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Showing posts from January, 2024

Review: One of the Good Guys

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One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was an interesting read. I liked the premise of the book and I certainly agree that women deal with so much bullshit even from men who think they are "not that kind of men" and yet the book was neither enjoyable nor very interesting to read for me. The characters weren't likable, which, fair, maybe was the point but I also had a hard time engaging with the story. I did listen to it on audio and maybe that impacted my experience. I will think about it for some time which in its own way is the sign of a good book... View all my reviews

Review: Thirteen

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Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh My rating: 4 of 5 stars Despite feeling so-so about his first book, I picked this up anyway because the reviews were so strong and I liked this one way way more than the others so far. Clever and well plotted. View all my reviews

Review: First Lie Wins

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First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston My rating: 4 of 5 stars this was fast-paced, twisty, fun and a solid thriller. View all my reviews

Review: The Live Your Values Deck: Sort Out, Honor, and Practice What Matters Most to You

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The Live Your Values Deck: Sort Out, Honor, and Practice What Matters Most to You by Lisa Congdon My rating: 5 of 5 stars Love Lisa Congdon, love this set, love her artwork. love love love. View all my reviews

Review: Heartstopper: Volume Five

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Heartstopper: Volume Five by Alice Oseman My rating: 4 of 5 stars it looks like this series will end with the next book. I love these books and how sweet they are, i am looking forward to what Oseman creates next too! View all my reviews

Review: Going Zero

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Going Zero by Anthony McCarten My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I read this one cause my friend Lauren wrote about it and said it was fun and fast and I've been having a lot of trouble focusing lately. It didn't disappoint. It was fun and fast :) View all my reviews

Review: Going Zero

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Going Zero by Anthony McCarten My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Review: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known

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Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire My rating: 5 of 5 stars I will never ever get tired of these books. I look forward to each and every one of them and I hope she keeps writing them forever and ever. This one is a sequel to Antoinette's story and I loved it so very much. View all my reviews

Review: Disappointing Affirmations

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Disappointing Affirmations by Dave Tarnowski My rating: 5 of 5 stars If I could give this book ten stars, I totally would. My daughter and I read these in one sitting and laughed so much that we were crying. I then read them all again. I follow this account on instagram, too, and I cannot recommend it enough. I normally don't enjoy humor that puts others down but this is written in such a way that it is clear it's humor and not personal. I just love it and will read it again and again any time i need a good, honest laugh. with gratitude to netgalley and Chronicle Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

Review: Until I Love Myself, Vol. 2: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist

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Until I Love Myself, Vol. 2: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist by Poppy Pesuyama My rating: 4 of 5 stars I took a break between the two volumes because this material is tough to read and a lot to digest but I knew I wanted to read it anyway and I am glad I did. I am glad that they are on a journey to self-healing and I am glad they are documenting this horrible journey. Stories like this need to be told and I am grateful for folks who are brave enough to tell them. View all my reviews

Review: The Road To Dalton

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The Road To Dalton by Shannon Bowring My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3.5 stars rounded up I took forever to read this book and I am not sure why. It's exactly the kind of story that I like. It's a quiet story that's mostly a character study of folks living in a small town. Once I started reading it, I loved it and wanted to keep reading it. If you enjoy action action action, this will not be the book for you. It's quiet. It's slow paced. It's intricate, slow and also about things that haunt you from your past/memories. I enjoyed it and look forward to more from this author. With gratitude to edelweiss and Europa Editions for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

Review: The Five Year Lie

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The Five Year Lie by Sarina Bowen My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book has the most intriguing premise: woman receives text from her dead ex that he needs to talk to her and she should meet him under this one tree. When I read that, I knew I would be interested in reading the story and understanding how the author navigated this plot. And it didn't disappoint. The story is twisty and turny and I really couldn't stop reading it once I started. I really enjoyed that it wasn't trying to be too clever and that it didn't have a conniving unreliable narrator. It was just a great mystery! with gratitude to netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

Review: The Adults

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The Adults by Alison Espach My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read this book about two weeks ago and I will be honest that I have forgotten most of it. I picked it up because Espach has a new book coming out this year which I loved so I wanted to go back and read her earlier work. Even though I don't remember much of this novel, I remember thinking that I really liked it and thought it covered similar topics to the new one and with similar wisdom but it wasn't as good. I will go back and read more of her work. I've liked each of her books that I've read so far and this was no exception. View all my reviews

Review: Until I Love Myself: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist, Vol. 1

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Until I Love Myself: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist, Vol. 1 by Poppy Pesuyama My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the story of the author bravely telling the story of sexual harassment they have had to endure while they were a manga artist working for a famous artist. The story is told unflinchingly and it's not possible to read it without feeling the tense and horrific experiences they have had to endure and the ways in which these experiences can last a lifetime and impact so much more than the moments in which they happened. View all my reviews

Review: The Eternal Return of Clara Hart

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The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch My rating: 5 of 5 stars I am not picky about which genres I read but the amount of YA I've been reading has declined quite a lot in the last few years. I think it's mostly that when you read a lot of them, they start blending into each other, and you are not engrossed or surprised easily after a while. But when I saw this book in emily's review I wanted to read it. I am a fan of the groundhog day trope, and one of my favorite YA books of all time also had a similar plot so I wanted to see if I would like this one as much. And I did. This is a thoughtful story as the main character is trying to figure out why his day keeps repeating. He is dealing with the grief of his own mother's death and as the day keeps repeating he opens up to see more, understand better, and drop into his own feelings more as well. There are many trigger warnings in this story so please proceed with caution but, ...