Hello, everyone! Today I have a late night review of a book I just finished this evening. I finally finished In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan, and it was quite the ride.
Read More »ARC Review – In the Shadow of Lightning
Tag: Review
ARC Review – The Prince of Magic and Lies
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Prince of Magic and Lies by Elizabeth S. Trafalgar. It has been forever since I’ve reviewed a book from BookSirens, and even though I have some mixed feelings about this one, I’m glad I picked it up.
Read More »Micro Reviews – Witchmark, Kiss & Tell, Little Thieves
Hello, everyone! I’m once again behind on reviewing some books that were not ARCs. So, I’ve decided to do some more super short summaries of my thoughts in four sentences or less. Here’s the result…
Read More »ARC Mini Review – This Wicked Fate
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read this sequel because I didn’t really love the first book, but I’m glad I gave it a shot.
Read More »Nonfiction Mini Reviews – Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality / This Book Is Gay
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing two recent nonfiction reads, This Book Is Gay and Bi. One of my goals for this year was to read more nonfiction. So, I’m excited to have added these two books to the read pile. Bi is also the oldest eARC on my NetGalley shelf, and finally reading it made me really happy. 🙂 Without further ado, here are the books!
Read More »Book Review – History Is All You Left Me
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing a book by one of my favorite authors, History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera. My initial plans for posts this week were all screwed up from experiencing an internet outage yesterday. So, I figured why not continue to buck my usual posting trends by doing an impromptu review today. I’ll hopefully be back with a new Top 5 Tuesday next week, but today I just had to get my thoughts about this book out of my head.
When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course.
To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart.
If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life.
I don’t even know how to go about reviewing this book. So, prepare for rambling. As anyone who follows my blog or reviews probably knows by now, Adam Silvera is one of my favorite authors, and this book is an excellent example of why he holds that place at the top for me. I felt so many emotions while reading this book, and I didn’t want to put it down. There is just something about the way Silvera writes that oozes emotion. I was in tears not long after starting the book, and it just got even more emotional from there. For the first half of this book, it felt like the raw essence of depression and grief had bled all over the pages and somehow been transformed into words. The juxtaposition of the grief-filled chapters with the alternating chapters highlighting the history of the young love between the main character and the boy who died was genius writing. It was such a punch to the gut every time the focus returned to the funeral/grief reminding me that the vibrant young boy from the chapters on their history was laying in the coffin.
While I was largely overwhelmed by grief during the first half of the book, my emotions changed drastically as the book progressed. As more information about the characters came to light, the strongest emotions I felt were frustration and pity. The exploration of Griffin’s anxiety, OCD, and guilt was super messy in a relatable, realistic way. He made so many horrible decisions, and the information about him and many of the other characters that came to light completely changed my opinions of them. The experience of reading this book felt like slowly falling further and further into madness while at the same time getting a sense of how out of touch with reality some of the earlier, seemingly straightforward content, was likely to be. By the end, I can’t say I really liked many of the characters, if any, but I walked away impressed by Silvera’s ability to create compelling descriptions of mental illness and the effect it can have on one’s life and one’s relationships. His writing was, as always, utterly human with devastatingly flawed characters front and center.
The mark of a great book (for me at least) is not being able to stop thinking about it even after I put it down. This one has left me thinking about love, loss, and my own struggles with depression and anxiety. In that way, it has been intensely triggering but in a good way that has been quite cathartic. I doubt this book will be for everyone, but if you’ve liked some of Silvera’s other work and don’t mind incredibly messy characters and depressing content, you will probably like this one too. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Book Review – Brotherhood
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing the latest Star Wars release, Brotherhood by Mike Chen. The prequel era of Star Wars is my favorite, and I was incredibly excited to get more content with some of its key characters. Did it live up to my very high expectations? Check out the review below to find out!
Read More »ARC Review – When London Snow Falls
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing my first read of Pride month, When London Snow Falls by Hayden Stone. I’m excited to read a ton of queer books this month (as if I don’t read them all the time… lol), and this was a pretty good start to the month.
Read More »ARC Mini Review – My Mechanical Romance
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth, which is a YA Romance that will be released on Tuesday. I didn’t plan to review this one until its release day, but I flew through it much quicker than expected. So, I figured…why not?
Opposites attract in this battle-robot-building YA romance from the NYT best-selling author of The Atlas Six.
Bel would rather die than think about the future. College apps? You’re funny. Extracurriculars? Not a chance. But when she accidentally reveals a talent for engineering at school, she’s basically forced into joining the robotics club. Even worse? All the boys ignore Bel—and Neelam, the only other girl on the team, doesn’t seem to like her either.
Enter Mateo Luna, captain of the club, who recognizes Bel as a potential asset—until they start butting heads. Bel doesn’t care about Nationals, while Teo cares too much. But as the nights of after-school work grow longer and longer, Bel and Teo realize they’ve made more than just a combat-ready robot for the championship: they’ve made each other and the team better. Because girls do belong in STEM.
In her YA debut, Alexene Farol Follmuth, author of The Atlas Six (under the penname Olivie Blake), explores both the challenges girls of color face in STEM and the vulnerability of first love with unfailing wit and honesty. With an adorable, opposites-attract romance at its center and lines that beg to be read aloud, My Mechanical Romance is swoonworthy perfection.
***Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House Publishing for a copy of the book. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***
This was a cute, quick YA read. I finished it in less than a day (mostly in one sitting) because I didn’t really want to put it down. The writing was very contemporary with lots of fun pop culture references, which I enjoyed. I was honestly a bit surprised by how complex the characters and themes were in this book. Through the POVs of the two main characters, it tackled the effects of divorce on children, the hardships faced by girls and people of color in STEM, how others’ expectations can shape who we think we should be, and the negative effects that high-stress academic environments can have on children, among other issues. Both of the main characters kept me engaged with the story, and I liked that the story came from a combination of their two very opposite POVs. However, my favorite character was Dash, the funny, friendly best friend who needs to be protected at all costs. These types of secondary characters are often my favorites, and while reading, I found myself really wanting a book with that type of character as the star. So, if anyone has any recommendations, let me know! Although I enjoyed the depth and personal growth of Bel and Teo and think the messages in this book are important and well-delivered, I couldn’t help but feel like their romance was a little lackluster. It didn’t begin until pretty late in the book, and I didn’t find there to be a ton of nail-biting build up to it either. The relationship felt like it took a back seat as the catalyst to the characters’ personal journeys, which was fine but just wasn’t what I expected from a book with romance in the title. Overall, this was an enjoyable YA novel with powerful themes and an important message about the importance of working hard to make your life what you want it to be regardless of others’ expectations. I enjoyed it quite a bit despite my reservations about the romance element. Therefore, I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
ARC Review – If You Change Your Mind
Hello, everyone! Today I am reviewing If You Change Your Mind by Robby Weber. This was another ARC that I’ve been looking forward to a lot but just didn’t get to read before the publication date. On the bright side, that means it is out now, and you should go buy it if you are looking for a gay summer romcom!
In this hilarious and heartfelt debut novel, an aspiring screenwriter learns sometimes love has its own script.
Harry wants nothing more than to write Hollywood screenplays. He knows the first step toward achieving that goal is winning a screenwriting competition that will seal his admission into the college of his dreams, so he’s determined to spend his summer free of distractions—also known as boys—and finish his script. After last year, Harry is certain love only exists in the movies anyway.
But then the cause of his first heartbreak, Grant, returns with a secret that could change everything—not to mention, there’s a new boy in town, Logan, who is so charming and sweet, he’s making Harry question everything he knows about romance. As he tries to keep his emotions in check and stick to his perfect plan for the future, Harry’s about to learn that life doesn’t always follow a script.
***Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the copy of the book. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***
This was a wonderful ode to the romcom with delightful summer vibes. In general, the book felt like a relaxing day at the beach. It had its emotional and tense moments, which definitely had me in my feelings, but it was all so easy to read and felt familiar and comfortable. I also just really like books with writing and bookish themes. This book had both with the main character being a writer (of screenplays) and a bookstore employee. I liked the inclusion of Harry’s screenplay and thought it provided an interesting window into his psyche. However, I think it would have worked better if it had been included in fewer, longer interludes and wasn’t after every chapter. It just made the story feel too choppy and got annoying at certain points where I just wanted to read the next part of the main narrative.
Harry was such a great protagonist. He was a bit of a mess, but let’s be honest. Weren’t we all as teenagers? Or if we’re being REALLY honest… aren’t we all still a bit of a mess? Maybe I’m just speaking for myself, but I definitely found it to be relatable. lol. I think the author did a great job of using the character of Harry to tap into that quintessential teenage (and human) struggle of trying to figure out your path in life. Harry starts out his journey like a bulldozer intent on sticking to his master plan no matter what gets in his way, but he learns an important life lesson: there’s more than one path to reaching one’s dreams, and the path you choose to take can make all the difference. He also learned the significance of being present in one’s life and enjoying the things and people right in front of you.
The love interests and other characters were all great too. Grant had tons of charisma, and Logan was just absolutely adorable. I also really loved Foster and wish the author had played up the character and the relationship between him and Harry a bit more. I liked that Harry had three very different guys who were into him because it kept things from feeling like the run of the mill love triangle. However, Foster got so much less time compared to the other two that it did feel a little like he was the fourth wheel in an otherwise super passionate threesome (Important Note: This story doesn’t have polyamory or threesomes, but I wouldn’t have been mad if it did. lol.). Harry’s relationship with his best friend was also a highlight for me. I loved how close they were, but their relationship also added lots of drama to the story while putting Harry in a tight spot that I definitely didn’t envy. I didn’t agree with his choice, but I can understand why he made it. I just kept waiting for it all to blow up in his face. I do think his friend got over the situation a bit too fast, but it also illustrated how conflict can be resolved through honest, open communication. So, I can live with it.
Overall, this was a fantastic romcom and the perfect summer read. The characters were relatable, and I just really enjoyed seeing Harry grow over the course of the story. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.