their passions & tested boundaries.

The Audiobook experience delivered A+ performance, told by way of multiple POV’s we got to experience Mykkel’s accent which for me at least gave me Viking Babe VibeZ haha! Court ever the intellectual is always stuck in his head & trying to put others before his needs. Franny a Fast Tracker who has ditched a life of drugs for the connection she has with Court & Mykkel. The romance between Mykkel & Court will forever go down as one of my favorite ships. These guys are from completely different backgrounds but there’s a deep tenderness in every interaction that will have you rooting for their love. I loved being back in this world but it was our new character Stork that truly gets the award for stealing the show. I LOVED Stork’s sarcasm! He’s someone who was dealt a crummy hand but managed to make the best of it & carries with him a deep appreciation for those who saw to his well being. It’s hard to believe our story has come to an end but it was a satisfying one at the very least. This being my first experience with Krista & Becca Ritchie’s books, it’s safe to say I’ll be looking into their backlist titles throughout the year ahead 🙂

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SPOILER FREE REVIEW: HEROINE BY MINDY MCGINNIS

Title: HEROINE

Author: Mindy McGinnis

Pub. Date: March 12th 2019

Genre: YA Contemporary

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: 419 Pages

🖤ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review🖤

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLES | AMAZON

Mickey Catalan is a star player for the High School Softball team and on the fast track to making history. Her prospects for college softball are looking promising but that all changes as a result of a car crash that brings her dreams to a halt. Given Oxycodone for painkillers & a lengthy period of recovery from her life threatening injuries, Mickey is left feeling desperate for a quick fix. Her encounter with someone who offers her more of the drug that is quickly sinking its teeth into her is only the start of a downward spiral.  We see Mickey distance herself from her loved ones, making friends with others who like her have developed a co-dependent relationship with the drug. It starts with pain killers & escalates to other drugs, ultimately taking Mickey and leaving her a different version of the girl before the accident. 

Whenever I pick up a Mindy McGinnis book its safe to say I know what I’m signing up for. I’ve come to deeply appreciate this author for taking on such tough real themes and handling them so well. There is no shying away from the dark & ugly truths here, instead we get a raw accurate portrayal of what it’s like to fall into addiction. Whether we’ve experienced it first hand or not, we’ve all known someone or had a close loved one experience this battle. Here we see a young teen who has a promising future & loved ones she finds herself lying to in order to continue to feed her addiction. While reading this book I felt despair & a sense of loss of control that I’m sure only scratches the surface. Every time I thought she was close to being exposed & wasn’t I worried for Mickey because I knew it only drove her further to push the limits. The book almost feels as its written in the stages of addiction one experiences. Denial was a tough one because the desperation comes through as well as the lying, stealing, and cover ups. The only reason I didn’t 5 star it was simply because although the addiction itself was deeply fleshed out, Mickey could’ve used more depth. Besides knowledge of her place in the softball team, we don’t get much on her life prior to the accident which didn’t allow for me to connect with her character. Despite this however, I feel this book absolutely carries importance & most of all hope.

Content Warning: Detailed drug addiction, overdose, withdrawals, death, car accidents, separation, infertility 

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SPOILER FREE REVIEW: AN ANONYMOUS GIRL BY GREER HENDRICKS & Sarah Pekkanen

Title: An Anonymous Girl

Author: Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Pub. Date: January 8th 2019

Genre: Thriller Suspense

Format: Audiobook 

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Pages: 375 Pages/11 Hours; 40 minutes

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLES | AMAZON

“You’re Invited: Seeking women aged 18 to 32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality conducted by a preeminent NYC psychiatrist. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed. Call for more details.”

We meet Jessica who is stressed beyond measure & feeling a bit over burdened with a sense of duty to her family. Self appointed financial care taker of her sisters medical bills, Jessica is struggling to make ends meet. Her job as a on the go makeup artist is barely allowing for her to make a living let alone supplement her struggling parents income. When she catches word of a study that’s being held by a University Professor she seizes the opportunity. Things get weird rather quickly during the initial survey questions…

“Question #1: Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?”

Nevertheless, Jessica was dead set on earning a bit of extra cash & answering some questions for a reputable doctor seemed harmless no matter how odd these morality/ethical questions seemed. As I listened to the audiobook which btw had excellent narration, I started to feel as if our MC was legit a spider caught in a web. I honestly got stalker vibes all the way through & wondered how the MC who was super inquisitive still managed to get lured in deeper. This was a very narcissistic read & our MC formed a co-dependent relationship from the very beginning. I can’t say I was honestly shocked by the twists & turns that were taken. However, the vibe of this book was so unsettling that it grabbed a hold of me & wouldn’t let go. If you’re looking for a suspenseful novel featuring some very toxic relationships then this would be the book to pick up. There were times I didn’t know for sure who was in the know vs. who was being drawn into a corner. Overall I enjoyed An Anonymous Girl & will most definitely be picking up this duo’s current title You Are Not Alone.

Content Warning: Suicide, Death, Sexual Assault, Adultery

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SPOILER FREE REVIEW: THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL BY MAUREEN GOO

Title: The Way You Make Me Feel

Author: Maureen Goo

Pub. Date: May 8th 2018

Genre: YA Contemporary

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Pages: 336 Pages

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLES | AMAZON

This book will forever go down in my little corner of the universe as THE book that snuck up & delivered such a beautiful message of finding yourself and the connections we make along the way. Our MC Clara Shin is known as the school prankster & she sort of thrives on being disruptive. When one of her pranks goes a bit too far, she comes face to face with her archenemy. Rose Carver is the polar opposite of Clara, she’s very rigid and serious about her academic journey. Rose has made it very clear to Clara that she can’t stand her chill laid back approach to school. This last confrontation ends up getting a bit physical and both girls get heir parents called. Clara’s dad is a single parent trying to run a successful food truck in hopes of one day opening his own restaurant. It’s his idea to have the girls hash out their issues by working together at the food truck. The Way You Make Me Feel serves up delicious Korean-Brazilian dishes, teenage drama, cute romance, new found friendships, and parent/child relationships. 

At first glance I thought I was getting into a cute light hearted Contemporary & to some extent it is but at a further glance, it’s so much more. Clara doesn’t know why she’s never taken school all that seriously however in her efforts to maintain a relationship with her mother, she discovers some truths about herself. I loved seeing the teens & parents in this story take on the hard task of introspection, facing that which drives them to behave a certain way. There’s discussion of the after effects of separation, academic pressures, anxiety, as well as the challenges of parenting for a single dad. My favorite aspect of this book revolved around the father/daughter relationship, Adrian gets all my love for being a rockstar Dad. Those that have been around my blog long enough know I have a weakness for father/daughter bonds as I had an amazing one with my own. Adrian doesn’t pretend to be perfect, he’s just a single dad trying to get back on track with providing some structure for his teen daughter. He’s known as the cool, fun, handsome dad & that worked for some time but he has a what I call “get real” moment. Finding a balance between Cool Dad vs. Tough Love Dad which he handles so well! On the topic of writing I will say there were times where Clara’s attempts at sarcasm felt a bit awkward. I don’t think the humor hit home with me & at times I sort of just looked past it. Instead I took away the bigger message and that’s that the road to self discovery is a journey worth making.

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FRIDAY READS & THANGS

WHIMSICAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY ESRA RØISE

It’s Friday Book Lovers & I for one couldn’t be more thankful! last weekend I was in Philadelphia with my boyfriend, a city that’s quickly becoming a favorite for its rich history, food, awesome human beings & of course home of Rocky! 🥊 this weekend however is going to be more chill, staying local with a trip to one of my tiny humans favorite parks that offers up some good waterside scenic paths to ride bikes. I anticipate some down time (perhaps a smidge haha!) where I can squeeze in reading, most likely while meal prepping. I’m trying to get into the habit of always having an audiobook playing while multi-tasking & so far its been fun & productive. This week was pretty big for the YA publishing world with the release of SJ Maas House of Earth and Blood & Cassandra Clare’s Chain of Gold! 🤗 although I can’t partake in the Chain of Gold excitement just yet since I’ve yet to read Lady Midnight, I am wishing all those who are, a great reading experience! 🖤

AN ANONYMOUS GIRL – By the time this post goes live I’ll probably have finished listening to this audiobook from Libby. For the most part I enjoy choosing thrillers blindly since Synopsis tend to give away too much. This has been an interesting listen, not at all what I expected & I’m not sure yet if that’s a good or bad thing. This is a heavy on narcissism read where the MC becomes extremely co-dependent in a sick twisted triangle of sorts. Not in a romantic way at all but in a sick twisted spider caught in a web sort of way, my thoughts will be delivered in a spoiler free mini review.

HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD – This beauty is FINALLY out in the world & yes I’ve dropped all other physical reads to dedicate my time to this story. I’m not very far in it at all but I do now have a Kindle copy which will make it easier to read on my down time. This is SJ Maas’ first adult Fantasy & so far I’m getting all of the Urban Fantasy vibeZ I’ve been craving with complex world building for the win. High hopes here Book Lovers! HIGH hopes *fingers crossed*

DOCILE –

“There is no consent under capitalism

Docile is a science fiction parable about love and sex, wealth and debt, abuse and power, a challenging tour de force that at turns seduces and startles.

To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents’ debts and buy your children’s future.”  —I’ve heard from a few trusted friends that this is quite the compulsive read & I’ve really been craving my next sci-fi read. I’ve also heard this deals with very murky consensual sex

DEMON SLAYER VOLUME 1 – While In a Philly comic shop I was on my phone looking for some top Manga recommendations when I came across Demon Slayer. Instantly sucked in by the sibling relationship portrayed on the cover I went looking for the 1st volume which was sold out! turns out it’s a hit manga that’s already on Hulu & now I was set on getting my hands on it. I ended up getting a copy at a Barnes & Nobles where I read the first 20 pages & grew attached to the MC Tanjiro. More thoughts to come, I may just review this manga in batches as I go through the volumes which I predict will happen rather quickly 🙂

Gentefied (Season 1) was mentioned to me by Jessica a Bookstagrammer (Litnoob) I enjoy watching for their stories & in depth bookish thoughts. Gentefied is about three cousins with many differences who come together to save their grandfather’s taco shop (YUM!) which is struggling in a LATINX community faced with gentrification. I was looking for my next Netflix binge & am so very thankful for this recc! ❤

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