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act your age eve brown review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about act your age eve brown by Talia Hibbert. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly really liked this book, and i personally think it was the best book in the series and such a great way to wrap up this series, and plus i believe that the next book / series Hibbert is going to write is about some of eve’s friends, so i think that was honestly so cool.

trigger warnings- sexual content, ableism, cursing, car accident, bullying, child abuse, emotional abuse, fatphobia, racism.

honestly, one of my favorite parts of this book was probably the grumpy x sunshine x rivals to lover and dislike at first sight. i think it was just so cool and i honestly really liked all of these tropes roped into one book. and these are honestly some of my favorite tropes, so seeing them all in the same book was just so amazing. and i honestly think Hibbert did such an amazing job with combining all of these tropes in there and really making it feel real.

with that being said, i honestly feel like all of those tropes in this book and since it felt so real, the sex scenes in this book were just so amazing and steamy. and i honestly feel like the sex scenes were honestly just so amazing and i honestly didn’t expect them to actually be the way they were, probably since jacob was so soft spoken and eve was a firecracker, so i didn’t really expect them to be the way they were. but, i also feel like these scenes were probably the best sex scenes in the series. but, also i don’t think chloe’s and dani’s books were this sexy.

and i honestly really loved jacob and eve. like, i feel there are a lot of romance books were the love interests are very similar, so i honestly really liked that they were so different, but still really loved each other. and i think that it was so cool. and with them not being a copy and paste of each other i feel like romance really worked and honestly made me love them together and apart so much more.

also, their banter was so amazing. like, their ‘fighting’ at some parts of this book was just so cool and i honestly loved that part of the book so much. and also just how they would talk post sex scene, it was honestly just so amazing and Hibbert did such a good job with all of that, and it was honestly one of the best parts of this whole book.

but, i also completely enjoyed how Jacob was trying to fight his attraction and also how he kind of fell for her first and also just really liked her and that we really tried to fight what he actually felt like. and honestly i feel like his feelings were honestly the best part of this whole book, and i honestly loved that part of most of her books, since most of them have it.

but, i will say though, there was parts about jacob that honestly just got on my nerves. and like i don’t know if it’s just because he would go on these long talks about something stupid, or how he just tried to fight everything she said, he just got to be a little bit annoying. and honestly it was only at a couple parts, so it’s not really a big deal since it only happened here and there, but i still just wanted to point that out.

and also, i feel like seeing eve start to find herself and have this self discovery and that was also such a great part of it. since in the start of the book eve was kind of a mess and honestly didn’t really know what she wanted to do with her life, like if she wanted do party planning to be an actor or a chef. and i honestly really liked her figuring everything out throughout the book and really having her find herself and understand what she wants to do with the rest of her life, and that was honestly one of the best parts. and honestly i really like that she was a hot mess.

i also think that these characters were so well developed and still had their flaws. like, i feel like they honestly were just so develop with what happened in the start of the book but than also by the time they got together and even the end of the book. so, i do feel like it was just done so well, and i really enjoyed that part of that. and also, they just felt so real, and that their growth didn’t feel half assed.

but, i also really liked that we got to see the two other sisters and also their partners. i honestly thought it was just so cute and that they would appear towards the end and be the voice of reason. and also just to see how they all got along and just to see how they all talked was so cute. but, i also really liked how red came in towards the end and how he got to be the real help them get together. but, dani and chloe were still kind of judgey, which did get kind of annoying.

i also really liked that they were booth on the autism spectrum in this book. like, i feel like jacob and eve both having autism honestly made them seem more real, and not be one of those people in romance books that are so ‘perfect.’ so, having these characters that have autism was honestly so cool to see how they both worked through it and to see how each of them were different, but also same.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked this book, and i honestly really thought it was a good book, and it honestly was such a perfect way to wrap up this series and make all of their characters similar. but, i honestly can’t wait for the next books that she writes in the future, since they will honestly be so good.

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witches steeped in gold review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about witches steeped in gold by Ciannon Smart. i gave this book 3/5 stars. honestly, i enjoyed this book, but it was nothing special and towards the end i got kind of confused since it was two povs since everything started to go very quick.

trigger warning- violence, grief, death, bullying, torture, physical abuse, rape, sexual assault, suicide.

but, this book also has 2 povs, which i already mentioned, but i feel like these povs were just so similar. and also, i feel like not only was the writing was similar, but also the voices that people that was talking, so it was hard to know who was talking. and i mean, i feel like 2 povs are still very cool, but i also think that they should have used two different voices, and then even have them be like one in first and one in third or something so you knew who was who even if you didn’t hear the name they said, and also if you forget it is easy to know who.

i’m gonna use six of crows as a reference here, since it is the only book i can think right now with multiple povs. since this book is two povs, you kind of expect ira and jazmyne to be together and to have them work together, kind of like how the crows are always together and you get each crows take on the events. but, ira and jazmyne were like never together, like i feel like they first got together at about 70%, instead of the whole book. so, i honestly wish that we didn’t have two povs, and maybe have the book only be in jazmyne’s pov and than ira comes in towards the end to save the day or something along the lines of that.

but, i know i already talked about what pov this book should have been in, and like with the two povs, and having this book been in first, it didn’t work. so, i feel like this book honestly made everything we knew kind of surface level, with each person as a character but also just the world and the magic. so, i feel like the two povs just slowed this book down so much. and should just have been one pov.

also, the last few chapters were honestly a disaster, since i feel like there was all of these characters, that came into play so they were all just so confusing and such a mess. like, for one, i feel like throughout the whole book they all acted one way, than towards the end they got to be completely different, and i think it is just so annoying. and like they all completely flipped on their side and it was honestly just so annoying. like, i honestly just wish they were consistent throughout this whole book.

with that being said, i feel like jazmyne’s whole plot was kind of confusing, especially with the magic aspect. since, she is the queen’s daughter and the queen of course have a lot of power and magic, i expected the magic to be grand and amazing on jazmyne’s side. but, i feel like the magic did not make sense at all. like, i feel like books need to explain how the magic system works, and what limits your average person has and than how much magic jazmyne’s mother has. and i feel like the magic was honestly all over the place and kept changing so much and i honestly wish Smart explained it more than they did.

but, i also feel like the world as a whole was not explained the world building was honestly just so sloppy. like, for one, i feel like the world building was something along the lines of jazmyne was very powerful and her mother hated her cause she wouldn’t give up her life for her mom and than there is iraya who wants freedom and vengeance. and i honestly wish smart explained the world more and really broke it all down so much, since it would have worked so much better that way. but, i also feel like it could have been 100% worst than it actually was, but it was still nothing to write home about.

i also think that some of the things in this book are kind of self explanatory and things that people could just understand about what is happening and what things were like. but, i also feel like they should have just went into more and more detail about it all and how everything worked overall. like, i feel like the whole gold aspect should have been explained more if they just took the time to break it all down.

as for the writing, i do feel like was pretty good. like, i do feel like it could have had some growth throughout this book, and that in the future her writing could and will get better. but, as for in here, i do feel like it was a decent book. but, i will saw that it did have potential to be better and grow. and i honestly feel like the writing didn’t really work for me since i feel like the two povs were just so similar, which i think put a strain on the book as a whole.

but, as for the characters as two different people, i did kind of like them. i mean, i feel like ira was honestly kind of funny, and i feel like she could honestly pull a joke out of the air, and i honestly really liked that part of her. and also just seeing jazmyne going and understanding the different parts about her and what her internal issue is and than all the drama with her mom, i honestly enjoyed that part of her.

than, there was this weird little side plot about this romance. i honestly did not like the romance at all, and i just feel like it didn’t make sense. i do feel like some fantasy books do have a romance and it honestly makes sense, but i do feel like the romance in here just did not make sense. and i honestly wish they just cut the romance and if Smart was set on the romance, they just buried it more.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wished i liked this book more, and i honestly feel like i could have liked this book so much more if i wasn’t stressed out to finish it before it had to go back to the library. but, i still honestly wished i liked this book so much more. but, i’m honestly kind of excited to see what Smart does next.

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romancing mister bridgerton review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about romancing mister bridgerton by Julia Quinn. i gave this book 3/5 stars. honestly this book was enjoyable, but i just don’t think it is the best book in the series by any means and it also had parts of it where it was just plain boring, which honestly really sucked.

trigger warnings- sexual content, bullying, fatphobia, body shaming.

honestly, i think my biggest issue with this book was that Colin was such a pain in the ass. like, i think before he was just cute and funny but in here he was so freaking annoying and honestly so immature and he was also just so rude. and i also think his whole food plot was so stupid and really needed to be worked on since it was like his only personality trait was liking food and writing a bit. which, just got old very quick.

i also didn’t really care for penelope to much in this book either. i mean, the actress in real life annoys the actual hell out of me, so that might have had something to do with it. but, i feel like throughout this whole book we were supposed to sympathize with her, and i was just not feeling it since if she really wanted to dance and get married she probably could have found someone and made more of an effort to dance instead of just standing in the shadows.

and i also think most of his love, and what really drove them to actually get married was just lust. like after the whole incident in the carriage, it really pushed colin to actually propose, when before he literally did not give a damn, but after he wanted to have sex with her, he wanted to suddenly marry her for the sex. it honestly just really bothered me, since this whole relationship was based on colin wanting to fuck penelope.

and like i feel like these two families have known each other since they were kids, and they always were like family friends. and i mean, i think it was like 12 years (????) since pen came out into the society. so, colin has been around for all those years, and i mean, he also knew her when she was growing up. so, i just don’t know how one day colin was like wow you’re hot and i want to marry you. hence, why i feel like their whole relationship is lust.

with that being said, i do feel like penelope was a bit of a push over throughout the book. like, i feel like she saw and knew that colin was acting like a dick but she didn’t do anything and just watched it all happen, even though she could have, and probably should have, put her foot down. and i honestly wish she had more of an opinion instead of just letting him do whatever the hell he wanted since she did have the money in the relationship.

i honestly think the best part of this book though was the end and the reveal with lady whistledown. like, i feel like that honestly was the best part of the story with seeing how everyone in the ton thought about her being lady whistledown and what the stakes were if she said she was her. and that is honestly what kept me going and made me really enjoy this book and why i honestly kept reading since i didn’t really care about the characters.

but, i will say bruised male ego when he learnt that pen was whistledown was so annoying. like, i guess Quinn did handle that part very well, since colin was honestly such a dick once he learnt that she had more money and was more powerful than him, he pretty much just had a bitch fit about it all. and it was just so stupid and it honestly made me hate book!colin so much more.

i also wish Quinn put a little more emphasis on pen’s and eloise’s relationship. like, granted i do feel like the tv show did talk about it and even in the book they still talked about it a ton. but, i do feel like Quinn should have had more parts about them together before colin and even after they got married, and even in eloise’s book, but i just wish they had more of a part in each others books.

but, i do also really like that we got a book with spinsterhood in a more positive way. like, i do feel like there are multiple books that are kinda popular and they always spinsterhood in a more negative way. so, i do really like that this book was more positive about spinsterhood and that we got to have them be a bit more positive about it all.

and this might just be me, but i feel like all of these books before this one have a good romance, and a very solid romance, if it is forced marriage or not, i feel like the romance was the main point in that said book. but, i do feel like the romance in here was more of the side plot, and i would say that the whistledown plot was more the main plot of this book. where, i feel like if they really wanted to do a reveal about whistledown they really could’ve put it in the novella instead of eloise’s plot.

but, i do feel like this book could have been so much better if the characters were better and more developed. so, like, for one, i feel like she could have worked better and Quinn should have been not so much of a baby and a bitch so much. like, i feel that colin was such a baby and that his mood swings were such a pain in the ass and also i feel like he was kind of a ‘bad guy’ in the book. like, his mood swings and yelling and just storming around was so annoying. like, he just pissed me off so much in this book.

second epilogue:

for this book i gave it 2/5 stars.

honestly, this book was just boring. like, i feel like this book was just so unneeded and i feel like most of this book could have literally been in eloise’s book, since it is all about the wedding. and i feel like this whole book could have been in that book and the whistledown drama in this book. and yeah they did talk about eloise getting told about whistledown, but still, it is all about her wedding so it would have just made sense to be in there.

but, i will say i do feel like hyacinth and colin in here were so good. i honestly really liked to see them in here and to see all of their antics and just to see them as a family. and especially hyacinth’s being a bit of a pain in the ass to all of them was just so funny and i honestly really liked it, and honestly was the best part of this whole book.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wish i liked this book and liked this book way more than i actually did. but, also just shipped them more since i know a lot of people really ship them, especially on twitter, but still, i really wish i enjoyed this book more.

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all the stars and teeth review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about all the stars and teeth by Adalyn Grace. i gave this book 1/5 stars. i honestly did not like this book at all and it was just such a shit show and a mess, and i literally did not like this book at all and it was just such a stupid ass book, so this will probably be a bit of a shorter review.

trigger warning- blood, death, violence, gore, body horror, confinement, torture, death of a parent, physical abuse.

i honestly think one of my biggest issue with this book was the whole pacing of this book. like, i feel like there would be chunks of this book were just completely not against the whole plot of this book. like, there was a good amount of this book were just talking about random ass things. like, in the beginning they would talk about what this kingdom looked like, the locations in which they were going in the castle, what clothes each person wore and their makeup and more stupid things like that. like, i mean, i feel like they spent so much time talking about that, till it actually got to the plot of this book. i guess that is to show the contrast between her life before and after.

but, if that couldn’t be worst, they also went into a lot of detail about other things about all of the characters background and where they were from, the background of the world, these random mythology, and the culture of the different cities they visit. which, i guess was cool, since it tells you about what it says and what each things meant in this world. but, still, it didn’t peak my interest enough that i think it was a good enough book, since i still feel like it was just boring af. and i feel like this book had so much info dumping, which was just so freaking boring.

and, i mean, i do feel like this book was honestly just a build up to book two. like, i feel like with the world building and all of the backgrounding surrounding all of this and how this kingdom worked. and this might also be because a lot of people were talking about how this book had so much action and badass moments, were i feel like we just didn’t get this at all and most of this book was Amora just complaining.

i also feel like this romance was so terrible. like, for one, the ‘main’ romance was so stupid. like, the whole romance was just the main character getting engaged to this man that her father liked i believe. and i don’t even feel like she liked the man that she was engaged too. and then there was this love triangle that was done so terribly, since i feel like she was with this princey guy but then she met this pirate and she was whipped for him and also this prince guy, kind of though.

but, i might get a little wrong here, but amora had a very sheltered life and was very protected her whole life and that she was very much one of those very naive characters, which i think most princesses are in YA fantasy books. but, i think that her being so naive was just so stupid. like, i feel like being naive in a fantasy book is always kind of annoying since they are just so like ‘omg i didn’t know this was how the world was.’ so, i feel like this part of the book was way more of a drag to get threw than the other parts.

and also how much was so much repeated in this book. like, for one, we got told over and over again about how things worked and basic things about this world, was just told over and over again. and also, i feel like we got told that amora had some magic test, that i don’t know the whole point of it, but basically she failed the test and we got told at least one hundred times about how terrible it was that she failed.

but, i also feel like amora was such a brat. like, i feel like all she did in this book was complain and bitch and talk about how she deserves all of this because of the queen. and i can always go for an unlikeable female character, and i always think that it is cool, but i wouldn’t even say amora was unlikable, since she was just so freaking bratty and she didn’t even get to be better with her ‘real life’ experiences that she went through for this whole book.

and, granted i’ve never been in a fantasy world or in a fantasy book as a princess, cause you physically cannot do that. but, i feel like amora could have changed and took the lies and the bull shit she’d been told into helping her be a better person and also just become the better version of herself. and even if she were to go back to her princess life, she could have been this bad ass princess, but i feel like that it could never happen.

as a whole, i do feel like this whole book was just your basic YA fantasy characters. and i mean they were just super cliché and also just way under developed, which i feel was so stupid. and i feel like they could have had this growth and these characters go to be these badass characters, but i feel like they were just bland and that they could completely be such stable characters in a YA fantasy series.

and, i honestly feel like the best character in this book was the mermaid, who i don’t even remember her name, so you can see how much i liked her. like, i feel like she really pulled the characters and that she really made this story somewhat bearable. but, i still don’t think she did enough to make this book good, or even make me want to read book 2. but, i will say i do think she gave the action and really helped wrapped this book up.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wish i liked this book, since i feel like a lot of people really like this book and honestly rave about this book. but, i’m also not a fantasy fan, even though i want to be.

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six of crows review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about six of crows by Leigh Bardugo. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly was so confused when i was reading this book, and i honestly really need to go and reread this book since i was rushing to finish this before the tv show came out. so, i might reread this book before i read crooked kingdom.

trigger warnings- violence, death, blood, gun violence, murder, gore, trafficking, slavery, drug use, torture, child death, addiction, panic attacks / disorder, kidnapping, body horror, grief, confinement, animal death, racism, physical abuse.

personally, i think the characters completely make this book. i mean, i think this book worked so well together and that they all were so different but also this family that worked together and that they all were just so cool because they were these groups of misfits, but also this family. and i do feel like with such a ban of characters that Bardugo made them all so different, but also had these amazing and really detailed backstories, which were so cool.

and i feel like getting mainly a lot of talk about Inej and Kaz’s past, which i found were so amazing and well rounded. like, i feel like we got to understand all the things with her family and to understand how her past made her be quick and how it made her life. and also how the story about Kaz and how he became smooth and pretty much could get away with murder, and i really liked that his childhood was really sad and that it wasn’t all roses and daisy’s since if it was happy i don’t think it worked.

with that being said, i do like that all of their stories were all so different and that they weren’t the most perfect characters in the world. and i mean, they all had flaws and that they were motivated by different things / people and they always did something with some sort of motive. which i think is really cool, plus i really liked that they all have different ‘jobs’ in this group, which was honestly really cool to see in the show.

and i feel like it is so rare for characters in fantasy books to feel real. like, i feel like in so many books the fantasy characters don’t feel real, not that they are 2D or anything, more that i don’t think they are plucked from real life and thrown into this book or vise versa. where, i feel like the crows feel like real people, and that this whole world and these characters are real and that they are actually in Europe or somewhere actually living and breathing. which, i think the backstory did an amazing job with this happening, since they weren’t like “oh yeah this guy on a horse came in an murdered my parents and then kidnapped us and took us back to his world.”

but, i also feel like the dregs didn’t really feel like teenagers. and i’m not sure if it’s because they’ve been together for a hot second. but, i feel like they were just to smart to actually be teenagers, which i feel like could be argued and whatnot. but, i do feel like it is also just expected since it is a fantasy book. but, i mean, i feel like wylan did feel like an actual teenager. but, i also feel liked matthias did feel like he was in his mid twenties.

i also liked that this was set in the same world as shadow and bone, but just in a different part of it. i think that it was cool to see the two different sides of this world, so to see the darkling and alina in the palace, then to see mal fighting, and then to be able to compare to that to what the world is like for the people in Ketterdam. and overall i think it is cool when fantasy writers create one world and then make multiple stories in it. like, i believe holly black did it too, and honestly i’m so excited to read that.

with that being said, i honestly really liked reading shadow and bone first, and then getting into this book. since, i feel like in that book you get the world building of this world done, and then when you get into this book you already know how the world works. but, do i think you need to read it first? not at all, since it is two different series i don’t think it is crucial, but i think it would be nice. and i also feel like it is the kind of book were the first read is slow and not as enjoyable as the second and third read, since the first one you’re like what the actual hell is happening, so i’m definitely excited to read it again in the next couple months for ck.

i also really liked each of the ships. like, i feel like each of the ships put something else onto the table and i really liked they weren’t a copy and paste of each other couples and that they were all so different, to a degree. like, i do really like that they didn’t push kaz and inej together into the show, since i feel like that is really important. and i do feel like nina and matthias literally own my heart and i love that they kind of have some history before this book. and also that wylan and jesper literally are so cute.

but, i also don’t understand why people consider this as a heist book. like, i feel like this book had mostly backstories, which i did really enjoy. and i honestly hope ck does pick up on more of the heist, since this was mostly the built up and bringing up these characters coming together for all of this. so, i do feel like this book is way more character driven than plot.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked this book, but i do want to reread this before i read ck, like i said, since i feel like it is better the second time around, or so i heard. i mean, i also think i would have liked it and understood it more if i wasn’t rushing to finish it before the show came out and didn’t read this during school. but, i do really like the tv show and what it added to these characters and the more of the ketterdam backstory.

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the gilded ones review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about the gilded ones by Namina Forna. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i honestly really wanted to like this book, but i honestly feel like nothing happened in here, and it was just a book of them walking and training, and it wasn’t even that interesting.

trigger warnings- violence, death, blood, torture, misogyny, gore, physical abuse, sexism, body horror, confinement, murder, child abuse, racism, emotional abuse, religious bigotry, death of a parent, rape, grief, genocide, animal death, sexual assault, animal cruelty, bullying, slavery.

honestly, i think my issue with this book was that not to much happened in this book and that most of this book was just building up for the future books. and that might be me, but i feel like most of this book was just worldbuilding and building up things that i assume will happen more in book 2 and 3. which, i mean, isn’t really a bad thing, but i just assume that we would have gotten more substance then just worldbuilding throughout this book.

at the same time though, i feel like so much was still unexplained. like, i feel like we got so much worldbuilding, but then at the same time i feel like we got nothing. for one, i feel like the weather changed like 20 times when they were traveling, but they never really explained were they where. and i mean, like one moment it was light and sunny and then the next it was raining and the next it was snowing. and i don’t know why they didn’t explain it more.

with that being said, i feel like we never got a setting for anything. like, i’m not sure if i just missed something, but i feel like they would say that, there was trees or it was very sandy, which was just annoying. since, i feel like they could’ve gave more description about what they were doing and what everything looked liked and where they actually were.

i also don’t really understand the plot about the girls never bleeding. like, Forna said in the start of this book that they make sure the girls never go by knifes or anything that could harm them and make them bleed. but, i mean, i think not going by anything that can hurt them is kind of failed logic because couldn’t one of the girls falls or something and cut their knee or elbow and find out their color? like, i feel like the logic behind them not seeing any of their blood was just stupid. and also i just don’t know if they’d get their period, and i feel like they should have said if they get their periods or not, cause i assume they not, but who knows.

i also really liked how Forna talked about the hard topics that would come up in this book. like, for one, i really think she handled everything completely well and with respect. and i feel like she didn’t bring something up, something like race, child abuse, feminism and didn’t make them only be here for the plot. and i think it was really cool that it was talked about so positively, or in the most positive way it could have been in this book. and i also think it was really cool that these things were also kind of built into the world and that they were a core thing in this book.

with that being said, i really liked the girl power that was in this book. i really liked that we got to see all of these girls becoming friends and them all supporting each other throughout this book. and also that they never did any of that cliche shit were someone is fighting someone and that they all were so supportive to each other. and none of that mean girl / jealous crap that we get in some YA fantasy books.

i also really liked all of the girls, but also Deka’s growth throughout the story. i feel like their growth wasn’t this journey that we just got pushed up, and that we got to see them slowly grow and become these badass characters. and i feel like the growth they all had was normal and believable and wasn’t something that sounded super fake. so, i do really like their growth and i honestly hope it continues into the next books.

but, i fell like my issues with Deka was the romance she got thrusted into. personally, i love romance, and that is the main reason why i read books. but, i feel like Deka was so badass and honestly was also just such a good character. but, then i feel like she downgraded with her having this romance arc. like, as much as i love romance, i do feel like not all books need romance, we this book wasn’t needed a romance plot.

i also feel like their buildup to the romance was not it. and i feel like their romance was just way to rushed with everything that was happening into this book. and i feel like it wasn’t something that was needed in here and that this book was just way to cliché in my opinion. and it might also just be that i feel like their was no chemistry between the characters. probably because their was so much plot with their war and them going to war and learning to fight.

and i also feel like whenever someone said anything nice to Deka, she would already be halfway to the alter with that man. like, i think if someone called her pretty she would literally want to marry them, which i think might have happened once, which i think is so stupid. and it was also kind of insta lovey, which i did not like at all, and i think it is so overused in YA book.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wished i liked this book more, but i also don’t really says and i’m more meh when i read this book, since i feel like it did have its issues, but still wasn’t terrible. and i do feel like the next books will probably will be really good.

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warcross review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about warcross by Marie Lu. i gave this book 2/5 stars. i honestly didn’t like this book, like i really wish i did because i know a lot of people love it, but i honestly just fell short for me and i didn’t understand half of the game and technology part away, which isn’t surprising.

trigger warning- kidnapping, death of a parent, violence, child abuse, dementia, medical trauma, addition, death.

honestly, i didn’t really care about the whole plot about Emika’s mother being absent and then her father being dead. and i mean, i feel like it was such a basic plot in YA books, that i literally didn’t care about in here. and i feel like we were supposed to feel bad for her, since her parents are gone. but, i feel like there wasn’t enough plot about them for me to actually feel sad for her or anything.

and i also feel like it had this whole poor orphan girl is now the chosen one kind plot. and also like she is changed into this a list celebrity overnight. which, i borderline found to be unrealistic, since it’s not like you can hack into a game and then have the biggest fandom and have all of these paparazzi go to her apartment and stalk her. and i’m not saying it can’t happen, but i just feel like someone hacking a game isn’t everyone’s highest priority.

with that being said, i feel like a good portion of this book we get told over and over again that she’s poor and that she didn’t have the best upbringing since she didn’t have a ton of money. which is fine and cool. but, then they’d make this stubble hints that she learnt to code when she was a kid, which i’ll talk about next. and i’m not saying that you can’t know how to code when you were poor, but they made it seem like they didn’t have a laptop or anything, so that just confused me.

also, i also feel like we never actually got told where and how she learnt to code and hack. like, i feel like it was such a big moment in this book, since i mean, coding was the main plot of this book and everyone can probably tell. so, i don’t know why they didn’t explain more for where she learnt it and why she learnt it and everything.

honestly, also the romance was a mess. like, it had that whole, poor girl that falls for her idol. which, always is never good since there is always a balance of power. so, it kind of just made me borderline uncomfortable. and also that he was kind of using her so he could become powerful and i really just did not like it. and i feel like the romance would have worked so much better if they didn’t have the whole balance of power that they had going on. and i also feel like they both just don’t work together, like i feel like his powerful and rich were she is more young and naïve, but that might just be me.

and i feel like the romance was just not developed good enough. like, we were supposed to believe that it was this good and cute romance, when it really didn’t work. and i mean, it could have worked, if Lu spent more time developing that and showing the feelings of our two characters, it could have, and probably would’ve worked and i wouldn’t be here saying it was bad.

and it might have been because i don’t see an emotional connect between the two of them. like, i feel like they would either talk about their childhood trauma to each other, or they were making out. which, i do think was good that we did get to see his trauma, since i think it showed more layers to him. but, i still feel like there was no connection and they had to many walls up, to have this relationship work.

and i’ve also seen a couple different things about Emika’s age. like, some people say she’s an adult, but i thought she was a teenager cause there was this whole part about how she couldn’t work there till she was 18, meaning she is underage, but she gets with this man that is is his twenties. which, i’m not sure how old both parties are, but i think she’s underage and Hideo has to be over 18 because he was 17ish when he created his game i believe.

and i also feel like Hideo was also just kind of a basic character and love interest. like, i feel like he had all of those basic traits that most of the YA book male love interests have, which can be a bad thing or a good thing depending on how you look at it i guess. but, i feel like he was kind of manipulative to Emika since i feel like he used her way to much, and it was just so shitty. so, i don’t really know why a lot of people saw in him.

i also just didn’t care for the world it took place in. like, i feel like it could have been cool, but i do think there was so much unexplained that it just made everything a mess. like, it took place in Brooklyn, but it wasn’t Brooklyn since it was this whole fantastical Brooklyn. and i feel like the world needed to be explained more, like if it was the real world with more technology in the future or if it was straight up a different world / universe, since it would make so much more sense. and i personally believe it took place in the future, so that’s why it had so much more technology, but i still don’t know because i don’t think it even really said.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wished i liked this book since i know a lot of people really like this book and author. but, i’ll probably try another one of her books in the future, since i hear everyone really likes that serious.

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fifteen hundred miles from the sun review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about fifteen hundred miles from the sun by Jonny Garza Villa. i gave this book 3/5 stars. first off, happy pub date to this book! and also thank you so much netgalley and skyscape for an arc of this book! and of course, this is going to be an honest review and isn’t going to be changed by the author and/or publisher.

trigger warnings- homophobia, emotional abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, domestic abuse, bullying, panic attacks / disorders, death of parent, hate crime.

off the bat, i will tell you that the start of this book is very very slow. like, i even had thoughts of dnfing this book at sometimes, since it was quite slow and also had this whole day to day life of Luna, or Julian, but i’m going to call him Luna, since most of his friends did call him this. and most of his day to day life was just not interesting, since all he did was really talk about what he did every minute of the day, which just got boring and slow after awhile. but, then it kind of picked up after awhile and started jumping to major events.

and i do feel like the start of this book was honestly quite slow, and then once it hit maybe 40% into this book, it honestly picked up and got to be more interesting and everything flowed more. and then i feel like once it got to about 75% i feel like this book did slow down again. probably because they were both separated again, so it just slowed it all down.

with that being said, i wasn’t the biggest fan of this book to jump to the major holidays since i feel like we were just missing some of Luna’s day to day life. and i feel like there was so much that could have happened between thanksgiving and christmas, when we just skipped all those days. and they played it off that nothing happened, and i feel like things probably happened, and it wasn’t like he did nothing during those days.

i will say that the times were they haven’t met yet in real life, and it was mostly just them talking via text or dm was pretty boring, and also just confusing. since, it might just be the arc/ebook version were you couldn’t tell who was saying what, so you just had to guess. which was annoying and also just boring since i feel like it took away from the story.

but, this is also not a soft or easy read. like, it does tackle some very hard topics of abuse and homophobia from your father, which i do think was done so well. and i honestly think it was hard to read about, but it really was done well and that i do think it was cool that they didn’t stray away from the harder topics when writing this book. and also that it did have those intense moments, but also had those lighthearted moments.

i also really liked that this book was very ‘romance’ heavy, in a sense that we didn’t only get to see mat x luna, we also got to see friendship and family love between all of the characters. and i feel like the author does such a good job with showing the different types of love that one person could have and that every love that you feel doesn’t need to be just pure romance between a couple, that you could also have love between friends and family members.

with that being said, i really liked the sister that was older and her storyline. i do feel like in a lot of YA books the older siblings are always like a year or two older and don’t do to much to the story. where in here i really like the storyline she had and what she contributed to this story and how she helped Luna throughout this book. and i feel like she is just the wholesome older sister / caregiver and i really liked it.

i also really loved the friendship circle that was strong and the bond between them. like, i feel like they all were so different, but also similar so they all worked well together. and they’ve also been friends for awhile, so i feel like there was some depth there. and i do think it was cool that they all weren’t a copy and paste of each other and they all were different and had their different personalities that we could see throughout the novel.

but, i will say, i do feel like they all kind of were confusing. since, i do feel like they had their own personalities, but at the same time i feel like we never got a big introduction on what their families were like or anything really personal about them. which, honestly sucked so much and i do wish that we got to see more of them as a person and not just luna’s partner in crime. and after awhile they all started blending together which i think sucks.

but, i also think that it is cool that all the friends loved each other equality. like, i feel like in some books that the main character has these big ass friend groups, but they are only really close to one of the people, and not the group as a whole. so, seeing luna being great friends with everyone was just so cool and that we really got to see luna interacting with someone for different purposes.

and i mean, i do feel like the friend group of this book was one of the best parts. since, it was just so tight knit and they all worked together so well. and i mean, they had such an amazing and great bond, and i really liked that none of them ditched him when he came out and it was just so heart warming how supportive they all were.

with that being said, i’m kind of meh on luna and mat as a couple. like, i feel like they worked together, but i just feel like something about him was just off, and it might be because most of their romance happened via phone. and i think that since it was all online for 6 months, we couldn’t see their growth as a couple with them together. and then when they actually met in person they already were having sex.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wished i liked this book more than i did, but i still did enjoy this a little more. but, i honestly just feel like it worked well enough, but still read like a debut, which sucks but i just it’s expected.

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instructions for dancing review

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about instructions for dancing by Nicola Yoon. i gave this 4/5 stars. first off, thank you so much Netgalley and Penguin Teen for an arc of this book! also happy pub date to this book! and also of course this is going to be an honest review and not changed by the publisher and/or the author.

trigger warning- infidelity, death, grief, child death, car accident.

honestly, i really liked the whole premise of Evie seeing how people got together and also how they broke up. like i honestly thought it was so cool to see the break up, since i don’t think i’ve ever really read a book like that, so i thought it was just so cool. and i mean, i feel like seeing how everyone broke up added so much into the story and it just added so much more depth to the romances.

but, i will say that i wish we got to see more visions. i mean, i feel like we only got like 4, with people had their own chapters and to have actual plot with them. but, i mean, there definitely was a couple chapters were they were talking about the whole visions. but, i still wish we got to see more visions and got more than just the important people in her life, and maybe more strangers.

i also kind of liked that this wasn’t your typical HEA romance book. like, i feel like a lot of romance books have these HEA and after the book, everything is supposed to be okay and nothing bad is ever going to happen to break them up. but, i really liked that this book showed and really told you that it isn’t always happy and sunshine and roses after the book, and once you fall in love, your going to be happy forever. so, i really liked that we got to see that everything isn’t going to be happy forever.

and i mean, it being a more of a bittersweet story, i feel like it added so much. like, for me, i think that it was just so amazing that it was bittersweet and that we got to see it. like i already said, i feel like to much of YA books are happy, so having this book be more bittersweet was so much more cool and i really enjoyed it not being that adorable and cheesy. since there is so much that are very cute and happy, so having it be bittersweet really worked.

but, i will say i wish we got to see more plot about the dancing. like, i feel like there was so much plot about the romance and the visions, but i feel like the plot about dancing was just kind of lacking. like, in the start there was quite a bit of plot about the whole dancing. so, i wish that we got to see more about dancing, and not just throw it aside, compared to being so much romance and friend drama.

with that being said, i didn’t really enjoy reading about her dad. like, i feel like they tried to give him this whole redemption arc in here, which kind of annoyed me, cause they kind of made him innocent, or too a degree after everything he did. and i feel like we went through a lot of this book where Evie pretty much hated him, but then she does a whole one eighty and then starts to like him again. which, just annoyed me so much, cause he was cheating and everything, and i just didn’t like that he became this good guy after she complained about him for a hot second.

and i’ve talked about this a little bit on goodreads while i was reading, but like only a little bit, so i just wanted to bring it up again. i’m not the biggest nicola yoon fan, like i dnfed the sun is also a star and everything everything is just a toxic book. so, i honestly really liked this book, which was kind of shocking and i didn’t really expect. probably cause the plot didn’t have someone faking an illness.

with that being said, i didn’t really like that their relationship moved so fast. like, i feel like it was just questionable because it did move so damn fast, which i just didn’t really like. and i mean, it just developed so quickly i feel like it was just kind of odd at some parts. but, then again it is an YA romance, so it’s not gonna be peak romance by any means. but, i feel like it did serve it’s purpose of being a sweet YA romance.

but, i will say, that it was still a very sweet romance. like, the romance did move super quickly, but i do feel like it was a very cute and they did work very well with each other. like, for one, X read her favorite romance book, which i think was so cute. and he also treated her like a queen, which i just loved so much and just made me so happy.

and i also really did like them both as characters. like i feel like they both were just so cute and i really liked how they talked about each other and how they were so nice to most people they were with other people in their life. and i thought it was just so cute and i really loved them and just their whole little friendships with people.

but, i will say that it was kind of a mess with the whole fantasy element. like, i feel like it was never very explained on why it happened or how it happened. like, i feel like it was so unexplained and i feel like it was just so messy and i feel like it was not good in a way. and i just think it didn’t work in the way that it was written.

and i honestly highly recommend this book if you want a more harder story to read, since this book does pack the emotion. and nicola kind of highlights all of this in the acknowledgements.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked this book and i really liked reading this. and thank you so much netgalley and penguin teen for an arc of this book! and also happy pub date!

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june wrap up

hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about all the books i read in june. i honestly didn’t read that many books this month, probably cause i started working for the summer so i’m just trying to balance it all. but, i still did read quite a few books, and i did like quite few books, which is really good honestly.

instructions for dancing by nicola yoon. this book comes out 4/5 stars. first off, thank you so much netgalley and penguin teen for an arc! but, honestly this book was just so cute and i honestly really really enjoyed this book. and the plot and the characters were just so well rounded and done so well, and also just having the dance was so well done i really liked it. and also just the romance was done so well and just it was so cute.

fat chance, charlie vega by crystal maldonado. i gave this book 3/5 stars. honestly this book had the potential to be good, but something was just missing from here, and like i think most of my problem was that the quality from the audio book was just so terrible. and like, there was just so much white noise, and it just annoyed the hell out of me. and i also feel like so much was happening, yet nothing happened. and also charlie was just so self centered it annoyed me.

fifteen hundred miles from the sun by Jonny Garza Villa. i gave this book 3/5 stars. thank you so much netgalley and skyscape for an arc of this book! honestly, this book just felt so long and slow, and i think it was probably since they had all this time were it was just time where they were just texting or dming each other. but, i also feel like the romance was just slow and i wish it was just better. and also more growth happened in real life and not so much just via text.

luck of the titanic by stacey lee. i gave this book 4/5 stars. honestly, the ending of this book was just so unexpected and it was just so insane i literally did not think it was going to play out that way whatsoever. but, this book was honestly so good and sad and it was honestly so crazy. i also think that this book had a little romance, which was honestly not the best plot point, but still good when it was here. and also just the whole family vibe was so amazing.

not my problem by Ciara Smythe. i gave this book 3/5 stars. this was honestly a good book and i honestly liked this book, but i feel like the whole book was very enemies to lovers, and i feel like the romance in here just didn’t work. since, i feel like they were enemies for so long, it just didn’t feel real once they actually got together and in the context it just did not make sense.

that weekend by Kara Thomas. i gave this book 3/5 stars. thank you so much netgalley and delacorte press for an arc of this book. i honestly wished i liked this book, since i feel like this book could have been so much better. but, also the whole incest could have been so much better if it didn’t happen. and i do feel like the romance in here was just so stupid and i wish they didn’t have it, but i guess the mystery was better.

hunting prince dracula by kerri maniscalo. i gave this book 5/5 stars. this was my third reread of this book, and i honestly loved it so much this time. like, i really loved thomas and audrey rose and their relationship and they were honestly so amazing.

twice shy by Sarah Hogle. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i honestly wished i liked this book more, but i feel like the best part of this book was just wesley’s social anxiety and it honestly made him seem so much more real than anything else. but, i also really liked the end of this book, like i feel like it wrapped up very well, but it was still very boring at some parts.

anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wish i read more books, since i had such a massive tbr, but i do feel like i’ve read some good books this month. but, i also think i will read more in july, which i think is going to be good.

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