hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about it’s in his kiss by julia quinn. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly liked this book, but i feel like there was just something missing with it all, but i still think this is really good book, especially since it was a more with different adventures book then the rest of the series.
trigger warnings- sexual content, emotional abuse, infidelity, child abuse, emotional abuse, misogyny, toxic relationship, grief, death of a parent, abandonment, alcohol.
i honestly really liked hyacinth. i think it was cool to see her have this big personality, since i feel like all the other bridgerton woman i feel can fit in this box, and i honestly really liked that she had this personality that was bold and she wasn’t afraid to tell anyone off. and i think it was just so cool to see her be out spoken throughout this book, and to have her have this personality, but also be kind of sweet and quiet, and know when she should be loud, and who won’t yell at her for it.
i also did like gareth a lot too. i feel like he was just such a nice and sweet guy and i love how kind he was to hyacinth and always tried to protect her when they could be in danger and everything. and i honestly loved to hear about his backstory and everything about that, since i feel like it was just so cool and i honestly love to hear characters backstories. and i honestly think he compliments hyacinth so well, since he’s a bit more quiet and she’s loud and he’s always up for an adventure.
for the show though, even if we don’t get all eight seasons, i do hope they already either tease gareth or he makes an appearance since i feel like lady danbury is already there, and they’re related, so it would just make sense if he makes a little surprise appearance. and i would honestly love to see it. and also just to have lady danbury and hyacinth to bond over books or something and to have more moments together, since i think that would be so cute foreshadowing. but, i did kind of wish we got to see more of marcus from the smythe smith book. since, he is lady Danbury’s great grand-nephew and we know he already exists since i think his book takes place at the same time of the 4th bridgerton book, i would have loved to see that.
and i also really loved hyacinth’s relationship with gregory. like, i feel like they still acted like children throughout this book, which i think was just kind of cool to see them interacting and just being normal siblings. and then to later see her a little bit later. and even for some of her other siblings to make a cameo, i think it was just so cool and i think it was just kind of cool to see them all interacting and to see them all being there for her. and they’re all so funny, which really helps.
i also really liked that this book had a little bit of mystery, and wasn’t the traditional style of the bridgerton books. by no means is this book a mystery book, but it does kind of have that mystery vibe with trying to find were the necklace was and i think it was just so cool to see that kind of happen and to see them trying to solve this mystery. and that it wasn’t this copy and paste of the other bridgerton book format.
though, i do feel like some of the first start of this book was kind of boring. and i feel like things happened, but as we got farther and farther into the story, i feel like it got better as it went. and i think it was just so cool to see it all happen and to see them kind of getting more comfortable together and just becoming friends. i think it was just so cool to see them become friends and all. i think it was just so cool to see them, and they were just so cute.
but, i do feel like this book was pretty funny. like, i feel like they were just so funny together, just like interacting and to do different things together and to have them try to find the jewels and i think it was just so cool to see them do different things and just to see them interact, it was just so cool to see them do their thing. and i mean, it was just so cool to see them all do their different things and to figure out if they like each other or if they don’t. and i mean, it was just so cool to see them all together.
and i also loved to see lady danbury and violet bridgerton in this book. like, i feel like it was just so cool to see them make cameos and to see them try to figure out and help hyacinth and gareth with everything that is happening romance wise, and to get them to actually fall in love. like, i feel like it was so cool to see them kind of band together to get them to fall in love and all of that.
second epilogue
i gave this book 3/5 stars. i honestly really liked seeing them together and to have them kind of fall in love and to see them still living their best lives together. but, i do think they were still so cute together and i did like seeing them again. but, i also think that it was kind of stupid and i didn’t really like them together. and i think it was just kind of something that i didn’t really like. and i honestly feel like this was kind of pointless with the daughter finding the jewels and all of that.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly liked this book, but i still don’t think it is my favorite book at all, and i think it was still a cool book and something that i still really liked. but, i feel like that they were still such a sweet and cute couple.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about survive the night by Riley Sager. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i know a lot of people hated this book, but i honestly really liked the spooky vibe of the car, and i feel like this would make such a good tv show for like hulu or something, especially if you give each hour a different episode.
trigger warning- murder, mental illness, car accident, kidnapping, grief, death of a parent, gaslight, death, violence, blood, suicide attempt, gun violence, schizophrenia / psychosis, fire / fire injury, suicidal thoughts, torture, vomit, body horror, confinement, terminal illness, injury / injury detail, emotional abuse, gore, medical content, medical trauma, bullying, cancer.
one thing i really liked was that we got to see the ripple effects after charlie’s best friend is killed by a local serial killer. i think it was just so cool that we got to see charlie deal with it all and how she is kind of messed up about it all, and i think it was just cool to see charlie deal with the trauma of it all, especially since she thinks she is responsible for it all. so, i think it was just cool to see it all and to see her get over it and grow throughout this book.
and i also really liked that this book was kind of set up like a movie script, granted with knowing the actual end of the book, i think it was cool how sager kind of tied it all together. and i think it was just kind of cool to see how it worked together and that we got to see it all. but, i think that it was just super cool, especially being that charlie was a huge movie fan, so i think it was just cool to see it all and to kind of tie it all together, and having it come together is just so fun.
and i also think it was cool to see that it was cool because the plot was honestly very cinematic and i feel like it was just so cool to see them honestly change it all and to get those retro movie vibes and to see it all kind of have it in this book. plus, i think with all of the movie references, it was just so cool to see them honestly talk about these movies and kind of plan for the future and to see it all happen. and i think it was cool to see it all kind of unravel through this book.
with that being said, i feel like this would honestly made a good mini series, kind of like i already said. but, i feel like it would be cool to see it get adapted and see it play out that way. like, i feel like this is one of those books that don’t really make sense in a book format, and i think it was something that you need to suspend belief, since some of it didn’t really make sense and work in away. i definitely feel like you need to read it kind of like how you watch a horror movie, so you can like not think about it all to much. and i feel like it would be cool to see them make each hour a different episode, and i think it would be cool to see them kind of play with it.
and i do feel like sager took a big risk with this book. like, i feel like this is one of those books that you can already kind of tell that it might not do good and people would honestly hate. and i feel like it was still a really good book and i think it was something that people can kind of see themselves in, especially when you’re in charlie’s shoes. and i think it was something that doesn’t really work, but at the same time, it works completely, which i think is really cool. and i think that this book was honestly just such a big risk, but i feel like it was done really well.
with this book, i feel like that there were a lot of twists in this book, some that were good, and others that wee kind of bad. like, i feel like some of them you could kind of see happening and you can kind of see the outcome of how this is all going to go. but at the same time, i think there were some twists that were really good and i really liked how they played out in the long run. granted, even with the ones that you could figure out, i still don’t think it wasn’t fun enough that you weren’t completely turned off of this book and that it turned out good in the end.
and i feel like the tight plot line and storyline were honestly really cool. like honestly i think it was cool to see that we got to have the plot with them in the car, which you honestly can’t go to far with, since they are stuck in the same car together for hours on end. and i feel like sager did such a good job with playing with that aspect of it all and getting into the pacing, which flowed nicely. and i think it was just super cool to see everything kind of play together, in a sense.
and with the characters, i honestly really liked josh and charlie together. like, i feel like there is so many secrets around josh and what you’re supposed to think about him and what his actual motives are, so by himself he’s one of those unreliable characters, which i think is cool. and also then getting charlie, who by herself, is an unreliable narrator, which i think was just so cool to be able to kind of see them both be unreliable, and to see how that plays into everything and to figure out who you can or cannot trust.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked this book, and i honestly cannot wait to get into more of sager’s books, since this is the only other book i read by him. so, i think it would honestly be so cool to read them and kind of see how those relate to this one and all that.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about we can’t keep meeting like this by rachel lynn solomon. i gave this book 2/5 stars. honestly, this book was so disappointing since i read solomon’s adult romance earlier this year, and i really liked it, and i heard nothing but good things about them, so this was just super disappointing.
trigger warning- mental illness, chronic illness, suicidal thoughts, sexual content, panic attacks / disorder, cursing, medical content, abandonment, antisemitism, medical content, ableism, racism, toxic relationship.
one thing i really didn’t like was quinn. like, i feel like she was one of those main characters that was just super annoying and one that you can’t really root for, even when you are supposed to. for me, she had really nothing going for her, and she just kind of pissed me off. and i think she had no clue what she was doing, which isn’t an issue overall, but just how she talked about it, didn’t help me with her as a character. and i also think she was fixated on the past, it got on my nerves and how she never said her feelings, for anything, it really just annoyed me. and she didn’t show her feelings so she didn’t get hurt, but then hurt everyone around her, especially tarek.
and for tarek, i think one of the things i’ve seen talked about the most, was the muslim rep around him. if you want to see people that are actually muslim talk about this, i think a couple of the top reviews on goodreads talk about this. other then that, i feel like another thing i really didn’t like was how he just like never listened to quinn. like, i feel like quinn would tell him something, especially about the whole big romantic gesture, she would say something and he would just not listen to what she said and then he would do the opposite about it all, which just pissed me off.
i also feel like that in this book, nothing happened. like, this book is roughly 400 pages long, and the audiobook was long as hell. and i feel like nothing literally happened. like i feel like this whole book was quinn trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, and honestly kind of falling at it all. and then she would start to complain about it all, and then do nothing about it. and also that tarek was just a pain in the ass and that they didn’t work together at all, which just took away from the book.
and i also feel like i couldn’t connect with the characters and that i couldn’t connect with the story. like, i feel like most of it came from quinn just being a baby the whole time and just her complaining and whining, i think it just made me not be able to connect through it. and just how they literally never talked, it just pissed me off and i think communication in a romance book is so important, and communication literally makes the story, so it honestly just annoyed me that we didn’t get this, since it made me not connect with it all.
with the whole chemistry, i feel like all they did was just kind of argue, which i already kind of talked about all of this. i think that when you listened to quinn talk about it all, like the way she handled it all, especially her parents ‘divorce’ when she was like 6, now she is around 18, and that she never got over it, and i think they needed to kind of drop it. and i think the way that she handled so many things in this book just didn’t make sense and work, and i think that it should have been handled better throughout this book, and that they needed to honestly change so much of this book.
then there also was some talk about ocd in the start of the book. like, i know what ocd looks like first hand, but in this book, the rep was just so bad. like, i feel like the whole rep in this book was that she needed to do things more then once, and she needed to check it all, which i don’t feel like is terrible, but they brought it up in the start of the book, but then completely dropped. like, in away, how this was all written, that it made quinn honestly sound kind of crazy, and kind of blamed her for it all. which, with mental health, especially ocd, which still isn’t normalized, and they honestly made it sound so terrible and just pissed me off while reading this book.
i also think the main conflict of this book was thinner then paper. like, i think that the whole conflict of this book is that ‘boy and girl both have a crush on each other, but boy likes to do grand gestures to people he likes, but girl doesn’t like them. and oh, their parents work together.’ and i feel like it was just so annoying because the whole conflict could have been solved in a short story, like under 2000 words, given how much background you want to give, and it just annoyed me that they gave them this big ass book when it was paper thin conflict, and stupid at that.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly hated this book, and i honestly don’t know if i’m going to read any other books by this author, since this was just so disappointing. but, i feel like the only good part of this book was the cat, and i also think the lady quinn kind of worked for had a couple small dogs, but i think they’re corgi’s but i honestly can’t remember.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about mine till midnight by lisa kleypas. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i honestly loved this book so much and i honestly love this family so much, maybe even a little bit more than i love the bridgerton’s, since i feel like the hathaway’s were so cute and pure.
trigger warnings- sexual content, suicide attempt, racial slurs, suicidal thoughts, alcoholism, racism, terminal illness, grief, fire, fire injury, death of a parent, death.
like i kind of already said, i completely love the hathaway’s as a family, but also as a individual people. like i think they all were so different and they all had different things happening in their lives, even though they were all together for most of the book. and i think it was just so cool to see this all happen. and i think they were just all so different and had different personalities. they honestly just felt like a real family to me, which i honestly loved. and i honestly loved beatrix and all of her animals, mainly her lizard or whatever spot was. and i think it was just so cute and i honestly can’t wait for her book. and then leo with his i don’t care what you do attitude to all of his siblings.
and i also really liked that in this book they weren’t super rich. like, i feel like there is so many historical romance books were they are so rich and have all of this money, so i really liked that the hathaway’s don’t have that much money and are trying to deal with the new estate they have, which isn’t going to well. so, i honestly really like that they didn’t have all of this endless money, and they were kind of struggling to get by.
before we get to the romance of the book, i really like the side romance in this book with merripan and winnifred. like, seeing them already interact together and seeing them interact and just figure out their feelings for each other, and knowing that they are going to get book 2 about them and their romance. and i feel like kind of getting this sneak peak and these kind of easter eggs, which not might be the right word for this, but i did really like seeing them figure out their footing and think it is cool to see how it is going to play in the next book. and even because we know that there is probably some connection between merripan and then cam, with their tattoo.
then for the romance between cam and amelia, i honestly adore them. like, i feel like they were just so cool and honestly so romantic with how they met and then how they fell in love and everything that kind of happened inbetween it all. like, i think seeing amelia kind of fight off cam, was kind of cool and i honestly really didn’t mind it. but, still having this insta-love aspect of it all. and that everything kind of playing together was just so sweet.
since it is a romance, the sex is kind of a big plot of this book. and that it was something that i honestly really was just cool and something i really enjoyed it. like, i think it was so intimate and i kind of something that you kind of want to turn away from, since it was so intimate about it all. and i think it was still really cool and i really liked once we got to the end of the book, it was just really love and i hope that the other books have the same thing.
and i also really liked cam. like, i feel like he was just so sweet since he has a quite a bit of money, and then the hathaway’s are not doing to well. and i think it was just so cool to see how he kept saying that he was going to protect them over and over again, which i honestly really liked. and i honestly really liked his struggle with it all and kind of figure out what he wants, since he doesn’t really want to live those stereotypical lives. and i honestly really liked that he wasn’t pushed off by other people saying that amelia and cam shouldn’t be together and not good enough for her. and that he never was that type of hero that thought he wasn’t good enough for her, which i did kind of like. and i really liked that he wasn’t afraid to tell amelia that he loved her.
with that being said, i do feel like it was kind of annoying that amelia pushed cam away again and again. like, i guess i could see that with how she didn’t really want to be with him, since she is dealing with her family and trying to figure out their new lives. and i feel like they did work it all out. and i can see were they both were coming from and that they needed to figure everything out. and i mean, they did explain it all and kind of tell why everything was happening to them.
but, for amelia, i did kind of like her. like, i feel like she was kind of fun and that i mean, when she did kind of figured out that she really liked him, and i think it was just really cool to see her figure out her life. and also to kind of put her siblings before her and to figure out what they are doing. like, i really think if i was in her shoes, and had to deal with this family, i would not have it all together like she did, or at least for the most part. which i do applaud her for.
and for the book as a whole, i do feel like it was really cool to kind of see how this had the cute moments and to see the also kind of heart breaking content. like, i think the biggest thing with this book was that we obviously did have these cute moments between amelia and cam, the family as a whole, and then with merripan and winnifred. but, there was also the harder moments to read about, and i feel like it was still somethin that worked out in a good way, and that it still was kind of happy outcome, even if it was kind of heartbreaking in the moment.
anyway, that is all for today! i really loved this book so much and i honestly can’t wait to read the rest of the books more. and i really loved to see this relationship and that i can’t wait to read more books by this author in the future, especially since i know they are so hyped. and that i think cam is in a couple other of kleypas books, so i’m kind of excited for that.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about kill joy by holly jackson. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this was honestly a cute book and i did really like this story and it was just so fun. but, this review is going to be shorter since i don’t have to much to say on this book, since it is a shorter book.
i think my favorite part of this book is that we get to see how pip picked her project for her epq and how she got to the sal and andie case to do, and she always wasn’t this girl obsessed with the murder. and i mean, in agggtm they never really say how she got to this topic, so i think seeing it in here was so cool.
and also that this just tried to push her more and more and to prove that she could look at the different clues different then her friends saw everything. and i think that it was just so cool to see how it all unraveled and to see her become the pip that we know today. and i think that her character development was just so good. seeing that when this came out we already read book 1 and 2, that jackson could kind of break her down, to show how she developed from kill joy to agggtm then to ggbb. and i think it was just so cool.
and i also really liked that this book only took place in one night. like, i feel like if this took place in one more than one day it would honestly feel like of off and it wouldn’t work as well as one night. and plus we get to see everything kind of revealed as the characters find the clues around the house. and it was just so cool that it took place in a matter of hours.
i also liked how this book was so short. like, i don’t feel like did what it needed to do and didn’t draw out more of this book. since, i feel like so many authors would’ve tried to make it a full length novel, so i feel like it being taken in a matter of hours, was just so cool and having it be a short book worked so much for it.
and i also think it was just so cool to see all the friends together. like, i think the biggest thing that i really liked was seeing how this is going to change as we get farther and farther through this series, since i know that they all don’t get along that well. so, i honestly really liked seeing them all get along, or as much as they could. so, i think it was just cool to see how they all interacted.
i also really liked the whole murder mystery party. like, i think it is just so cool and i think that it was just so fun to see it all happen. and especially to see jackson still tie them all together to the murder mystery plot in the other books. and i think it was just so cool to see it all happen.
spoiler- agggtm
i also really liked elliot’s reaction to seeing ravi. like, obviously with knowing that he killed sal, i think it was just so cool to see what he did with seeing ravi walking the street. and i like that it is kind of this little easter egg for fans of the books and that have already read agggtm. and it honestly was so cool since in agad we got to see things kind of come full circle, so this was even more cool and special.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked this book, and i honestly wish that there was more ravi, but i mean, him and pip weren’t friends yet, so it is understandable that he wasn’t in here. but, i still think that this book was really good and cute. and i love the whole murder mystery party vibe.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about the violent season by sara walters. i gave this book 3/5 stars. first off, thank you so much netgalley and sourcefire books for an arc of this book! this is going to be an honest review and isn’t going to be changed by the publisher and/or the author.
trigger warning- suicide, death, death of a parent, toxic relationship, drinking, drug use, drug abuse, blood, fire, fire injury.
i think the biggest thing about this book was that i honestly found this book to be something that wasn’t groundbreaking or anything. like, i feel like most of this book was just so boring and i feel like nothing really happened in here. and i feel like it was just kind of annoying with this plot that had nothing really happening. and i mean, i wish there was just more plot in this book.
but, i do feel like if someone went through some of the same things that wyatt went through, i feel like this book would have been more impactful and something that more people might like. like, i feel like it would have been something/someone that you could see yourself in, but i feel like for me, i didn’t really see myself in her anyway, which i guess just took it all away for me.
and i feel like there was some plot about this ‘november sickness.’ and it was brought up over and over again, and i feel like in the book it never was really answered and i feel like they talked about it a couple times, but they never brought it up since then, which i think was just kind of annoying and i feel like they should have had this plot throughout the whole book or to have them not really talk about it so much.
granted, i did kind of like that they ‘solved’ the murder of her mom. like, i’d personally use the word ‘solved’ loosely, since i feel like as the murder mystery plot was the one of the main things in this book, i feel like we got zero plot with them actually trying to find the killer, and i feel like it really just fell into their laps. and i mean, who did it was so obvious if you actually read the book, so that kind of annoyed me.
and i feel like they kept bring up the november sickness and the murder of her mom again and again, but they never really had a plot in the book. like, i feel like they should have created a better plot around it, caused with the sickness, it was brought up when it was convenient to the book, which wasn’t to often. and then the murder of her mother, she would be doing something random and then be like ‘oh yeah my mom’s dead, she was murdered lmao.’ and after awhile it just got to be on my nerves and i feel like it should have been dealt with better. and not just have it be some side plot to everything that is going on in her very boring life.
and since they kept going on and on and on about the bloody past and how this town is haunted, i honestly wish, as a whole, that this book was bloodier and that it kind of got to be a bit spookier. like, i think if they really wanted to sell this murder town plot line, they should have made it gorier and have it be more bloodier and kind of set it up like a slasher novel, and maybe made the town to be more dark, since overall, the town wasn’t that bad, or at least in my opinion.
anyway, that is all for today! this is honestly a shorter review, but i feel like nothing happened in this book and that there wasn’t enough to talk about in a full review. but, i honestly think this book had some good parts, but for the most part, i didn’t really like it.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about as good as dead by holly jackson. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i honestly really loved this book so much and i honestly cried so much with this book, which i never do. and i honestly think this was such an amazing way to end a series, but still so sad. and there is going to be slight spoilers in this review for this book and the other books in the series.
trigger warnings- stalking, murder, death, kidnapping, blood, violence, drug use, gore, mental illness, addiction, drug abuse, panic attacks / disorder, fire, confinement, rape, sexual assault, sexual assault, grief, injury, animal death, vomit, gun violence, misogyny.
i honestly think the best part of this book was that we got to see the series kind of go full circle. like, i think there is a lot of YA mystery series that don’t end organic or end in away that will be satisficing, so i honestly really loved that in this book / series that it was such a full circle moment and that it was just so cool. and that this series did it and that we got to see this series go full circle and that it went in that direction.
and i also really liked the whole mental health journey with these books. like, i honestly really liked that in book one we did get to see pip at her best, and then as the series went on, we got to see her kind of going through this journey in book 2 and then in book 3 she is her worst and that she is kind of a mess. so, i honestly really liked that we did get to her an honest portray off it all, and i feel like it just to see that and that they didn’t make pip be this amazing and still has it all together, because i feel like with what she went through, it wouldn’t make sense.
and i also really liked with how she dealt with her PTSD and how she dealt with everything happening now. and i really think she handled it as well as she possibly could in the situation she is in. so, i honestly really liked that about her, and also how she kind of turned morally grey, like i think it was just so cool and i think it was just cool to see her kind of become and bad guy and to see all of that happen, i honestly really happy that she became morally grey and became this badass character by the end of this book / series, since it was just so cool.
but, i honestly feel like this is the type of book that will follow you around for a very long time. like, for me, i feel like that this book was just so amazing and the things that happen and the lessons that get told in this book were just so amazing and i honestly love this book so much. like, i feel like that it was just so cool and just so amazing to read about all of this and to read about everything pip went through and how much she was struggling. in my mind, this is the best book i’ve ever read, and by far the best book of the year because all of that.
and i think another cool thing about this book is how everything ties together. like, with this book, it really makes your question everything about the other books and if the events and the outcomes were actually true, which i think is honestly so cool. and i mean, it honestly was so cool to see how everything wrapped together and to see how everything kind of connected in this really crazy way. and it honestly was so cool, and the way that jackson’s mind connected everything, was just so cool, but also kind of scary.
i also really liked how much research went into this book, and how much you can really see that. like, i think it was just so cool to see this all and to see it all by the way that pip talked about it all. and i think that it honestly was just so cool and i honestly think it was so impressive to see how much it was in here. and i mean, i can’t really say how well it was done, but i feel like it was just done really well and to see how well rounded everything was just so amazing.
and i honestly really liked pip in this book. like, i feel like she was just so badass and i honestly think it was so cool about how she kept her cool through so much of this book, because i know for a fact, that i would never be able to do that. so, i think it was just really cool to see how much pip has been changing throughout this book and even how she was just so cool and i honestly think she was just so impressive and just really cool.
for ravi, i honestly really loved him in here now. like, i think it was just so cool to see how he added this humor to this book, but not even in a gross or weird way. and i think he was just so cute and i honestly really loved him in here. and also how pip thought about him, it was just so romantic and i just loved them together to much. and i think it was just really cool to see him supporting pip and his whole ‘if we go down, then we’re going down together’ mentality, which i really loved.
and for them together, i thought it was just so amazing, and i really loved how cute they were and just to see them figuring everything out, i think it was just so cool to see them figure out what they are going to do, and what they want to do moving forward. and also that they were so romantic, in this really weird way. and that they both were just so amazing about how were one person ended, the next person started, and also how their teamwork was. it was just so amazing to see them becoming this unit.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly love this book so much, and as much as i’m sad to see this series complete, i think this was the perfect way to wrap up the series and have this full circle moment. but, i do hope that jackson will come back in the future and write another novella with ravi and pip together again and to have them married and with kids or something.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about all the books that are coming out this month that i’m excited for. honestly, there isn’t to many, but there is still enough in here to talk about in a post. but, i also have one of my most anticipated releases of the year this month, so that is also really exciting.
kingdom of the cursed by kerri maniscalo. after selling her soul to become queen of the wicked, emilia travels to the seven circles with the enigmatic prince of wrath where she’s introduced to a seductive world of vice. she vows to do whatever it takes to avenge her beloved sister, vittoria, even if that means accepting the hand of the prince of pride, the king of demons. the first rule in the court of the wicked? trust no one. with back stabbing princes, luxurious palaces, mysterious party invitations, and conflicting clues about who really killed her twin, emilia finds herself more alone than ever before.
not here to be liked by michelle quach. eliza quan is the perfect candidate for the editor in chief of her school paper. that is, until ex-jock, len dimartile, decides on a whim to run against her and suddenly her vast qualifications mean squat because inexperienced len, just seems more like a leader. when eliza’s frustration spills out in a viral essay, she finds herself inspiring a feminist movement she never meant to start, caught between those who believe she’s a gender equality champion and others who think she’s simply crying misogyny.
the heartbreak bakery by ar capetta. syd, who uses no pronouns, has always dealt with big, hard to talk about things by baking. being dumped is no different, expect now syd is baking at the proud muffin, a queer bakery and community space in austin. and everyone who eats syd’s breakup brownies, breaks up. even vin and alec, who own the proud muffin. and their breakup might take the bakery down with it. being dumped is one thing, causing ripples of queer heartbreak through the community is another. but the cute boke delivery person, harley, he/they, believes syd about the magic baking. and harley believes syd’s magical baking can fix things.
bad girls never say die by jennifer mathieu. 1964, houston, texas. evie barnes is a bad girl. so are all her friends, they’re the sort who wear bold makeup, laugh to loud, and run around with boys. most of all, they protect their own against the world. so when evie is saved from the unimaginable by a good girl from the ‘right’ side of the tracks, every rule she’s always lived by is called into question. now she must redefine what it means to be a bad girl and rethink everything she knew about loyalty.
our way back to always by nina moreno. lou patterson grew up across the street from sam alvarez in the small, quirky town of port coral. they used to be inseparable, spending every holiday together, shooting silly youtube videos, and rescuing stray cats. but then middle happened, with the most disastrous and embarrassing serenade ever, and lou and sam haven’t talked in four years since. sam is the golden boy and lou is the introverted romantic. but it’s also the summer before their senior year, and life is knocking on lou’s door. with her older sister having given up a scholarship to princeton to have a baby and work at the local botanica, all of their mother’s expectations are now riding on lou’s shoulders. she’s retaking her sat’s, signed up for way to many AP classes, and her sights set on colleges with fancy names. but when she finds the bucket list she and sam wrote together as kids, before sam’s father got cancer, she’s shocked to see that she hasn’t accomplished any of it. torn between the future and her mother, sister, and younger self planned for her, lou sets out to finish the list, and in a stroke of destiny or fate, sam decides to tag along.
everything within and in between by nikki barthelmess. for ri fernandez’s entire life, she’s been told ‘we live in america and we speak english.’ raised by her strict mexican grandma, ri has never been allowed to learn spanish. what’s more, her grandma has always pushed ri away from the neighborhood they call home and towards her best friend’s world of mansions and country clubs in hopes it will bring ri home to living the ‘american dream.’ in her most private thoughts, ri has always believed that her mother, who disappeared when she was young, would accept her exactly how she is. so when ri finds a secret, unanswered letter from her mom begging for a visit, ri decides to reclaim what her grandma kept from her: her mother and a language. but nothing goes as planned, her mom isn’t who ri imagined she would be and ri is struggling to navigate the different interweaving threads of her mixed heritage that makes her who she is. nobody has any idea of who ri really is, not even ri, herself.
anyway, that is it for today! i honestly really am excited for these books, so i honestly hope i get to them soon and that i like them when i get to read them. but, hopefully they don’t let me down to much.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about all the books i want to read this month. and i honestly really can’t wait to read these books since they sound really good and i hope i like some of these books, since they have so much potential.
malibu rising by taylor jenkinsreid. malibu: august, 1983. it’s the day of nina riva’s annual end of the summer party, and the anticipation is at a fever pitch. everyone wants to be around the famous rivas: nina, the talented surfer and supermodel, brothers jay and hud, one a championship surfer and the other a photographer, and their little sister, kit. together, the siblings are a source of fascination in malibu and the world over, especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, mick riva. the only person not looking forward to the party of the year is nina herself, who never really wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. and maybe hud, because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth. jay, who is counting the minutes until nightfall when the girl he can’t stop thinking about, will be there. and kit, with many secrets of her own, including a guest she invited without consulting anyone. and by midnight, the party will be completely out of control. by morning, the riva mansion will have gone up in flames. but, before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.
people we meet on vacation by emily henry. poppy and alex, alex and poppy. they have nothing in common. she’s a wild child; he wears khakis. she has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. and somehow, ever since a fateful car chare home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. for most of year they lived far apart, she’s in new york and he’s in their small hometown, but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. until, two years ago, when they ruined everything. they haven’t spoken since. poppy has everything she could ever want, but she’s stuck in a rut. when someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with alex. and so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together, lay everything on the table, make it all right, and miraculously, he agrees. now, she has a week to fix everything. if only she can get around one big truth has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship.
loveless by alice oseman. georgia has neve been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush, but as a fanfic obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day. as she starts university with her best friends, pip and jason, in a whole new town far from home, georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare society, her ‘teenage dream’ is in sight. but, when her roommate plan wrecks havoc amongst her friends, georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. with new terms thrown at her, asexual, aromantic, georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever.
the sum of all kisses by julia quinn. hugh prentice has never had patience for dramatic females, and if lady sarah pleinsworth has ever been acquainted with the words shy or retiring, she’s long since tossed them out the window. besides, a reckless duel has left this brilliant mathematician with a ruined leg, and now he could never court a woman like sarah, much less dream of marrying her. sarah had never forgiven hugh for the duel he fought that nearly destroyed her family. but even if she could find a way to forgive him, it wouldn’t matter. she doesn’t care that his leg is less than perfect, it’s his personality she can’t abide. but, forced to spend a week in close company they discover that first impressions are not always reliable. and when one kiss leads to two, three, and four, the mathematician may lose count, and the lady may, for the first time, find herself speechless.
seduce me at sunrise by lisa kleypas. kev merripen has longed for the beautiful, well bred, winnifred hathaway ever since her family rescued him from the brink of death when he was just a boy. but this handsome gypsy is a man of mysterious origins, and he fears that the darkness of his past could crush delicate, luminous win. so kev refuses to submit to the temptation, and before long win is torn from him by a devastating twist of fate. then, win returns to england, only to find kev has hardened into a man who will deny love at all costs. meantime, an attractive, seductive suitor has set his sights on win. it’s now or never for kev to make his move. but first, he must confront a dangerous secret about his destiny or risk losing the only woman he has lived for.
circe by madeline miller. in the house of helious, god of the sun and mightiest of the titans, a daughter is born. but circe is a strange child, not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power, the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. threatened, zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beast and crosses oaths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the minotaur, daedalus and his doomed son, icarus, the murderous medea, and of course, wily odysseus. but there is danger, too for a woman who stands alone, and circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the olympains.
these violent delights by chloe gong. the year is 1926, and shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. a blood feud between two gangs run the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. at the heart of it all is 18 year old juliette cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the scarlet gang, a network of criminals far above the law. their only rivals in power are the white flowers, who have fought the scarlets for generations. and behind every move is their heir, roma montagov, juliette’s first love and her first betrayal. but when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. of a contagion, a madness. of a monster in the shadows. as the deaths stack up, juliette and roma must set their guns, and grudges, aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
if we were villains by ml rio. oliver marks has just served ten years in jail for a murder he may or may not have committed. on the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. detective colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happen a decade ago. as one of the seven young actors studying shakespeare at an elite arts college, oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. but when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the play spills dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. the rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.
ace of spades by Faridah Abike iyimide. welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways and the students are never less than perfect, until now. because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students’ dark secrets to light. talented musician devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can’t escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. and head girl chiamaka isn’t afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has to paid for power. someone is out to get both of them, someone who holds all the aces and they are playing way more than a stupid high school game.
they’ll never catch us by Jessica Goodman. stella and ellie steckler are only a year apart, but their different personalities make their relationship complicated. stella is single minded, driven, and she keeps to herself, cross country running is her life. than there is ellie, who is a talented runner too, but she also has friends, she has friends, goes to parties and has a life off the course. but, the sisters have one thing in common, the new girl, mila keene. both of the girls lives are upended when mila comes to town, mila was the top runner on her team back home, and they first saw her as a threat, but ellie can’t help but be drawn out by her warm, charming personality. after her best friend moved away and her boyfriend left her, ellie’s been looking for a new friend, and in a moment of weakness, she even shares her darkest secrets with mila. stella finds herself noticing the way she and mila are similar, mila is strong and smart, she is someone stella can finally connect with, and as the two get closer, stella becomes something she vowed she’d never be, distracted.
a lesson in vengeance by victoria lee. in the catskills mountains, the centuries old ivy covered campus was home, until the death of her girlfriend. now, after a year away, felicity is returning to graduate. and she even got her old room in the godwin house, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirit of the five dalloway students, who are believed to be witches. the school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do, and before her girlfriend died, felicity was drawn to the dark, and she is determined to leave that behind now, all felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and to graduate. but, it’s hard when dalloway’s occult history is everywhere, and when the new girl won’t let her forget. it’s ellis haley’s first year at dalloway, and she already has a following, a prodigy novelist at seventeen, ellis is a so called ‘method writer.’ and she is eccentric and brilliant, and felicity can’t shake the pull to her, and ellis asks felicity to help research the dalloway five for her second book, and felicity can’t say no.
the obsession by jesse q. sutanto. nobody knows delilah like logan does. he makes sure of it by learning everything he can through her social media and watching her through the hidden camera he has trained on her house. some might call him a stalker, but logan prefers to be called ‘romantic.’ but after logan sees delilah killer her abusive stepfather, he realizes there’s still more about her to discover, his sweet and perfect delilah isn’t so perfect after all. delilah knows she should feel guilty, but all she feels is free. she’s so over the men in her life controlling her, except logan saw what she did, and he won’t let her forget it.
the ivies by Alexa Donne. this book comes out May 25th. everyone knows the Ivies, this is one of the most loved universities in the United States. but, way more importantly, there are the Ivies. the ivies at Claflin academy are five girls with the same mission, to get into the ivy league schools, with any means necessary. they disrupt class ranks, club leaderships, and academic competitions, among many other things. they improve their odds, by decreasing the fortune of others. since hyper elite competitive college admissions are a serious business, and in some cases, they are deadly.
the gilded wolves by roshani chokshi. in 1889, the city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure- hinter and wealthy hotelier severin montagnet alarie. when the elite, ever powerful order of babel coerces him to help them on a mission severin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. to hunt down the ancient artifact the order seeks , severin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: an engineer with a debt to pay, a historian banished from his home, a dancer with a sinister past and a brother in arms if not blood.
heart bones by colleen hoover. life and a dismal last name are the only two things beyah grim’s parents ever gave her. after carving her path at all on her own, beyah is well on her way to bigger and better things, thanks to no one but herself. with only two short months separating her from the future she’s built and the past she desperately wants to leave behind, an unexpected death leaves beyah with no place to go during the interim. focused to reach out to her last resort, beyah has to spend the remainder of her summer on a peninsula in texas with a father she barely knows. beyah’s plan is to keep her head down and let the summer slip by seeminglessly, but her new neighbor samson throws a wrench in that plan. samson and beyah have nothing in common on the surface. she comes from a life of poverty and neglect; he comes from a family of wealth and privilaged. but one thing they do have in common is that they’re both drawn to sad thing. which means, they’re drawn to each other. with an almost immediate connection to intense for them to continue denying, beyah and samson agrees to stay in the shallow end of a summer fling.
the woods are always watching by stephanie perkins. best friends, neena and josie spent high school as outsiders, but at least they had each other. now, with college and two thousand mile separation looming on the horizon, they have one last chance to be together, a three day hike into the woods of the pisgah national forest. simmering tensions lead to a detour off the trail and straight into a waking nightmare, and then into something far worse. something that will test them in horrifying ways.
anyway, that is all for today! there is honestly so many books i want to read this month, and i honestly hope to read a lot of spooky this month and also next month. so, hopefully i can knock those out rather quickly and that they are actually good books.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about all of the books that i read this month. it was honestly a pretty good month for me, but i do wish that i did read a bit more, since i feel like there are so many books i still want to read this year, but, i still think i did read a good amount of books.
excuse me while i ugly cry by joya goffney. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i honestly liked this book, but i feel like there was just some issues with this book, which just annoyed me throughout the book. like, i think my biggest issue with this book was how quinn was just so whiny and kind of annoying. and it honestly pissed me off so much. but, i still feel like a lot of this book wasn’t anything special, but i guess the romance was still kind of decent, even though it could have been improved.
the castle school by alyssa b. sheinmel. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly liked this book a lot, but i feel like there was just something missing. like, i don’t even know what it was, but i just think that there was something that should have been added. but, i did like to read this book to see all these girls with different mental health issues. but, this book is very triggering, so if you want to read it, make sure to check all of the warnings.
14 ways to die by vincent ralph. i gave this book 2/5 stars. i think the biggest issue with this book was that it was just so unbelievable. like, i think that for one, i don’t know how nobody would step in and try to save her, since shit was going down. but, also how she did literally no sleuthing, since i feel like everything that she did just fell into her lap, which was just so annoying.
when you get the chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson. i gave this book 3/5 stars. this was honestly a decent book, but i feel like it was kind of a mess at some points of it, but it did really flow overall. but, it also was a cute queer love story, which i think was still kind of cool.
on the way to the wedding by Julia Quinn. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this book was honestly really good, and i honestly really liked this book. but, i do wish we got to see more of gregory’s feelings towards lucy, since he kind of started out liking hermione. but this book was so crazy and i honestly really liked seeing them in the end, since it was just so all over the place, and not like the other bridgerton endings.
on the way to the wedding: ending 2 by julia quinn. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i honestly wished i liked this book more. like, i feel like it could have been so cool and so cute, and that it could have been such a fun and cute ending to this series, as a whole. but, i feel like this book was way to sad and depressing, and it shouldn’t have ended like this.
the box in the woods by maureen johnson. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly liked this book, but i feel like it was just much more different from the rest of the series, which i still think was cool but i wish it had a similar vibe to those. but, i still think that this series is still really good. but, i do wish that there was something more to it.
violet in bloom by Julia Quinn. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly wish that we got a full length novel for this, instead of a novella. but, i do think it was so cool to see all the bridgerton’s as adults and kids in the end of it all. but, i do think that this was a really good book, as a whole.
isn’t it bromantic by lyssa kay adams. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly really liked this book and i honestly really liked to see them married and to see them be this cute little romance. but, i do wish we got to see more about their past and just to see them be a little more romantic between them. but, i still think it was so cool and i honestly really like the cheese man plot.
how we fall apart by katie zhao. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i think this is a good book, and it definitely had potential, but i feel like this is a knockoff of one of us is lying, which i honestly didn’t care for. and i also think that the ending was just not believable and i think that it was just to easy and it honestly didn’t make sense. and i do wish we got to see more of the group together so we can learn their dynamic more.
a night like this by julia quinn. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this was so good and i honestly really liked it. and i feel like this was kind of a different version of an offer from a gentleman. and i did honestly like seeing the ending of this book and seeing them all together. but, i also really liked to see the romance.
it happened one summer by tessa bailey. i gave this book 4/5 stars. this was a really good book and i honestly really liked to see them all figure out their place in life, and just to see them all learning about everything. and i honestly think it was just such a fun book and that i think it was just so cool to see everyone doing everything. but, also the names in the sex scenes lowkey were so weird and i didn’t like it.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly liked a lot of these books, but i do think that some of these books could have been better. but, i think it was still some decent books in here, but i do think some of them could have been better.
r.bookish 