Hi y'all! Welcome to my stop for TBR and Beyond Tour's The Year I Stopped Trying tour! I'm so excited to share with you my post and thoughts on this book. Also, make sure to follow along with this tour by checking the tour schedule here! Special thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for choosing me to be part of this tour and providing me with an eARC of The Year I Stopped Trying by Katie Heaney! Synopsis and Book Information
Top 5 Reasons to Read The Year I Stopped Trying15 Reactions While Reading The Year I Stopped TryingAuthor Information
That's a wrap on my post! Thanks for stopping by, and have a fabulous day!
0 Comments
Hey bookworms! Welcome to my tour stop for Turn the Page Tours' Himawari House tour! Special thanks to Turn the Page Tours for choosing me to be part of this tour and providing me with a finished copy of Himawari House by Harmony Becker. Make sure to follow along with this tour by checking by tour schedule here! I really enjoyed Himawari House by Harmony Becker and I'm so excited to share my review and favorite things about this book with y'all! Synopsis and Book Information
My ReviewI absolutely adored this graphic novel! The story was beautiful and the illustrations were stunning. I loved all the little details and how the illustrations captured so many emotions. The feelings in this book ranged from joyful to confused to sad and the illustrations did an amazing job of depicting that. It was a delight to follow Nao, Tina, and Hyejung in this story; it was very eye-opening to read about their experience in Japan, both the enjoyable and difficult aspects. I also liked how the author included many different languages and accents in this book. It was also really interesting to learn about the different cultural traditions Nao, Tina, and Hyejung shared with one another. By the end of this book, I felt really connected to each character and was so sad to leave them! This book was really so good and beautiful. I highly recommend it! Favorite Things About Himawari HouseAuthor InformationThanks for coming by my tour stop for Himawari House by Harmony Becker! I hope you enjoyed, and have a great day!
Good morning, bookworms! Welcome to my stop for Turn the Page Tours' The Falling Girls tour! I'm absolutely thrilled to be part of this tour. Make sure to check out the full tour schedule here to follow along! Also, there's a giveaway!! One lucky reader can win a copy of The Falling Girls by Hayley Krischer! This giveaway is open to USA only. It began on October 5 and ends on October 12, 2021, at 12 A.M. CDT. Click here to enter! Special thanks to Turn the Page Tours for choosing me to be a part of this tour and for providing me with a finished copy of The Falling Girls! Synopsis and Book Information
My ReviewThis book was such a wild ride! I didn't expect it to be nearly so dark, but it actually had some mystery vibes and could almost be considered a thriller. It dove deep into exploring adolescent friendships between girls and the darker, all-consuming side of these relationships. This book dealt heavily with toxic and codependent friendships, which was a little hard for me to read about at times; it is a very important topic, though, which I haven't seen much in YA literature, so I'm glad that this book tackled these issues head-on. I also found the cheerleading aspect of this story really interesting! This book gave an insider's look into the world of high school cheerleading, exploring both the positive and problematic aspects of it. The characters were very interesting, although I unfortunately can't say that I liked any of them (except for sweet Zoey!). I felt like our protagonist, Shade, was slightly boring and frustrating sometimes. However, this book did do a good job of portraying her experience with the difficulty of navigating unhealthy relationships. The three Chloes were the most interesting characters to read about, mainly because they were so audacious. At first they seemed very similar, almost the same person, but over the course of the first half of the book their differences were revealed and I began to view them as three separate people. The author did a good job of making them different enough from one another that they could be told apart, despite having the same first name. This book had lots of surprises and tackled many important issues. There were many moments when I was suspicious of nearly all the characters! Some things that happened were genuinely shocking. Additionally, I enjoyed the author's notes in the acknowledgements about her inspiration behind many elements of this story. Favorite Things About The Falling GirlsAuthor InformationHayley Krischer has been an award-winning journalist for over 20+ years. She is a contributing writer for the New York Times, where she has covered feminist roller skaters, Instagram obsessed moms, profiled Gabrielle Union, Tatum O’Neal, and S.E. Hinton. She has also written for many publications about women and teenage girls including Marie Claire, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Lenny Letter, and the Hairpin. Her YA debut, SOMETHING HAPPENED TO ALI GREENLEAF will be released in fall 2020 from Razorbill. Hayley received her MFA in creative writing from Lesley University. Her first newspaper job was as an editorial assistant at the Boston Globe. She reads tarot cards Thanks for coming by my tour stop! I hope you enjoyed and will pick up The Falling Girls by Hayley Krischer ASAP!
Have a fabulous rest of your day! Hello there, lovely bookworms! I hope you're all having a great day. I'm here today with my review of Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray! I really enjoyed this book and I'm thrilled to be sharing my review with y'all. I also got the opportunity recently to meet the author, Ayana Gray, in a virtual book club which was an amazing experience! She was absolutely wonderful, and I even got to see her adorable puppy, too. So not only can I vouch for this book being fantastic, but I can also tell you that its author is an amazing person, too! Without further ado, let's dive into this review! (And no, that rhyming was not intentional, but I like it so it's staying.) Synopsis and Book Information
My ReviewI had a fantastic time reading this book! I flew through it in just a couple days and fell in love with these characters and the world. For anyone looking for a YA high-fantasy featuring epic world-building and Black teens embarking on daunting adventures: this book is for you! Let me talk about the world-building first. I can only imagine how much effort Ayana Gray must have put into creating the world in Beasts of Prey because it's so detailed and amazing. There are so many little things that work together to make this world seem absolutely real--customs, religions, politics, myths, etc. I also loved how, as the author mentioned in the author's note at the end of the book, she drew many ideas (especially for creatures that Koffi and Ekon meet in the Greater Jungle) from Pan-African mythology. The descriptions of this world were vivid and really brought the environment of this story to life in my mind. The characters were also such a delight to read about! Koffi and Ekon are amazing, determined characters, and although they differ in many ways, it was inspiring to watch them work together and begin to understand one another. Their multiple POVs were written well, and I equally enjoyed reading from both Koffi's and Ekon's perspectives. Their characters were different enough that each of their POVs provided a fresh and interesting perspective. I thought that Ekon's anxiety and OCD was very well written and added a lot to his character. Additionally, the romance between him and Koffi was adorable and I was so invested! It was very cute, but I was happy that it didn't take over the plot--this was a fantasy novel at the heart. Adiah's character was really interesting too, and while we didn't read from her POV too much, the sections from her perspective offered lots of insight into her character and history. The story itself was so compelling. It felt just a tiny bit slow-paced a few times, but for the most part it was a quick-paced read. I really enjoyed the plot twist at the end, which I never saw coming! I also loved all the action-packed moments sprinkled throughout the book, especially one scene in particular. And that last line at the end! Now I'm counting down the days till I can get my hands on the next book in this series! As you can see, I really enjoyed Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray! I gave it 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I would especially recommend this book for fans of Children of Blood and Bone!
Have a fabulous rest of your day, and I'll see you around! Happy Tuesday, bookworms, and welcome to my tour stop for TBR and Beyond Tours' As Good As Dead tour! Huge thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for choosing me to be a part of this tour and providing with an ARC of As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson, the final book in the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. Make sure to click here to view all the other stops for this tour so you can follow along and see many more awesome posts! Today I'm thrilled to share with you my 15 Reactions While Reading As Good As Dead and my mood board inspired by the book! I rated As Good As Dead 3.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨. I have a ton of thoughts on the book, and I still haven't quite decided exactly how much I liked it (because let me tell you, some weird stuff happened in there). Some parts made me really angry and upset, and I occasionally wanted to scream at the characters. However, it was great returning to the world of Pip and Ravi and watching them investigate one final mystery! Synopsis and Book Information
15 Reactions While ReadingMood BoardAuthor Information
That's all for my stop for TBR and Beyond Tours' As Good As Dead tour! I hope you enjoyed! Now go grab yourself a copy of As Good As Dead because it hits the shelves today!
Hey there, bookworms! How's it going? School's been a little wild for me the past few days, but overall I've been good. I've also discovered the joy of studying in my school's library. It's so chill and relaxing there. Plus, I discovered that they actually have a bunch of YA books! The entire Shadow and Bone trilogy, all of Angie Thomas's books, the All the Boys I've Lived Before trilogy, and many more! To think I thought they only had boring school-y books before. I'm very proud to announce that I've finally caught up on my ARC reviews! Granted, I have several more I need to get working on soon, but for now I'll bask in the glory of finally being back on schedule. Today's review is of When We Make It by Elisabet Velasquez. Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review! Synopsis and Book Information
My ReviewThis book was beautifully written! It was a coming-of-age story that dealt with many important issues like poverty, family troubles, addiction, and the sexualization of young girls. Unfortunately my eARC was badly formatted so some of the verse was a little wonky and difficult to read. However, I did still enjoy this book overall! The rhythm of the verse was excellently written and packed full of so many emotions. It was a poignant way to express Sarai's thoughts and feelings. I could sense the author's own connection to this storyline, very intimate and rawly honest. Much of this book was truly heartbreaking to read about; Sarai has to deal with so much at such a young age. This book explores what it means to "make it" and how Sarai's view of this term evolves through her experiences. Some moments were a little confusing or difficult to understand (although maybe this was just due to my ill-formatted copy), and the ending felt a bit abrupt to me. I wish there had been more emphasis on some specific events that caused what happened at the end, which probably would have made it feel less sudden. Thanks for reading my review of When We Make It by Elisabet Velasquez! I gave this book 3.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨. I definitely recommend this book for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo!
What are your favorite books in verse? Let me know in the comments! I swore a blood oath to the goddess of book reviews that I would post my review of The Other Merlin on the day it released and not one day later, so here I am upholding my oath (because I don't want to be horribly cursed by the goddess of book reviews or anything...spending the rest of my life as a frog does not sound fun). So here it is: my review of The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider! This book was released into the world today, so make sure to go grab yourself a copy. This is pure hilarity and fun in book form. So without further ado, let's get into it! Special thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review! Synopsis and Book Information
My ReviewI'm staring at my computer screen right now trying to come up with the words to express what a delight this book was. Honestly, words can't even begin to express the absolute joy I felt reading this book. It was so much fun! Yes, it was quite ridiculous, and yes, the characters were messy in the best ways possible, and yes, you need to go read it right now! Emry Merlin is truly a phenomenon. A bisexual female wizard impersonating her brother so she can learn magic at Prince Arthur's castle? Yep, that's Emry. But not only that: she's also hilarious, and so many moments made me laugh out loud. I also adored Arthur's character. He's so sweet and bookish. The multiple POV worked great for this story, and it was really well written. This wasn't one of those multiple POVs where you love one character's perspective and loathe when the other character's POV comes around. Both Emry's and Arthur's perspectives were so fun to read from! The romance! Ugh it was so good. The angst, the longing, the tension! I loved the banter between Emry and Arthur, and I simply could not help rooting for them. They're so adorably awkward. I never knew that a romance between Merlin and Arthur was what's missing from my life, but low and behold it was. This book was like the child of a fantasy novel and a contemporary novel. It was fantasy but had such a contemporary feel, which I actually loved. It made this a lighthearted, quick read. The dialogue felt so natural, and the characters felt like genuinely real people. My only complaint is that the stakes did feel a bit low at times. We also didn't get a clear-cut villain until later in the story, which made the action at the end feel a tad rushed. However, this didn't bother me too much. After all, Emry falsely impersonating her brother at the castle provided plenty of drama for the first half of the book! I'll conclude my review of The Other Merlin with these words of wisdom: Go buy a copy of this book now. You shall not regret it.
I gave The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider 4.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨. Thanks for reading my review, and have an awesome day!! Sunday, Sunday, Sundaaaaaayyyy! *said in a singing voice* I'm not ready for the weekend to be over, y'all. Can we just pretend that Sunday lasts forever?? I'm hoping to do lots of reading today and hopefully write another book review, plus spend some time with my family. I'm currently reading Daughter of Sparta (along with several other books...because I have zero self-control) and I'm loving it and can't wait to see what happens next! Let's pull out our scripts and cue the dramatic music because it's time for another book review! I present to you my review of As If On Cue by Marisa Kanter, aka the queen of nerdy characters and general YA nerdiness. Special thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review! Synopsis and Book Information
My ReviewAhhhh this book is such a delight!! It's truly a celebration of art and teenage nerds. I devoured this book and couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards. There's so much to love about it! Marisa Kanter writes some of the best nerdy characters I've ever read. I loved the book-nerdy characters in What I Like About You, and in this new book Natalie and Reid don't disappoint. I love how passionate they are about the art they love: theater for Natalie, music for Reid. I was easily able to identify with Reid's love of music, and Natalie inspired me to learn more about theater and writing scripts. Reading about their theater rehearsals was really fun, too! This book is truly a tribute to art and theater, and I adored every moment of it. (Also: I really really want to see Melted the Musical. A musical Frozen parody? Sounds like a blast to me.) This book also addressed issues of antisemitism in middle and high school in a way that felt very natural and propelled the story along. Unfortunately, Natalie's character did frustrate me a lot. She made some really awful decisions and was controlling of the people around her. I definitely wanted to scream and throw the book across the room on one particular occasion (WHY NATALIE WHY?!?). However, she did have an okay character arc and eventually did some self-reflection. I just wish she would've been less aggravating at the start. I felt like Reid's character could've used a smidge more development, but overall I really liked him. All the side characters were fantastic too, especially Fitz! Everyone had pretty good character arcs. I've got to say, I did really enjoy the romance and rivals-to-lovers. The banter was so good! It was lighthearted yet so fun to read. I was rooting for Natalie and Reid from the start. High school rivals-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this one didn't disappoint! Lastly, I wanted to mention that I absolutely adore As If On Cue's cover! It's so cute, and I love that Natalie and Reid are wearing matching colored outfits. Plus all the subtle nerdy hints--the instruments, magnets, etc. I love it! That's all for my review of As If On Cue by Marisa Kanter! Overall I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. If you like books with nerdy characters, theater kids, and rivals-to-lovers, this one's for you! Make sure to grab a copy when it hits the shelves September 21, 2021!
What are your favorite books that feature nerdy characters? Let me know in the comments! Hi there, bookworms! I don't know about you, but I'm so relieved that it's almost the weekend. I was planning on posting this book review earlier this week before The Corpse Queen released, but unfortunately I was swamped with schoolwork (my Intro to Lit class and I are now officially sworn enemies). However, I'm here now! Plus I have three more reviews I need to churn out before this coming Tuesday, so prepare yourself for a review-full weekend from me! Okay, so let's dive into this review: The Corpse Queen by Heather M. Herrman! Hop in the time machine because we're going back to the 1850s for this historical thriller. Everyone got their seat belts on? (Time machines have seat belts, right??) Okay? Okay. Let's go! Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review! Synopsis and Book Information
My ReviewI was really excited for this book when I heard it was similar to Stalking Jack the Ripper and feminist. I did really enjoy it, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. However, it was still a very entertaining and mystery-filled read! The dark, chilling atmosphere of this book was excellent! The descriptions in this book were quite vivid (and occasionally rather gruesome), which did a great job of bringing this story to life in my mind. This book explored many of the darker and unsavory aspects of 1850s Philadelphia, which was very interesting to read about, especially through the lens of our young female protagonist Molly. I particularly enjoyed reading about Molly's nighttime escapades to collect dead bodies. Issues of sexism were illustrated at length, and I really enjoyed all the feminist elements of this book. Molly fought against gender stereotypes and was determined to follow her dreams. I liked how determined and strong Molly was, but I did feel like she was slightly lacking in character at times. I unfortunately can't say that I felt very attached to any of the characters in this book. They were mostly either deeply unlikeable or underdeveloped in character. I was also let down by the romance; the "romantic interest" wasn't particularly interesting to me, and the resolution was a bit unsatisfying. I was hoping for someone more Thomas Cresswell-like, with some charm and wit, but unfortunately we didn't get that. The mystery itself was well written and, although I guessed at parts of it, I was genuinely surprised by the ending! That's a wrap on my review of The Corpse Queen by Heather M. Herrman! Unfortunately this book didn't quite live up to my expectation, but it was still an enjoyable read. I gave it 3.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨.
What are some of your favorite historical fiction books (especially historical fiction mysteries!)? Let me know in the comments! Greetings, bookworms! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty relaxing for the most part! It's been mostly reading with a healthy dose of schoolwork tossed in. I've had to learn how to academically annotate depressing poems, which is much less fun than annotating YA books. I also went hiking and got lots more outdoorsy book photos to share with you! Today I present to you my review of Hello (From Here) by Chandler Baker and Wesley King! Unfortunately this review is...less than positive, but alas. Apparently COVID-centric YA novels aren't good for my anxiety. Who would've guessed. However, if you do decide to give this one a read, I hope you enjoy it! Also, please enjoy this photo of Baby Yoda masked and posing with Hello (From Here)! 😂 Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review! Synopsis/Book Information
My ReviewWhy did I think that, as someone with anxiety especially over COVID, reading a book specifically set during the pandemic was a good idea? I mean, I like the idea of it, but it just didn't work for me. It was like watching the news, except in book form and with some half-baked romance added in. I can see how this book could bring comfort to some people. It was nice to read about characters dealing with the same scary situation that we all are today. This book really captured the uncertainty and confusion that was rampant during the first few months of quarantine. However, that really triggered my anxiety and brought those scary feelings back to me, which wasn't fun. I also got frustrated by some irresponsible and unsafe decisions the characters at some times. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of any of the characters. Max was okay, but her character just felt a little bland at times. Jonah was really annoying, and he was kind of a creep, too? I was weirded out by his obsession with Max. He was always trying to find ways to see her, like ordering groceries and requesting her as his personal shopper. I did feel like his anxiety and depression were pretty well written, though. He did make some terrible decisions (one in particular made me want to scream at him) that made me really mad. Since I wasn't a huge fan of the characters, that meant I also didn't like the romance very much. Overall, this book fell flat for me. It wasn't good for my mental health, and it just wasn't as well-written as I'd hoped for. I can see some people enjoying this, but unfortunately it wasn't for me. That's a wrap on my review of Hello (from Here)! I gave this book One Star ⭐️.
As always, mask up, stay safe, and have a fun rest of your weekend! |
Hey there, bookworms!My name is Rose (she/her) and I'm the creator of Books of Magic and Mystery. I love reading YA books, especially fantasy and mystery. When I'm not reading, you can find me baking, studying, or cuddling with my super-furry pets. Visit me on Instagram @booksofmagicandmystery! Archives
November 2021
Categories |