Good morning, bookworms! How's everyone's week going? Mine's been relaxing and crammed full of reading. I'm trying to soak up every bit of these summer break vibes before school starts back for me this Thursday. However, I am excited to get back on campus for some in-person classes! Maybe I'll meet some fellow bookworms?? I can only hope so. I had full intentions to churn out a bunch of blog posts over break, but that plan just...didn't happen. I don't know, once break started all I wanted to do was read, watch TV shows, and generally do nothing that requires a large amount of brain power. So as a result, this is my first blog post written during break. *sigh* Better than nothing. Today I bring you my review of Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain! I can't wait to tell you all about this atmospheric paranormal thriller, so let's dive right in... Special thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review! Book Synopsis and Information
My ReviewI loved this book! I was immediately sucked into this world of psychics and mysteries and enjoyed every moment of this book. The world-building was really effective, and the descriptions of La Cachette were vibrant and detailed so I felt like I was there with the characters. The small-town mystery vibes were immaculate! The entire book was atmospheric and haunting. I also liked how each character had unique psychic abilities; initially I worried that this would come off as clichéd or tacky, but it actually worked well for this book, enhancing that spooky mystery feeling. The idea of the Summer Children was also interesting! There were so many little details that worked to make this world seem entirely realistic. Overall, I wouldn't say that I loved the characters, but they were certainly entertaining to read about. Many of them were actually quite unlikeable (Hart, I'm looking at you), but it added to this book's unsettling ambiance. I was suspicious of just about every single character at one point or another. Grey was an interesting protagonist, and we watched her struggle with accepting the death of her best friend, her twin flame. She felt like an entirely realistic character, flawed and struggling, often unsure, getting through life day by day. I liked her grandmother, Honey, a lot; she was a bright, warm character, and while still keeping her own secrets sometimes, I could tell how much she loved Grey. The romance felt a bit half-baked to me. It was okay, but not much actually happened nor was there really a conclusion. There was some awkward little love triangle that I was not a fan of. It felt a little like the romance was shoved in just for the sake of having some romance when, in reality, we could have just stuck to friendship and been perfectly fine. The conclusion to the mystery was brilliant, and I never saw it coming! I should have seen it coming--it seems so obvious in retrospect--but alas, I did not. It was a shocking, dramatic end to the book. To conclude, I really enjoyed Dark and Shallow Lies! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an atmospheric thriller with paranormal elements. I gave this book 4.5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨. Make sure to grab a copy of this book when it hits the shelves September 7th!
What are your favorite paranormal reads? Let me know in the comments!
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Happy Tuesday, y'all! I hope you're all having a great day. Today I was daring and started reading Rule of Wolves. I swear, that book is a prime example of the word intimidating for more than one reason: 1. it's so thick, 2. I know it's going to break my heart at least once, and 3. it's so huge that if it makes me mad and I throw it across the room, I'm liable to severely injure someone, so I'll try to keep the book-hurling to a minimum (plus it's a library copy, so I need to keep it in nice condition). I'm only 15 pages in so far but I'm already loving it. I'm dying sear more Zoya and Nikolai content into my eyeballs. On other news, I'm hear with my review of Like Other Girls by Britta Lundin today! Happy Book Birthday, dear Like Other Girls because this book came out today! Make sure to grab yourself a copy after reading my review! Special thanks to Penguin Teen for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review! Synopsis and Book Information
My ReviewI almost didn't request an ARC of this book because I thought, Football? Eh, not for me. But I'm so glad that I changed my mind, clicked that little request button, and took a chance on this book...because it was totally worth it. There's so much amazing stuff packed into this book: self-discovery, feminism, heartwarming friendship, and, yes, football, but I discovered that football is way cooler when it involves some badass girls battling gender stereotypes. Mara was a fantastic main character that I couldn't help but root for, and watching her fully discover and accept herself was a beautiful journey. I was honestly so invested in this book, it's not even funny. If there's one thing I love most about this book, it's the friendship. Mara started out absolutely hating the other girls who, inspired by her, also joined the football team. But slowly, slowly but surely, a friendship between the girls began to develop. It felt so natural yet beautiful. There was a slow-burn romance in this book, but the friendship felt like a slow-burn itself. In the end, the girls' friendship was so strong, and it was heartwarming to see them so supportive and caring of each other. Some of my favorite scenes were their hang-outs and parties they had together; it was such a cozy friendship environment, and I wished so badly to join them in those moments. This book does a brilliant job of tackling the issue of gender stereotypes in sports. The sexism and misogyny against Mara and her fellow female football players was disheartening but unfortunately very realistic. There's also has fantastic LGBTQ+ representation, and we see Mara struggle with her mother not accepting her for who she truly is. One character I especially loved was Jupiter; she was so inspirational and encouraging to Mara, really helping her become her true self. To conclude, I absolutely loved this book! There are so many good things about it and I highly recommend it to everyone, whether you like football or not--because if you're anything like me, you definitely will like it after reading this book! Once again, this book hits the shelves today, so why are you still here?? You should be running to the bookstore or ordering a copy right now! I gave this book 4.5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨.
Have a fantastic Tuesday, y'all, and I'll see you around! |
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
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