tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41383967329965442792024-02-07T18:14:08.003-05:00lollipopsbooksMarshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-19525407665754081522021-01-31T02:39:00.001-05:002021-01-31T02:39:27.896-05:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42603984-ace-of-spades" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Ace of Spades" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607008002l/42603984._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42603984-ace-of-spades">Ace of Spades</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18577800.Faridah_b_k_y_m_d_">Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3807852502">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Black main characters and dark queer academia? Say less, this first chapter had me sold and I love the new cover art. Will be preordering this and putting it at the top of my tbr once it comes out.<br /><br /><i>I received a sample of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/68921307-mars">View all my reviews</a>
Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-19405890214539232002020-05-25T12:00:00.002-04:002020-05-25T12:00:26.895-04:00<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51179882-lobizona" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Lobizona (Wolves of No World, #1)" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1571242220l/51179882._SX98_SY160_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51179882-lobizona">Lobizona</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17328361.Romina_Garber">Romina Garber</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3257165285">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This book just became one of my all-time favorites list. If you liked Labyrinth Lost, this will be right up your alley. We follow Manu, being hunted down by her father's family and by ICE. Her mother is an immigrant as well as Latinx, and so this does get very political at some points, and I love how Manu is right at the epicenter of it all trying to fight for her mom, her family, and for herself. <br /><br /> This book has the most luscious and vivid magical realism I've ever seen, with a lot of Argentinian folklore and cultural roots interspersed into every page. It's a lot about coming-of-age and finding yourself within a world who rejects you and also being stuck on the outside in between two worlds. I really appreciated the character development and the growth that Manu goes through from page 1 until the end, it was such a rollercoaster ride that made me laugh until my belly hurt and cry my eyes out. I don't even know how to put this into words, except to beg everyone to preorder it and read this when it comes out. If they doesn't incentive you enough, there are lesbians!!<br /><br /><i>I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/68921307-mars">View all my reviews</a>
Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-12267469148159182972020-04-18T19:59:00.001-04:002020-04-18T19:59:03.418-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38116996-the-past-and-other-things-that-should-stay-buried" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528309537l/38116996._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38116996-the-past-and-other-things-that-should-stay-buried">The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3130410.Shaun_David_Hutchinson">Shaun David Hutchinson</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3283635394">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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I really tried to go into this book with an open mind, I really did. What this was pitched to be as, our main character, Dino (my gay roll of cinnamon son) broke up with his best friend of 15 years and she recently died so he's trying to unpack that emotionally. Of course, it's more complicated than that, because July, the ex best friend has risen from the dead and is back to haunt him in more ways than one. I really did enjoy Shaun David Hutchinson's other books, but there were a couple things in this one that I just couldn't get past.<br />
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First of all, Dino's ex best friend is flat out homophobic, from the first page to the last page and i'm sure that had to be a reason why Dino decided to cut her out of his life. She was at Rafi's (Dino's bf) house-party, and was talking to the theater geek friend group and she opens her mouth and says "what's the point of being gay if you don't do theather." Let me remind all of u, that she is a straight heterosexual women who previously referred to herself as "gay by proxy." She's constantly making out of her lane gay jokes, and she's truly the most ignorant bitch that I've been, seeing that it is 2019 and her long-time best friend is gay. I just wish she was more sensitive and knew how to shut her mouth. She visits the hospital to try to figure out what's wrong with her body, her being undead and all, and she starts an argument which a man who tried to commit suicide and his stomach was just pumped out. For two straight pages this girl asks him questions like "you're glad for this second chance right?" and when the patient says no she keeps on asking him "what's the point you wouldn't cut off your finger from your hand if you had a splinter." This book would have been a 4 star read for me, if not for this girl. Why I am so affected is because her perspective is 50% the author has alternating chapters from her first chapter which I really had the urge to skim.<br />
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On the other hand, I could gush how much I loved Dino and Rafi, and how much he grew and had an actual character development arc. His chapters were the only reason why I didn't dnf this in the first place. And I will admit that the writing was excellent Shaun knows his craft and how to complex characters that are flawed and unlikeable, there's a talented genius quality to his writing and even I can't deny that.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/68921307-lin">View all my reviews</a>
Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-42453590367091542422020-04-13T13:09:00.001-04:002020-04-13T13:09:44.815-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52295766-ghosted-in-l-a-vol-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Ghosted in L.A. Vol. 1" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1561903219l/52295766._SX98_SY160_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52295766-ghosted-in-l-a-vol-1">Ghosted in L.A. Vol. 1</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1162045.Sina_Grace">Sina Grace</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3278460715">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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Graphic novels are usually a hit or miss for me. Here we follow the story of Daphne, who moves across the country to attend the same college as her boyfriend Ronnie. After suffering a blow to the heart, she founds herself lost and trying to find some comfort at twilight. She stumbles on this mysterious mansion, where she finds a group of ghosts that welcome her into their circle and let her live there. <br />
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The artwork is truly so gorgeous. I was astounded at the level of detail and how the color schemes affected/changed the moods of the story itself. I would highly reccomend buying yourself a physical copy because every single piece of artwork is so masterfully created that I had my jaw drop at certain points. Not only that, but there's a clear plotline and story happened here (to be continued) that really set us up for what Daphne's dealing with here. It didn't fall flat, I wasn't bored for one second or one page, because there were enough action scenes to keep me intrigued and curious.<br />
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Also! There are openly queer characters here,which I deeply appreciated. The side characters were some of the most entertaining parts of the books for me personally, and I think the rest of the world will fall in love with this undead gang as much as I did.<br />
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<i>I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-71602315511173619392020-04-08T22:02:00.005-04:002020-04-08T22:02:23.153-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43615530-yes-no-maybe-so" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Yes No Maybe So" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565194355l/43615530._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43615530-yes-no-maybe-so">Yes No Maybe So</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7579036.Becky_Albertalli">Becky Albertalli</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3238232573">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
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I went into this book with high expectations, after all its Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed, two excellent authors who have written earlier books and this is their first ever collab. In this we follow two povs, Jaime Goldenberg, a Jewish boy who lives in the suburbs with this sister, mom, and grandmother. His mom works for a state councilmen, and his cousin is helping the Democrat candidate run for the special election. Then we introduce Maya, a Muslim girl whose parents have recently separated and it was a bombshell. This book was pitched to me as a romance between two inter-religious people, with 50/50 politics and love. Let’s just say I was immediately hooked. <br />
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My issues are many with this book. To start off, let’s address the representation. While I can’t directly speak to this as I am not Muslim, I did notice that Maya was the only Muslim character in the whole book (other than her parents). I just kind of found that odd because she did attend a mosque during Eid and we see that on page, however there is no mention of any Muslim friends or acquaintances she would inevitably have. <br />
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Another thing that ticked me off was the fact that Jaime, our blissfully ignorant white male, had bought and gave food to Maya four (4) times during Ramadan when he knew she was fasting. Maya had to keep on reminding him that she can’t consume that, and then she ended up being the one who apologized to HIM for “getting mad” that he kept on trying to give her food? Like that whole thing was really off, I understand that it happened this first time with the Goldfish and became an inside joke with them two, however I see no reason why then the authors went and made him look like a clown four more times. <br />
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That leads me to the romance, it was the most cliche and in my opinion, unrealistic thing. So we know that they are childhood friends that went to an after school camp together, their moms were best friends years ago, and they haven’t seen each other in about ten years. In fact, during their first chance encounter at Target, they didn’t even recognize each other. However, that storyline fell flat because the authors never developed that aspect of the story. This could have been so well done and used the childhood friends-to lover trope but instead it was the insta-love trope. For gods sake, they both said “I’m in love with you” before they even had their first kiss. Their whole “friendship” spans less than two months, and they were already making “i love you” declarations before they ever went on their first date (in fact we don’t see them go on a first real date in this book at all.) The plot was just super predictable in that aspect, boy meets girls, childhood best friends reconnect about ten years, they spend their whole summer together, and then they’re head over heels. They had no hardships to overcome weirdly, only a brief stint with Maya’s parents being hesitant about this relationship, to which they then relented almost immediately. Maya and Jaime both lied to eachother i’m pretty significant ways, but when they found out each others secrets they just brushed it off and never even had a real conversation about how hurt they were. Cut to them making out in the Target dressing rooms. Yeah. <br />
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Oh and not only that, but there was this whole storyline of Maya realizing the distance and loss with her best friend, her *only* friend Sara, who was a year older than her and moving to college. It was supposed to be their late summer together, but Maya barely days Sara because she worked over forty hours a week to be able to afford college. Cue to Maya whining for the whole summer about how abandoned she feels, etc. The whole was a yawn because we didn’t see any of their childhood backstory since the “Elmo” days. To me, they didn’t even seem that close to begin with because we didn’t get any flashbacks or backstory. So for the whole book, Maya has no female friend, her only “best” friend is Jaime. That just seems unrealistic to me. <br />
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A great reprieve and the only part of the book that I was really interested in was the politics, this was a special election, their candidate was a progressive in a very red zone. The 50% of the book about the politics surrounding them, was the best part in my opinion. Otherwise, I genuinely disliked all the characters with the exception of Maya, who made the book bearable enough to keep on trudging. If your looking to pick this book up, I would say save your time and instead read a similar yet stellar title like Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/68921307-lin">View all my reviews</a>
Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-24721417306174511912020-04-01T19:02:00.002-04:002020-04-01T19:02:47.502-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48814854-emberhawk" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Emberhawk" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573789608l/48814854._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48814854-emberhawk">Emberhawk</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7793571.Jamie_Foley">Jamie Foley</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3235950822">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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<i>“Kira refuses to marry a guy who was dumber than a sack of rocks. Of which there were plenty.”</i><br />
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So, I went into Emberhawk with no previous expectations. I was craving a unique YA fantasy, and in some ways this hit that sweet spot.<br />
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I’m quite conflicted, because I feel like there were a number of things that were well done, and then others not so much. We follow our main characters, Kira and Ryon who are living in this dangerous world full of magic on the brink of war. Kira is setting her traps and catches Ryon on her property stealing her families chickens. So of course she doesn’t hesitate to shoot him in the shoulder, thinking he’s a trace cat, and then no surprise insta-love follows. <br />
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Without delving too much into this, the romance really didn’t click with me, specifically because of one scene where Ryon forced himself on her without consent and then spent about 10 pages justifying it. After that, all out their romantic interactions and flirtations left a sour taste in my mouth. <br />
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For me the highlight of this book was Kira. It was a delight seeing this complex complicated (often confusing) world that was against her. She’s a feminist badass, without the author trying too hard to make that obvious. The only thing that stuck out like a sore thumb to me, was that because of her situation and family we see virtually no other females interacting with her? Like for example she has two brothers, but I wanted to know more about her everyday—where she went to school, what type of friends she had,etc. <br />
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If I’m being honest, I struggled for more than half the book to understand how exactly the magic system works. Yes, there was a lot of infodumping from the author as it’s to be expected with the introduction to a high fantasy series. However, I wish some things were explained more clearly earlier on; that way I feel like I would have gotten an overall more enjoyable experience. That being said, I will definitely keep my eye out of the sequel and put it high up on my tbr because this book was an intriguing start. <br />
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<i>3.5/5 stars</i>
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<i>I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-16755299152454478542020-03-25T11:43:00.002-04:002020-03-25T11:43:03.686-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41147279-again-but-better" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Again, but Better" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552398900l/41147279._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41147279-again-but-better">Again, but Better</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13984436.Christine_Riccio">Christine Riccio</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3180588669">1 of 5 stars</a><br />
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The more I sit here and think back on what this book actually was, the more I realize it was just wish-fulfillment fanfiction that showed a true lack of range and maturity in the writing. In this book, we a follow our main character, Shane, who goes on a study-abroad semester for a writing program in London. There, she falls head over heels for her mysterious brooding flatmate, Pilot Penn. She is constantly writing in her blog, whose name is FrenchWatermelon19, and our MC is from New Jersey, she has a big Italian family, she's an aspiring author, etc. (sound familiar anyone??) The whole book is set throughout the span of 4 months, and the author has a kind of time-travely do over which seemed like a lazy cop-out to me. If you didn't like how the story ended the first time around, just do better? Don't make us read through hundreds of pages of the "again" part. Contrary to the title, no it wasn't better. I would have loved for it to just ended with her leaving her London apartment because her study program had ended at the University.<br />
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I just couldn't get on board with the writing style, and the second half of the book felt so unnecessary and repetitive. There was nothing original about the last 150ish pages, I was completely bored out of my mind although at that point I thought I was too far along to DNF it. I could have done without reading her daily diary entries, her weekly blog posts. Like we GET it Shane, you are being painted as some quirky writer who suffers from mild "social anxiety" (I'm putting this in quotations because I really didn't think that representation was up to par, but that's another essay.)<br />
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Don't even get me started on the hinted at subtle acephobia/arophobia. We are meant to feel pity and empathy over the fact that Shane's never had a boyfriend, she's never kissed a boy, and she feels like there's something so wrong with her. In the first chapter, she's on the airplane complaining about how she's 21 and never found love and how pathetic she thinks that is. I was super uncomfortable with the way that was portrayed in such a self-loathing type of way that I had to put the book down a couple of times to not loose my cool.<br />
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The only realistic thing that I appreciated was the parental pressure that came to head when her parents visited her in London, and found out she wasn't doing any pre-med classes. That whole scene more than halfway through was the most action we've gotten in the whole book up to that point. Yes, I think it was excellent to discuss parental pressure and parental expectations that are played on young 20 year olds, and for what I commend the author. So, if you follow this author on Youtube and are in a bookstore and find this book for sale for $5, let me spare you 4 hours of your life, and tell you that I would not reccomend for you to read it.
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-46175700690636728692020-03-18T10:03:00.005-04:002021-01-30T21:53:28.376-05:00<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">What is sensitivity reading?</span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">This is when you hire a reader to read specific scenes (or the whole manuscript) who pick up on small micro-aggressions or problematic plot aspects in your novel. They can inform you on how your representation is compared to their experience, and it’s a very important aspect in the conversation about non-harmful, good representation diverse literature. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><br /></b></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><b>Why should you hire me?</b></span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">I’ve read hundreds of young adult novels critically, in which I’ve seen one of my many identities represented. I’ve written hundreds of review for published and unpublished works of writing. I’m also a teenager with firsthand experience of what’s it’s like to be one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"><b>What can I sensitivity read for?:</b></span></div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-bisexual and sapphic representation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-nonbinary identities </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-chronic illness</span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-bipolar II</span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-eating disorders</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">The Pricing: </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">For a full manuscript between 50,000k and 100,000k words it will be $1 per 1K word. If you are on a tighter time frame then 3 weeks from the 50% deposit, the price will also adjust depending.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">What genres will I accept?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">In general I will accept middle grade, young adult, or new adult. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Favorite genres: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-contemporary </span></div>
<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-fantasy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-sci-fi</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">-thrillers/mysteries </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Things that will get a no from me: horror and erotica </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Does this seem interesting to you? My contact email is: lollipopsbooksblog@gmail.com I will reply within 48 hours to your inquiry. The full page report will be provided within 3 weeks of time. </span></div>
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-32214334182931159672020-03-18T09:24:00.004-04:002020-03-18T09:24:32.984-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36449971-the-last-summer-of-the-garrett-girls" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1512513783l/36449971._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36449971-the-last-summer-of-the-garrett-girls">The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4718528.Jessica_Spotswood">Jessica Spotswood</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2405519928">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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tw: aromisia (unchallenged), bi character gets outed, homophobia (challenged), and biphobia (challenged)<br />
cw: car accident/crash<br />
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At first glance, this book sounded like it was exactly in my wheelhouse. It's a contemp. YA book that follows 4 sisters during a summer that changes everything. They own a family run indie bookstore (which I adored that bookseller element and it's told through 4 alternating POVs.)<br />
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All the characters were flawed in their own way some of the girls are unlikable characters and aren't afraid to admit it. I adore sister-sister relationships that are real & raw & messy. Des is the oldest, & feels the biggest responsibility and burden (oh boy could I relate to her the most.) She's the very glue that holds her family together because their grandmother got injured, and years before became their sole guardian after their parents died in a car accident.<br />
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We have Bea, who is the driven ambitious one.<br />
We have Kat, who is the wild theater kid.<br />
We have Vi, who is the quiet bookish nerd who writes fan-fiction.<br />
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Just to quickly cover the aromisic part of the book, Vi uses the phrases such as: "It's only as friends...The truth is, she doesn't want to be just friends. She wants more."[direct quote.] Which if you've ever followed me anywhere, I've talked in depth about this is extremely harmful to readers like me.<br />
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The really bizarre thing about this above is that Des was really aro-coded and ace-coded to me. Like at one point, she admits that she's a virgin and "is not interested in sex or being in a relationship." I feel like this is a truly missed opportunity, and it's not really an excuse that Des wouldn't know the label because this is set in a modern contemporary setting and its prime time for on-page aroace to be clear: Spotswood wouldn't have to change Des' character at all just attach this label to her in an authentic way.<br />
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Vi is a very vocal lesbian, she reads all the Nina LaCour books and has been out to her family (which is cool!) Her love interest is Mexican-American, & she does get outted in a newspaper through a newspaper through a gossip column, which is just something to know (and the reporter does get rightfully fired.) There are multiple people who cheating in this story but one of them is another sister's bi LI, who cheats with his ex the second he comes back to town. I've heard from my fellow bi pals and believe it myself that this is in fact a harmful stereotype, so just a heads up.<br />
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One thing that I could really appreciate the author doing was PTSD rep and anxiety rep, although both are rarely mentioned and kind of skimmed over on the surface level. I wish there was some more scenes of two individual characters dealing with these struggles and mental illnesses, that would have really enhanced the book in an enriching way. <br />
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Other than that, there seems to be a real lack of communication b/e the sister for most of the book. For a majority of the summer, all of them get suddenly really out of character and keep huge secrets to themselves. Although I did genuinely enjoy multiple aspects of every girls individual story. I sometimes felt like the multiple POVs really blend together and be bland. That majority of the book was about each girls romantic relationships (& the all the drama that comes with that) excluding Des. Yet at the end, I was still more thirsty for the intricate sisterhood ties that bond these girls together.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/68921307-mars">View all my reviews</a>
Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-39192725078132699182018-08-22T22:09:00.001-04:002018-08-22T22:09:34.361-04:00Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33918883-before-i-let-go" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Before I Let Go" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494701560m/33918883.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33918883-before-i-let-go">Before I Let Go</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6439440.Marieke_Nijkamp">Marieke Nijkamp</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2047334218">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
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cw: bipolar disorder, suicide, death, grief, mental illness disregard by some characters<br />
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First of all, let's take a moment to acknowledge that our MC is asexual, and that her friend is pansexual (clear on-page labels), which made me tear up multiple times while reading it. Recently I made a Twitter thread about how platonic best friendships are my absolute favorite things to see, and the friendship between Corey and Kyra was an example of this. The only thing was, it felt like the diversity here was being shoved into the characters and their lives, instead of it organically growing and being shown blatantly on page. There was also a pro medication and therapy for mental illnesses that was happening on page, which I could appreciate. Now onto the thing that I didn't particularly enjoy here. <br />
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The way that this was originally marketed to me was as a thriller/mystery, and when you throw in that genre label I have certain expectations. I don't think it knew what it really was: supernatural mystery? Paranormal contemporary? As much as I had adored Nijkamp's debut: <i>This is Where it Ends</i>, my high expectations weren't really met with this book. I want to be on the edge of my seat, sweating trying to puzzle things together. In this story, I didn't feel any of those feelings that I want to while reading a quality thriller. Instead I found myself slowly trudging through the story, yawning during it, and considering DNFing it because nothing was happening for hundreds of pages of slow buildup.<br />
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Just want to clarify before I get to this part, that I am an ownvoices ace and aro reviewer. So this is yet another narrative where asexuality and aromanticism are equated. I feel like sometimes all you need to do for basic research about this distinction is just use google. By that you would figure out that the MC is rejecting her best friends romantic love to her because she's aro (or strongly aro-coded) not because she's ace. So maybe it's bold of me to say this, but at the time I was really hurt by the fact that there was clear aro erasure, which is why my rating is as low as it is.<br />
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Corey herself was very bland and underdeveloped as a character. I wish we could have gotten more growth and a different perspective after this whirlwind of a journey happened. If you asked me who Corey really was, her likes and dislikes, things about her family, I couldn't really tell you much. Unfortunately, she's written as a one dimensional character which really turns me off from these types of books.<br />
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Honestly, the ending was unsatisfactory and there was just no closure. I was still extremely confused about what had happened to Kyra, and felt like I was in a fever dream while reading. Oh well, maybe someday I'll have a dream at night to imaginatively create an alternative narrative that would be better than my waste of time that I spent on these 350 pages.<br />
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<i>I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i> <br />
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-42225920620585334982017-12-28T13:03:00.002-05:002017-12-28T13:03:52.160-05:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29736467-the-beauty-that-remains" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Beauty That Remains" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498069616m/29736467.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29736467-the-beauty-that-remains">The Beauty That Remains</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15136965.Ashley_Woodfolk">Ashley Woodfolk</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2229819668">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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I haven’t had a book that truly blew me away this much since the beginning of this year, and I haven’t been promoting a 2018 release as hard as this one. It’s impossible to describe the well of deep love that runs through me for this book. We follow three grief stricken teens, which just tore a raw wound into my heart to see them in such deep pain trying to cope with their big loss of the death of a close one.<br />
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We have Shay, who runs an indie music blog and was an ex-band manager, and recently lost her twin sister to leukemia. There’s Autumn, an adopted Korean bookworm, who just lost her life-long best friend to a tragic car accident. Then there’s Logan, a gay guy who played bass and was a lead singer, whose ex-boyfriend had an overdose. The one thing that brings these lost souls together is the power of music. <br />
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The plot itself is slow moving, there’s not really much that’s happening. It’s more a character based journey through life, which was the perfect thing that I needed at that moment (also the reason that I;m in a huge book hangover.) If you appreciate a raw and authentically real writing style, run don’t walk to the bookstore the day it’s released.<br />
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I’ve been saying this for the past couple of years, but we are in sore need of more realistic and diverse teen characters like the ones we have here. Woodfolk has a way with words, is a natural storyteller, because her writing seems to flow effortlessly and she absolutely nailed it with the three different POVs. So much can go wrong with multiple narrator, it’s a risky move to make and rarely well done in my experience, but I can praise Woodfolk for perfection with this, to the moon and back always. (Which is the highest praise from a moonchild like me.)<br />
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What I could really appreciate is that there wasn’t a tragic moment/accident that happened on page; this book didn’t focus on the thing itself. It shows the after-math of this life-changing tragedy among those people who are the closest.<br />
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My favorite scenes balanced the delicate line of grief-stricken pain and loving nostalgic memories. Some the scenes had nothing to do with that, it was just a bunch of teens going to a concert of their favorite band, or a new romantic relationship blooming, or the support of the closest best friends. I kept on imagining these characters as real people in my city, because I cared and truly deeply connected to every one of them. And that my friends, is the highest praise that I can give for a book. 10,000/10 stars <br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own**<br />
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-22954041794779541662017-12-28T12:47:00.002-05:002017-12-28T12:47:50.300-05:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31351689-girl-made-of-stars" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Girl Made of Stars" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501116083m/31351689.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31351689-girl-made-of-stars">Girl Made of Stars</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8545130.Ashley_Herring_Blake">Ashley Herring Blake</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2200616442">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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TW: rape, sexual assault<br />
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In the author’s note at the end of the book, Blake said something like “I hope this is the book you need. This was the book that I needed to write.” And for me, that’s so true, this book is beautiful piece of art that has insightful commentary on the rape culture in relation to our current political moment. But more than that, it’s the story of first love, teenage friendships, and getting comfterable with your sexuality.<br />
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So well done, this book blows open a raw hole, it was so intense that I was a loudly sobbing puddle for most the book, and at points had to take a break because it was hurting my brain in the best way. Be warned that this book will absolutely wreck your soul, and then provide you with that valuable sliver of hope that you’ll cling to after you close the last page.<br />
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My favorite characters (more like ICONIC Queens) were Hannah and Mara. They both banded together and truly supported each other as survivors in the best way that both of them needed. The way their interactions played out on page was just a testament to the emotional maturity that these teen girls had.<br />
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Also, I was over the moon to see that there was on-page nonbinary/genderqueer rep (MC’s best friend); and our MC herself was bisexual and there is an on page f/f relationship. Even though none of that was the focus, it meant the world to me to see myself represented directly as an enby. I definitely especially shed some tears for this.<br />
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Ashley Blake has a knack for writing realistic teens and their interaction. They text, call eachother and I dialogue is something that I could imagine saying to my friends. Nothing about the entangled emotions of humans is black and white, thing are always messy and complicated, which makes any story more compelling. Let this be known that this was an entirely character-based plotline there’s not much action, more deep explorations of society and flawed people.<br />
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Unlike many other books that this deal with this heavy topic, this one was unique as in that the alleged rapist is our MC’s twin brother, Oscr and most of the book Mara has to deal with the aftermath and fallout. Not only her, but all their friends and social circles, and really the rest of the school have to “pick sides” on who to believe and who to blame, which was a constant delicate but tough situation everyone had to deal with.<br />
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Mara as a character is one of the strongest people I’ve ever read. Yeah, she fell apart and had some big breakdowns when her personal life got too triggering. She’s also the lead editor of the Feminist Magazine, and I found the need to pick it up because the articles sounded so awesome. In the end I was so proud of her choices, and felt like she was one of my best friends. This book does that; makes you feel all the feels. And it’s worth it, you won’t regret picking this one up this May.<br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own** <br />
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-13344972533306487632017-12-09T13:34:00.002-05:002017-12-09T13:34:19.855-05:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35411583-surprise-me" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Surprise Me" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498825727m/35411583.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35411583-surprise-me">Surprise Me</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6160.Sophie_Kinsella">Sophie Kinsella</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2192282369">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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If you're familiar with Kinsella book at all, you know exactly what you're getting into. Complicated family/marriage dynamics, what it means to be an adult, "adulting" as we millennials call it. So in that sense, this book wasn't a surprise, but that was fine with me. <br />
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We follow the typical suburban family, in the middle of fizzures and racks that are happening in Sylvie and Dan's marriage. They have two twin daughter, and well-to-do life with well paying jobs. But something's off, in their dynamic and it's not what you would expect. I got engrossed in this, the way you do when you're watching a tv show. In fact, this could be describes as a classic "chic-lit" (I hate that term, but you know what I mean). If this is the vibe you like, you would most definitely enjoy this.<br />
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My only "minor" issues is that the characters of Sylvie and her dear mommy were so irritating. Sometimes I just wanted to scream in rage and throw the book across the room. It' different from the other Kinsella books, in the sense that it felt more absurd and serious, and whilst there was some laugh-out-loud moments, it was more decidedly mature out of the books that I've read from her, which is a step up in my humble opinion.<br />
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But if I imagine myself in a couple months of time, this novel is simply very forgettable.It was like fluffy cotton candy, perfect if you're in that right mood at the time, however it comes in one ear and out the other.<br />
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One bizzare thing, a weird type of motivation to why they were trying to surprise eachother, is that a doctor said that they have good health and are going to live over 100 years that they'd be married for 70+ years. This was the driving force throughout the book, and I just found it odd that it was blown out of proportion and made such a big deal.<br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own**
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-57155509337606310922017-11-07T11:42:00.003-05:002017-11-07T11:42:58.599-05:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27193294-frankie" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Frankie" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444811671m/27193294.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27193294-frankie">Frankie</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14538560.Shivaun_Plozza">Shivaun Plozza</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2170410830">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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I picked this book up on a whim, because of the beautiful cover, not knowing anything, not having any specific expectations. This book absolutely blew me away, made me laugh out loud, sob a puddle of tears, yell really loudly. In other words, this gorgeous debut novel tore my heart out of my chest, wrecked me completely. Every single page is so raw and packed with haunting emotions that will be left lingering even after you turn the last page. <br />
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We follow Frankie who is a character that I loved so fiercely. She is an angry fiery badass that it one of my favorite teens that I’ve ever read about. In other words I can imagine her marching the streets of Melbourne as this kickass passionate feminist. Basically everything that I project onto myself, is what Frankie is but one thousand more amazing. I’m having a hard time her describing because it’s like fireworks and I’ve never wanted someone to be my best friend so hard before. <br />
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Frankie has some serious abandonment issues because of her complicated family situation, but when she finds her half-brother Xavier and witnesses a crime being committing, she gets wrapped up into the story of his life. Throughout the whole book, she stops at nothing to try to find Xavier, who mysteriously went missing a couple of days after she first met him. <br />
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The fact that the author has mastered the craft of write realistic and imperfect teens makes me appreciate this book hundreds of times more. I’ve heard some people say that she comes off as an unlikeable character, however I thought the fact that she was a flawed human being who’s so real made her all the more interesting dammit. <br />
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If you know my reading tastes at all, I’m not usually someone who loves romance and a plot point or side thing in YA novels. However in this one it was very subtle and side-lined because of the laser focus for the search for missing Xavier. If it was overpowering, I would be really disappointed, but here it’s portrayed as a background thing while there is much more urgent goal. <br />
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To all my Australian friend, this is set in Melbourne, in her aunt quaint kebab shop a lot of the time. There is a strong sense of setting, the author talk about the park and places where Frankie grew up her whole life. So if you’re familiar with the area you’ll instantly recognize some of the regular sights. <br />
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One of my favorite things was the strong female friendships Frankie and her bestie, as well as the complicated relationship with her aunt (who adopted her at a young age). They’re just portrayed as messy,soul-sucking, and life-giving relationships as teenage girls tend to have. At some points I felt myself screaming “Don’t forget about the wonderful women in your life who love you so very much!” in frustration as a reminder that Frankie doesn’t have to do this completely alone. If I learned one thing from this book is that you’ll show up when your loved ones are in trouble with fire inside your bones. If you want to play with fire, go read this book. You’ll get burned and not regret a second of it. <br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own** <br />
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-19509781150397027042017-11-07T10:12:00.000-05:002017-11-07T10:12:24.990-05:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28227374-all-the-wind-in-the-world" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="All the Wind in the World" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1502356011m/28227374.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28227374-all-the-wind-in-the-world">All the Wind in the World</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7078867.Samantha_Mabry">Samantha Mabry</a><br />
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I was sucked in from the first page, immediately felt myself perk up from my long book slump. On a recent podcast I heard someone say that they want to read the first chapter before bed and ended up staying up the whole night finishing the whole book in one sitting. That's what I'm sure that I would end up doing, if I had a full arc and not just a sampler. Will picking this up as soon as I can, because I’m still thinking about how intriguing it was. Which is honestly the highest praise I can give! <br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing with a sampler in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own** <br />
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-67503147773319186692017-11-07T05:09:00.001-05:002017-11-07T05:09:09.451-05:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28421168-renegades" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Renegades (Renegades, #1)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494896884m/28421168.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28421168-renegades">Renegades</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4684322.Marissa_Meyer">Marissa Meyer</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2170408735">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
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Meyer is best known for her lunar Chronicles series, which I remember to be such a delightful binge read during the holidays. When I heard she has a new sci-fi series/duology coming out? Of course I jumped on the chance to read it!<br />
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What I found so irritatingly unnecessary is the developing romance, which was like the -we both have false identities-but we’re actually -enemies to lovers-. It's so annoying that Nova and Adrian can’t just stay enemies as they actually are or platonic friends. This type of romance is over done, and there is no chemistry because I kept on screaming “stop it Adrian!”“stop it Nova!”and frustration. This is an easy/lazy method of writing to create some sort of messiness or tention and it ended up falling flat on its face. Also they had four people on the team and the author paired them up male female and male female,(ugh heteronormativity)<br />
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There is one thing that I can give high praise is on the aspects of diversity. Our main character Adrian is described to have brown skin and he was adopted at a young age by his two dads. Our other main character Nova is Italian Filipina briefly mentions about her being biracial There is a character called there if you just character who has a disability and has to use a cane.<br />
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I was really hoping that we can have some side characters fleshed out, ones that the readers could really get invested in. Here is the problem, I connected to 0 of them. A big part of the problem was that the narrative was so focused on Nova and Adrian’s backstory and current plot points. There are two POVs, and they were our protagonists, so I feel like that's the reason why. I wanted to feel like the side characters were my best friends, but that just didn't end up happening for me.<br />
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The most boring part of this book was the Throne of Glass-esque competition where gifted people audition and compete to become a Renegade. It’s your typical what you could envision because it's been done time and time again in fantasy and sci-fi way. The most yawn worthy part of the book, because this was where I almost DNFed this. <br />
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Another thing that irked me to no end was the fact that the biggest super villain’s name was Ace. I’m asexual, and we’re portrayed as cold heartless monsters and the author choosing this name just rubbed me the wrong way.<br />
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Since I wasn’t this in physical form I actually didn't realise that it was the 500 pages long. Which wow isn't that way too long for a weak introduction where nothing really happened, was full of superhero villain cliches and over used tropes? No thanks! <br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own**
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<br />
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-55441603371914128352017-11-06T11:32:00.001-05:002017-11-06T11:32:06.920-05:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35018774-not-your-villain" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad, #2)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493583323m/35018774.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35018774-not-your-villain">Not Your Villain</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11230592.C_B_Lee">C.B. Lee</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2124840967">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
This is probably the fifth time that I'm writing a review for this book and I still don't know if I can do this beloved superhero/villain story justice. Let's start with the fact that we have a black trans guy on the front cover, which is an incentive for anyone to pick this one up from the bookstore.<br />
<br />
Bells is definitely the most fascinating character, one that encroaches on the morally gray side which is what I love to see. He is just such a dedicated friend and he has such a big heart for those people he loves, and I love that about him. That’s what made this book so delightful, making me grin from ear to ear the whole time. <br />
<br />
My favourite scene as a non-binary person was the normalisation of preferred pronouns; the constant use of him/his pronouns for Bells as well as the usage of the they/them. In fact, there was one scene where there was an introduction and everyone went around the room and just simply stated their pronouns. This made my heart so happy to see such in accepting save space for all of the characters. <br />
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Emma is the most relatable character in this whole series, because she is definitely ace and most possibly aroace; and that made me cry actual tears. I just want all the happiness from a fierce cinnamon roll whom I can strongly identify with. I have a feeling that the next book is going to be the best one yet, because it contains the queer of that I'm so desperately thirsty for. <br />
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Throughout this book Jess and Abby's relationship just grow stronger and more communicative like most long-term relationships tend to. I love how well they could read each other’s body language and how they adorably took care of each other through the ups and downs of their upsidedown life. <br />
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Nothing can live up to the first book in the series “Not Your Sidekick”, as that was the stellar five stars and my current favourite of the series; which is the only reason I gave this for starters. Still, this is a worthy sequel of the best,most action packed,epic, and diverse superhero story out there on the market. <br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own**
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-28223376559217454832017-10-29T18:19:00.003-04:002017-10-29T18:19:12.284-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33574211-emma-in-the-night" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Emma in the Night" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484434383m/33574211.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33574211-emma-in-the-night">Emma in the Night</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3111135.Wendy_Walker">Wendy Walker</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2167890662">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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When you read a thriller in one sitting, without any breaks, because you're so enraptured and addicted to the plot twists and events, you know that it’s a keeper. As an avid psychological thriller reader, who has read countless other books with similar ideas/premises, this one definitely specifically had that shocking ending came out of left field. <br />
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The two Tanner sisters, mysteriously disappear one foggy night about three years ago. Emma was 17 and Cass 15, just young teenagers. After three long years Cass unexpectedly appears at her mothers doorstep alone... Then the story goes from there. What happened to the Tanner girls? Where is Emma and why did they leave? <br />
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One thing that I was fascinated by what is the exploration of narcissistic personality disorder that was labeled to their mother from a professional psychologist who had first-hand experience with their own mother. It was apparent that the author had really studied and researched these behavior patterns in family life. <br />
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However it's still rubs me the wrong way when mental illness is demonized because the stereotype of the “evil abusive mother” is rarely well done and more often than not damaging. I am hesitant to label this an accurate or good rep in this book and also I can't comment on the rep of the specific personality disorders so I'm kind of torn on how to view this. <br />
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It still rubs me the wrong way when mental on this is our demonize because this is the evil abusive mother and while I've always been fascinated by behavioral psychology I am hesitant to label this an accurate or good rap in this book and also I can't comment on the specific personality disorders so I'm kind of<br />
<br />
A highlight of this book was that one of the two POV's. Dr. Abby Winters who is investigating, as well as the examining psychologist of the case. It's always the most interesting perspective when it's an objective outsider of the family who isn't directly involved in the messy past. From her perspective I feel like we gained and we learned so much about truly the dynamics and the psychological part. <br />
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One thing that made really put me off was the fact that for 99% of the writing there was just telling and not showing. There were no flashbacks, no third perspective objectively told, nothing that could be considered as showing. It was just all composed of stories that Cass told to the police detectives and family members. I know that the author did this in a deliberate way for the plot furthering purpose but the most basic rule of writing and crafting an excellent book is show not tell and this had minimal to no showing. Which is why I felt like I had a sour lemon in my mouth after I finished this book, unfortunately. <br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own**<br />
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-64721619037955558692017-10-29T17:11:00.001-04:002017-10-29T17:11:22.608-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34599653-the-only-girl-in-the-world" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Only Girl in the World: A Memoir" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1489551942m/34599653.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34599653-the-only-girl-in-the-world">The Only Girl in the World: A Memoir</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7417851.Maude_Julien">Maude Julien</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2167830115">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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TW: sexual abuse, physical abuse, self harm, emotional abuse, animal cruelty/abuse, suicidal thoughts<br />
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In the vein of “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls, this memoir explores the traumatic and a vastly different childhood from the “typical” western one. We follow Maude, an only child who grew up in France, completely isolated and cut off from the world for all her childhood. She was raised in a way where her father forced her to do physically train to survive under horrible conditions like being locked in a dark ray cellar for hours, intense physical activities after midnight, and left for days without food, etc.<br />
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From a young age, she was taught to not smile or show any emotion, that the world is a big bad place and people can kidnap her, that she should be taught to survive WWII era conditions. She was never shown any love or affection from her mother or father, because that was for “weak” people and she was a “superior being”. She could only bath in dirty water once a week after her father and mother did, and had to take out the chamber pot for her elderly father. There was a very strict schedule and no time for idleness. You get the picture, how absolutely messed up this family was. <br />
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All of her precious animals where abused, her dog chained up all day only let out for a couple hours at night, her horse forced to drink alcohol (incidentally she was also forced to drink alcohol since a very young age so that she could learn how to hold it down.)<br />
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While reading personal memoirs like this, I always find it extremely difficult to rate someone's life, so I tend to focus on the writing and coherent flow. In this instance, the writing was extremely straightforward, but the author focused on the same details of every day life, not necessarily on the big picture. <br />
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I usually like the memoir to be a bit more self reflective and introspective, which this lacked. Know that you're getting a very specific period of time, and I was waiting for more content in Maude adult life, like the psychological affects of her extremely hard upbringing; and was extremely pleased to know that she had become a therapist herself. She had survived so much brokenness and fear and darkness, that my heart was breaking for this child on every page as well. <br />
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One of the most important elements that I look for in memoirs is relatability. To my surprise from, from the initial synopsis I was doubtful, there were several very personal aspects that I strongly understood how it felt like. For example the love that your animals give you when you care about them, the way music makes you feel strong emotions, the way that she was homeschooled and didn't learn the material she was supposed to know , the way books let you escape into a completely different world.<br />
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I felt like because the author put these lights in between the cracks of darkness; which is why I could really enjoy and appreciate the story as a whole more. If you love reading cult books, I would put this one in your hands if we were at a bookstore. The abusive manipulative father is a religious fanatic who has created his own religion and is trying to force it down his child brides’ and chosen daughters’ throat. This is truly a touchingly dark memoir that really makes you think and re-examine your own life and that is always a good sign that the author has done their job. <br />
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*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-64596007254992312422017-09-09T13:21:00.002-04:002017-09-09T13:21:43.744-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33155334-you-bring-the-distant-near" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="You Bring the Distant Near" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494406038m/33155334.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33155334-you-bring-the-distant-near">You Bring the Distant Near</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21129.Mitali_Perkins">Mitali Perkins</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2118645171">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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What a beautiful and gorgeous book! There's nothing more satisfying than when a story stays with you for a long time, and you carry it in your thoughts. If you know anything about me, I truly love multi-generational complicated stories that highlights relevant themes. <br />
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This book is a truly powerful voice that is needed in the YA community. We follow three generations of an Indian-immigrant's, Bengali family, and we get a look into the nuance of culture and what it means to be biracial, and lots of feminism that's highlighted. If I could use one word to describe to this book, it would be important. <br />
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Ranee is raising her two daughters, Sonia and Tara in a relatively American-focused culture and is worried that they'll use a part of their Indian culture. Sonia is in a "forbidden" biracial relationship, and a raging intersectional feminist that is trying to remake herself. Tara dreams of becoming a actress in the spotlight. <br />
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Ultimately you will be delighted reading about the complicated relationships of sisterhood, parenthood, and the nuances of being a biracial individual. Then we also follow the perspectives of the two daughters of Tara and Sonia. In total, there are five kickas* women's stories that we get to explore, and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect.<br />
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I couldn't stop reading this, because of the character's who were propelling it forward. All of the characters were so interesting and messy and I absolutely adored it. At first, there were a couple of extremely unlikable but the author frames it this way where you understand why the character does what it does. <br />
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Diverse, lush, fantastic, a new favorite that I want everyone to push up on their tbr.<br />
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<i>**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**</i><br />
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-4878975342351419702017-09-09T04:21:00.002-04:002017-09-09T04:21:18.948-04:00The Goblins of Bellwater<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33973968-the-goblins-of-bellwater" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Goblins of Bellwater" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1487692398m/33973968.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33973968-the-goblins-of-bellwater">The Goblins of Bellwater</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2905269.Molly_Ringle">Molly Ringle</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2118618216">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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<blockquote>
<i>
<b>“Everyone knew you shouldn’t go biting into fruit offered to you by magical creatures in the woods, even if you’d thought until just five minutes ago that such stories were, you know, only stories.”</b>
</i>
</blockquote>
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Ooo, a shiny book about goblins, was basically my first reaction when I saw this book. We follow Kit and his family generational curse, of serving the goblins that live in the tree of Bellwater, Washington with golden treasures. Noone knows that these exist, but sisters Livy and Skye are about to find out and face the real dangers that lurk in the woods. <br />
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Skye-A twenty-one year old barista that goes to the woods one night, and comes back with an inability to speak about what happened to her. This renders as a depressed mostly silenced person, which is an extremely troubling for her protective older sister, Livy. Whilst Livy tries to uncover what actually happened on that dark summer night, she gets entangled in a romance with Kit. Then messy things happen, and lots of things have to get fixed for their circle to ever get back to "normal."<br />
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We start out quite literally in the middle of the woods, going an the adventure of a lifetime with this dark and atmospheric book. If you like whimsy and haunting stories, this one would interest you. The presence of setting is such a prevalent factor of the author's writing, and I haven't felt so transported in a book for a long time. At the beginning I felt like the author had a magical quality of making me feel the eerie atmosphere that so thickly permeated within all the scenes. Sometimes I felt like I was in a cafe small town, or in a boat on a river, or in the cabin where they lived. <br />
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My biggest problem with this book was that at the middle parts of this book, there was too much of an emphasis on romance. I know that in the first sentence of the synopsis it clearly says "contemporary romance", but I was thirsting for more fae stories. I would have rather enjoyed more of the history of Kit's ancestors, learning more about how the fae live, and exploring the magical realm here. Instead, it kind of falls flat for a while because the two romances are the dominant driving forces, and I just wasn't here for it. <br />
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Another thing that really irked me, was that Skye, and this so called "curse created depression". It was easily curable, if logical the curse was broken, and the representation was irritating me because I feel like it was done sensitively enough. Throughout the whole book, even after her sisters and Grady found out, Skye's curse was still referred to as "depression" when it shouldn't have been necessarily. I just wish that the author could have included more thoughtful nuance or not have included mental illness here at all. <br />
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Whilst I was reading this, it was an extremely enjoyable and engrossing. I just don't think it's going to win any awards, and all readers should be warned of what it really is: mainly a love story. That would have saved myself many expectations that were unmet. I am looking forward to reading anything else that Ringle writes in the future, as some of this was absolutely brilliant storytelling.<br />
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<i>**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.** </i>
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-3459581456550948162017-08-22T10:24:00.000-04:002017-08-22T10:24:09.454-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32620309-the-party" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Party" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496760152m/32620309.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32620309-the-party">The Party</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/344233.Robyn_Harding">Robyn Harding</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2100424934">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
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If you want to read about domestic drama with some extremely unlikeable evil teenagers and rich selfish adults, that's not a thriller in reality, than this is the book for you. We follow Hannah, who's planning to go wild on her Sweet 16 birthday party, but she doesn't want to seem "uncool" next to all of her "cool" friends, so she starts doing things against the rules of the law and her parents. Needless to say, there is a serious injury that will change their lives forever, and make this party one of dark memories and regrets.<br />
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The story is told from four POVs, which I thought was necessary because this family doesn't know how to communicate with eachother and they each hold and hide their own secrets. There's Hannah, her parents (Kim and Jeff), and one of the mother's of a daughter that was at the party.<br />
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Kim Sanders is a very strict and hands-on mother, who stays at home, and is very involved in her children's lives. She thinks that she has the most well-behaved rule-abiding children in town, even though she fails to recognize that her two teenager's are growing up and growing apart from the way in which she has led them their whole lives. Her eighteen year old marriage with her husband is falling apart, in which she feels like she needs to treat Jeff like a child after last years unspoken "incident". Even Hannah and her brother notice the tension within their loveless relationship.<br />
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Hannah is a sophomore, pushing herself up to the ranks of the popular girls, which includes the controlling Lauren Ross, and her childhood best friend Ronni Monroe. As she explores her various relationships, like that with her new boyfriend Noah, she gets stuck in knowing what's right and wrong and actually doing the right or wrong thing in various situations.<br />
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When the party starts in the early evening, the girl seems to be having "clean" fun, gossiping about their classmates, eating pizza, watching their favorite movies, playing some fun games. At least, that's Hannah's parents think they're doing, until Hannah comes upstairs with blood on her hands, crying and screaming at her parents to do something, to help them. It becomes a question of "what actually happened that night?" which is the repeating question that we (as readers) are trying to piece together.<br />
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The plot was entertaining, I breezed through this book in one sitting, however the substance was a trainwreck, and the ending was ultimately a letdown, from all the action and buildup that was going on. Sure, there was a clear resolution, just not the type of climax that I was expecting to happen, which is what sorely dissappointed me.<br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/68921307-mars">View all my reviews</a>Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-73173614316261255302017-08-22T07:04:00.000-04:002017-08-22T07:04:17.141-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34705479-fitness-junkie" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Fitness Junkie" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490661630m/34705479.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34705479-fitness-junkie">Fitness Junkie</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8475115.Lucy_Sykes">Lucy Sykes</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2100290769">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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This book explores and focuses on the societal obsession of weight. It's a satirical take about all the diets/fads that you can imagine. In a day and age, where the never=ending comparisons and weight loss is a part of the wedding dress industry, this book takes a funny, and yet satirical look at all the various things that we eat and do. Let me jut say that I want to have this cover on my bookshelves, because the reason that I choose to pick it up, was because my hair looks like this literally every day,so I already found something that caught me.<br />
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We follow Janey Sweet, an entrepreneur and CEO of a wedding dress company, who at a brunch with her best friend/co-worker Beau, when she gets this ultimatum. Lose 30 pounds, or lose your job. At this point in the book, Janey experiences heartbreak and betrayal like never before. Recently divorced with her husband, she feels like she's lost everyone from her life as it was.<br />
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Not only is this a story of fitness and weight, but of a lifelong friendship between Janey and Beau. Janey views Beau as her soul mate (in a completely non-romantic way), or like a brother, and the author gives flashbacks to provide insight into the development into this type of lifelong friendship. That makes the betrayal all the more painful, but the reader comes to recognize and clearly see how toxic Beau's actions were to the health of Janey, and why ultimately the decision that she made was the right one for her.<br />
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Than we follow the journey to Janey's weight loss, and some crazy, insane things go down. It was a laugh out loud type of story, if you have that sense of humor and can follow along with the Manhattan rich lifestyle that allows for these types of exercise classes and diet programs to be a reality for Janey. I loved the strong female friendships (sisterhoods if you can) that were portrayed on-page and were the comedic relief that I was looking for. Just as a side note, there is a romance in this story, but it's very secondary or put on the back-burner which seemed to fit the story better.<br />
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These two authors hit the nail on the head and make our main character so relatable, and go a little bit deeper with issues like fat-shaming in society, clothing companies not having plus sizes,etc. Sometimes it wasn't at its best when it was shallow and overdone (plot-wise) but there was consistent entertainment value throughout. It never failed to capture my attention in the way that beach read, and I hate to say it "chick lit" only does. If you're out and about this summer, looking for an immersive, yet light and fluffy summer read, this is one of those that you can go and pick up.<br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-35903717410108191712017-08-21T08:11:00.001-04:002017-08-21T08:11:24.547-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34111673-the-art-of-hiding" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Art of Hiding" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496411664m/34111673.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34111673-the-art-of-hiding">The Art of Hiding</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5318438.Amanda_Prowse">Amanda Prowse</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2099338643">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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<b>Actual Rating: 4.5 stars</b><br />
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This book was fantastic, even better than Prowse's previous novel that I read, "The Idea of You". We follow Nina McCormick, a rich housewife, whose world gets turned upsidedown when she gets a calls that her husband is dead, and that catastrophe amplifies even more when she learns that they're bankrupt and losing everything (including their luxurious home). As a [now] single mother of two boys, a ten yo and 16 yo, she has to come through the pains and understandings of parenting these children to be the best men they can be.<br />
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All the while Nina is questioning who her husband actually was, and examining their marriage in a different light because of the things that were revealed after his death. There's also a delightful sisterhood between her and the older sister Tiggy, which was messy but ultimately protective and supportive.<br />
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One thing that I was so glad of, was that there was no love interest; Nina was just her own independent women, and she didn't need a man to provide/guide her children. I went into this book, perhaps expecting a romance of sorts, given the history of Prowse's previous books, however, the way that the story progressed, focusing on the mother-son and sister relationships was the better way to handle the plot of this.<br />
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Nina as a character is so relatable and I truly connected to her, which is what makes a book shine. However, at the same time I was so frustrated with how blind and naive she could be to her relationship to her late husband Finn. He was a controlling, money-lusting man, who wanted to mold Nina into this perfect little housewife that was oblivious to the pressure of the dangers facing their family. <br />
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In all, this is a beautiful story of loss, motherhood, and the value of family. It could be described as a family drama, a from riches to rags type of book. You would do yourself a favor picking this up, once you do, you won't stop reading until the last page.<br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4138396732996544279.post-66245589608986495182017-08-19T02:59:00.003-04:002017-08-19T02:59:13.920-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32796253-final-girls" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Final Girls" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496658340m/32796253.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32796253-final-girls">Final Girls</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15263414.Riley_Sager">Riley Sager</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2097187457">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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This thriller is honestly one that I feel took half of my breath away. We follow Quincy, one of the remaining "final girls" which is a term dubbed by the media to describe survivors of these massacres. She is deeply affected by the news of Lisa, the first final girl who supposedly committed suicide, which makes her rethink about the many dark choices a human can make and what leads to that. <br />
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One day after the news of Lisa's suicide, a women comes to Quincy's door, claiming to be Samantha Boyd, the last other surviving final girl. From there we follow a twisty path as Quincy tries to recover the memory of Pine Cottage and figure out what really happened that life-changing night.<br />
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The flashbacks to the worst moments of Quincy's life were just fascinating puzzle pieces into putting the big picture together. hey provide backstory and foreshadowing, which is incredibly difficult to do in such a short format, however Sager managed this balancing act masterfully. I would also say that if you're fan of slasher movies, this is one for you to read.<br />
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All the characters were deeply unlikable mysterious character with a closet of skeletons. They were complicated twisty characters, and I thought that the author did an excellent job of developing them to be portrayed in a certain untrustworthy way. One things that irritated me was the author using the trope of dissociative amnesia that made Quincy have an black spot of memory, because this book could have been so much more to the point if she'd known the history.<br />
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I think my problem is that I might have stepped into this book with too high expectations, and I felt like the twist was something that I could have easily seen coming (even though I personally didn't pick up on the foreshadowing). The first two thirds of the book were so slow, the pacing was off whilst Quincy baked cupcakes for her blog and exercised. The last third of the book really picked up with the pace; it could be described as a whirlwind of an ending, with the big reveal happening and things getting rapidly wrapped up. <br />
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The thing was, that the ending make no sense, and it feels like the only reason that the author wrote it this way was for shock affect. I was just unsatisfied with it, because it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the story or even be in-character for the character. Overall, while this was a purely fun and addictive read, the hype let me down a bit, causing me to write this mixed-feelings review.<br />
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**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**
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Marshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03118697923249088014noreply@blogger.com0