The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

May 13, 2019May 13, 20199 Comments

Trigger warnings: talks of suicide, mental illness, depression, stalking, cheating, loss of a parent, abuse from a parent.

This book is Alex Michaelides debut novel and it is one twist after another. this novel had me captivated from start to finish. Daaaamn. I did not see that ending coming! I went in pretty much blind, I didn’t know anything about it other than the main character didn’t speak.The Silent Patient is not a long novel but don’t let that fool you into thinking there isn’t that much going on. I really recommend this book.

“There’s so much pain everywhere, and we just close our eyes to it.
The truth is we’re all scared. We’re terrified of each other.”

Alicia and her husband Gabriel look like they are the perfect couple. Alicia is an aspiring painter and Gabriel is a fashion photographer. There young, beautiful,there careers are kicking off and there crazy about each other. But this book isn’t a love story it’s a thriller, soon we find Alicia standing over her dead husbands body and covered in both of their blood. As everyone struggles to understand why she would do this, their met with a dead end. Alicia is refusing to utter a word, she sits by as she is sentenced guilty to killing the man she loved, she continues to sit silently. She is saved from the death penalty and instead put in a psychiatric hospital, where she still is not speaking.

Theo Farber is a criminal psychotherapist, who is interested in Alicia’s case and is determined to find out what happened that night her husband was murdered. He accepts a new job at The Grove the mental hospital where Alicia was assigned. He is determined to get her speaking again, through therapy and building a trusting rapport.The book is told almost entirely from Theo’s perspective with some flashbacks from Alicia’s journal.

“You become increasingly comfortable with madness – and not just the madness of others, but your own. We’re all crazy, I believe, just in different ways.”

I really enjoyed this book. It has definitely lived up to its reputation as a page turner. I listened to this on audiobook and it was fantastic, the voice actors were so good and pulled you right into the story.

Buddy read with Amy and Amber!

Mental Health Book Recommendations

May 8, 2019May 8, 201913 Comments

Happy Wednesday! Today for mental health week I’m bringing you a list of Fictional books with mental health/mental illness representation. I have only read a couple of these books myself but the others have been recommended to me many times by bloggers I love. I can’t speak for all the representation in these books as I do not have the same conditions but I can speak for the anxiety representation in the books I have read. That being said I hope you enjoy my recommendations.

( You can click the links in each of the titles to read a more in-depth review of each book.)

Turtles all the Way Down by John Green – Anxiety, OCD

Queens of Geek – by Jen Wilde -Anxiety also has a character on the Aspergers spectrum.

Radio Silence- by Alice Oseman -Anxiety, depression

A Heart in the Body in the World by Deb Caletti – PTSD

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed –Anxiety

Let Me Lie by Claire Mackintosh – borderline personality

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappa– Depression, Anxiety

They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera -OCD, Social Anxiety

I hope you’re loving everything that you’re reading! Let me know what your favourite mental health books are in the comments.

Mental Health as a Book Blogger

May 7, 2019May 5, 201926 Comments

I’m here today to bring you guys a more personal post. I wanted to tell you a little about my blogging experiences and how it has effected my mental health. Sharing this part of myself has always been really hard for me not just on the internet but to people in general. I’ve always been a shy, insecure person, so when I first started this blog I knew it would be a challenge to put myself out there. Because as a blogger we also need to connect with other bloggers, authors and publishers to succeed. Talking and opening up does not come easy for me, but honestly blogging has turned out to be an incredible experience. I actually have so many more connections and online friends than I’ve ever had in person.

There has been times where I’ve taken blogging breaks, my biggest one was during my time as a nursing student. I struggled with reading for myself and studying. I didn’t have enough time to read and blog, I felt I would become irrelevant. No one cares about what I review and have to talk about. I would look at other bloggers and think I will never be as good as them.I let the negative thoughts intrude on something that once made me so happy. I felt like a failure because I was following other college students and they somehow made time for both reading and studying.So that’s a little backstory, on my blogging journey.

One of my current blogging stressors is requesting to many books on Netgalley. Then feeling pressure to read them all at once. Well I’ve come to realize that’s impossible, so what I’ve been trying to do is read an e-arc every second book so I can try and get on top of them. This strategy seems to be working along with not comparing myself to other bloggers.

I’m currently really happy we’re I am with my blogging, I’ve started to write a few lifestyle posts that people have seemed to be liking along with my book related content. I would like to post more consistently and that is what I am currently striving for.

This year I’ve really gotten into Instagram and growing my presence on there, and I really love it. I wish I was more creative with my pictures, some people are amazing with the props but when I go to take a picture it’s like I draw a blank. But I am happy where my account is at the moment.

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April Wrap Up

May 5, 2019May 6, 20192 Comments

Hey, loves! I know this is so late! I have been slacking with reviewing and commenting, but hopefully I’ll get that caught up soon. In May I have a lot of blog posts already planned out and many are drafted so I have a really good feeling about this month.

So to get to the books that I read during the month of April. I read some fantasy books this month which I feel great about as it’s my favorite genre but I have been struggling to get into lately, I give many thanks to the lovely ladies who buddy read with me! I have some varied ratings with the books I read starting from 2 stars up to 4 stars. Okay let’s stop talking and get into what books I read in the month of April!

(Like always, you can click the links in each of the titles to read a more in-depth review of each book.)

Caraval by Stephanie Garber – ★★★★

This was a re-read, because I really wanted to get to Legendary before Finale was released. This time around I read this book via audiobook and it was just as amazing as the first time I read it. This book was just absolutely ENCHANTING! From the very first page up until the last, there was never a dull moment.I got to fall in love with the characters all over again. Stephanie Garber is an incredibly talented author, and a master at weaving beautiful lyrical words.

Legendary by Stephanie Garber – ★★★★★

It has taken me over a year to read Legendary, and I am so happy to have finally read the sequel to Caraval. This book is on my must reads of 2019 and I can now say that I love this book so much! I loved being back in this world, Caraval was such a magical story and Legendary was no different. The romance in this book, I was completely living for it! And that ending!?! The big reveal took me by surprise because it felt a little to obvious so I wasn’t expecting it. Needless to say I am beyond excited for Finale!!

Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kauffman – ★★

I want to start this review by saying that I was very fortunate to have been given a EARC, I swear that my neighbors could hear me cheering. With that said, this book disappointed me so much! I really wanted to love it and I really didn’t like it until the last 30% of the book. I loved Jay and Amie’s Illuminae Files and I do enjoy there writing. I just wasn’t connecting with the story.This book was a huge miss for me, I know there is a lot of high praise already. I know I’ll probably get some hate for this but no one is more disappointed with my feelings than I am.

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott – ★★.5

I originally rated this book a three but I took it down to two and a half stars. I only read this book because I want to see the movie. And I only want to see the movie because of Cole Sprouse. Anyway this book is about two teens living with cystic fibrosis, and there relationship. The story overall I enjoyed it, i found it entertaining but the writing was so cringe worthy. I love beautiful prose and this definitely want it.

The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson – ★★★★

I really LOVED this book! The Storm Crow is filled with the potential to be a great, captivating series. It’s gripping within the first chapter, the characters are all amazing and the magic is uniquely written. With a large variety of majestic crows that can control the elements they provide everything needed for it’s country. The crows gave me major How to Train your Dragon vibes. Josephson has created such a rich and gorgeous world!

Wilder Girls by Rory Power – ★★★★

Wilder Girls has been everywhere lately, with its gorgeous cover to amazing synopsis. I have to say this cover is probably my favorite cover of the whole year.I’m going to need all the sapphic horror books from now on. The female-female relationship in this book was everything! I loved these girls so much and was horrified for what they were going through.Rory power’s writing is beautiful yet it does a fantastic job at making your skin crawl, with it’s deliberate descriptive details. Power’s does not hold back on the horror scenes, as a horror movie lover I found some of the horror to be tame but to others it can be quite triggering. That being said this was one of the most unique young adult novels I had the pleasure of reading.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing – ★★★★

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey – ★★★★

THIS WAS SO ADORABLE AND CUTE!!! I’ve seen a couple of my friends give it a low rating and I can see why some people wouldn’t enjoy it. That wasn’t the case for me. This book is basically a long homage to romantic comedies, which made me realize I have not watched a lot of the movies mentioned, and I quickly wrote them all down to add to my Netflix queue.This book is the perfect summer beach read!

That’s all! I am so sorry this is going up so late! So those are the books I read this month let me know down in the comments what your favorite book was in April.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

May 4, 2019May 5, 201912 Comments

I received an ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I have been unimpressed with thrillers lately both oh boy did this one deliver. If you’re a fan of Dexter, than you are going to love this book. Power couple, serial killers, that’s all I needed to know to pick up this book.This is a brilliant debut novel by Samantha Downing. I simply couldn’t get enough of this book, and I loved every minute of it.

“Officially, the Oaks is one of the safest communities in the state. That’s because all the violence is behind closed doors.”

I’m not going to go to much into the plot because the the best way to read thrillers, but here is a brief description. This book is told from the perspective of the unnamed husband, and centers around seeing the whole story from the perspective of the killers. Millicent and her husband have two children Rory and Jenna and they live in the suburbs. They look like everyone else in the neighborhood, a normal family. Millicent works in real estate and the husband is a tennis instructor at the country club. But they are hiding some very dark secrets, instead of role playing to spice things up, they indulge in murder.

The husband gives the reader a play by play of how the event unfold, while giving us a look at his inner dialogue and twisted thoughts. This book is so twisted, I was unable to put it down. Just when you think you have everything figured out Downing throws us upside down. I loved the tone of the story, it includes so dark humor that I often found myself smiling at the most inappropriate times.

If your looking for a book you cant put down, I would pick up My Lovely Wife and be prepared for a wild ride! I can’t wait to see what Samantha Downing comes up with next, this was an incredible debut.

Legendary by Stephanie Garber

April 25, 2019April 25, 20193 Comments

1.) Caraval ★★★★

“Every story has four parts – the beginning, the middle, the almost ending, and the true ending.”

It has taken me over a year to read Legendary, first it was because Emmy was a newborn and I had absolutely no time to read, and then I just never got around to it. With the release of Finale looming nearer I did a re-read of Caraval and finally read Legendary. I loved being back in this world, Caraval was such a magical story and Legendary was no different.

In Caraval, we followed the story from Scarlett’s point of view, how she and her sister Donatella escape from there abuse fathers estate and journey to an island where Caraval is being held that year. Donatella was taken as part of the game, and upon winning Caraval Scarlet was able to save her sister. Legendary start immediately after the outcomes of Caraval, but in this book we are told the story from Donatello’s point of view. She is thrown into her own game and mystery to solve. There are so many twists and turns in this book, more secrets are revealed.

“But the best villains are the ones you secretly like, and my nana always said Legend was the villain in Caraval.”

Donatella “Tella” : she was a pleasant surprise for me, I did not love her in Caraval but in Legendary she stole my heart. I loved her! She is vulnerable but strong in the moments that count.

Scarlet: Is Tella’s sister, and in this book she is a hot mess.

Dante: holy I love Dante with every fiber of my being. He is arrogant, witty and sarcastic, which makes him my favourite type of character.

Jack: A new character introduced early on. He is the villain in this book and he is AMAZING. He is cruel and cunning, he was unpredictable and I can’t wait to see where the story takes him.

In Legendary the story centres around Tella trying to find their mother Paloma. She left them when they were just children and they haven’t seen or heard from her since then. Paloma was truly a woman of mystery, but we learn a little about her through flashbacks from Tella. This book does not fall into second book syndrome at all. Garner took everything we learned in Caraval and turned it all upside down.

The romance in this book, I was completely living for it! Tella and Dante spoke to my soul. They had that a slight enemies to lovers vibe going and as you may know that trope is my favourite.

Not everyone gets a true ending. There are two types of endings because most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, where the situation feels hopeless. But that’s when hope is needed most. only those who persevere can find their true ending.

I loved how colourful and descriptive Garber’s writing is. You get immediately thrown into this magical, vibrant world that oozes mystery. I’m a sucker for beautiful writing and this book has so many quotes! And that ending!?! The big reveal took me by surprise because it felt a little to obvious so I wasn’t expecting it. Needless to say I am beyond excited for Finale!!

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Aurora Rising by Amie Kauffman and Jay Kristoff

April 13, 2019April 14, 20196 Comments

Many thanks to Random House Kids for sending me an eARC via NetGalley for my honest review!

I want to start this review by saying that I was very fortunate to have been given a EARC, I swear that my neighbors could hear me cheering. With that said, this book disappointed me so much! I really wanted to love it and I really didn’t like it until the last 30% of the book. I found it to be extremely boring. I loved Jay and Amie’s Illuminae Files and I do enjoy there writing. I just wasn’t connecting with the story.

They are not the heroes we deserve. They are just the ones we could find.

Aurora Rising Follows the story of six legion cadets who make up the squad 312, they are chosen to work together during the draft,which Tyler missed. He was to busy saving a girl from a ship he found floating in the fold. He is one of the top students but he is landed with the misfits of the academy who make up his squad..

Tyler: The Alpha, Squad Leader,Scarlet’s brother and captain “hotness”. The amount of times his dimples or attractiveness was mentioned was absurd.

Aurora: An Asian human girl,who was Cryogenically frozen for the last 200 years and was supposed to wake up on Octavia III. She has some wicked powers but she also has no idea how to control them.

Scarlet: The Face, the diplomat and Tyler’s twin sister.She is described as having fiery red hair and is just as attractive as her brother.

Cat: The Ace, the pilot, has been friends with Tyler and Scarlet since kindergarten. She is a strong woman and takes shit from no one. She is covered in tattoos with a Mohawk and not so secretly in love with Tyler.

Kal: The Tank, Syldrathi, he has darker skin and silver braided hair. The Syldrathi are in the midst of a civil war and also have a war history with the Terran people. This boy is full of rage, but oh can he throw down. He was hands down my favourite character.

Finian: The Gearhead, Tech Division. He is Betraskan, his skin is white.He’s bisexual and has a disability for muscle weakness, nerve damage, impaired mobility. He has to wear a exoskeleton suit to help him with his movements. His character also made this book tolerable, he’s sassy and says inappropriate things at the worst times.

Zila: The Brains, Science Division. She is described as having dark brown skin with curly black hair. She loves to wear hoop earrings and can be a little trigger happy.

The six of us? Against the whole galaxy?

The book is divided up into three different parts, I really struggled with part 1 it was incredibly boring and slow moving.Part 2 took place on the world ship, where the squad was a part of a very drawn out heist. We got a little bit of backstory to some characters,but I still wasn’t vibing with the story. It wasn’t until part three where I found myself actually invested in the plot. It was short lived though because then the book needed, just when things were getting good.

I had a really hard time picking up the book to actually read it. The action scenes were well written but because I didn’t care about the characters I was invested in there well being. Well, I did like Kal and Fin, they were the only characters with some personality.

This book was a huge miss for me, I know there is a lot of high praise already. I know I’ll probably get some hate for this but no one is more disappointed with my feelings than I am. I think this book would have been hugely improved by not having seven different POV, if they stuck with just Tyler and Aurora I think it would have been less confusing. I struggled with remembering who was talking in each chapter.

I ended up giving Aurora Rising 2.5 Stars.

Buddy Read with Amy!

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The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

April 11, 2019April 11, 20199 Comments

ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t read to many Christina Lauren books, but these ladies sure can write a good romance. This was such a cute Rom-Com, it will make the perfect summer read. I finished it in two sitting, the pages just flew by. This book was such a fun ride and has me aching to pick up more books from Christina Lauren.

That’s the point of luck; it happens when and where it happens.

The Unhoneymooners follows Olive Torres as she goes on her twin sister Ami’s honeymoon. During the wedding reception everyone comes down with a bad case of food poisoning, except for Olive and Ethan, Ami’s new husbands brother.Olive and Ethan have hated each other from the moment they met three years ago, now on there siblings honeymoon in Maui they must pretend to be newlyweds. They get into some pretty sticky situations, and soon the fake marriage alerts them to the fake that they have a lot of chemistry. That they may have been wrong in hating each other.

“When I signed up for this honeymoon, I had no idea it would involve so much nudity.”

This book has one a my favorite tropes , Hate to Love and this book fueled my love for that trope. Also includes fake dating/fake marriage and a slow burn romance .I was laughing out loud and swooning over Ethan. I was obsessed with there banter, Olive is so sassy and Ethan’s attitude was just to much, I loved them. I really love that Olive is a strong curvy woman who stands up for herself and takes no shit from Ethan. Throughout the story she starts to discover who she really is, and what is important to her. Ethan comes across as a huge jerk at first but honestly that’s what made me love him. As the book progresses we find he is actually really sweet and hilarious.

I had a few issues with the story but those are more personal opinions than the book being bad. I really didn’t like Dane, Olive’s sisters husband, he was honestly the worst! Ethan coming to his defense, I understand where he was coming from but it infuriated me that he was standing up for such a shitty person.

If you’re a fan of rom-coms, and want a funny, cute book, I highly recommend picking this one up. I just loved this so so so so much! Christina Lauren is one quickly becoming of my favorite authors.

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Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

April 8, 2019April 8, 201915 Comments

“You can justify anything. If you’re narcissistic enough to believe that the universe conspires for and against you—which we all are, deep down—then you can convince yourself you’re getting signs about anything and everything.”

TW: substance abuse/addiction, abortion

Truly one of the most remarkable stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading .Having read and absolutely LOVED The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo last year I couldn’t wait for Reid’s newest book.I tried to get an ARC but the God’s did not bless me with an opportunity. I have to say the wait was absolutely worth it,I read this book via audiobook and it was fantastic. The book is written in interview format, which worked out so well in audiobook, it’s also a full cast.

Daisy Jones & The Six is about a band formed in the 1970’s. The book is told through interviews with the band members. Our leading lady Daisy is a young beautiful teenager, she desperately wants to be seen. Her parents are never home, and don’t pay her any attention. Daisy becomes a regular at nightclubs and starts getting into being a groupie, witch includes sex, drugs and the Wild life of rock n roll. Daisy gets involved with a musician, he is struggling to write his next song so Daisy ends up writing some lyrics. This man claims them as his own,well this infuriates Daisy and from this point forward she is determined to be a songwriter.

“I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse.
I am not a muse.
I am the somebody.

End of fucking story.”

She soon gets involved with this band The Six. It started out as a writing gig with the lead singer Billy but then one night she performed with the band. The fans absolutely adored her and it was decided she would join the band.I was obsessed with this story, I fell really hard for Daisy and needed to know her every move. Daisy was never afraid to be herself and she expressed that at every opportunity. She was raw and emotional. I couldn’t get enough of her. Taylor Jenkins writes beautiful complex characters, to a point that I actually believe they could be real people. This book has a large cast of characters, from the band members to music producers and photographers.

“It was America. It was tits. It was sex. It was drugs. It was summer. It was angst. It was rock ’n’ roll.”

This Book is all about female empowerment, supporting other women and demanding credit where it is due. Carmilla is such a well written character, she loves without asking for anything in return, she’s devoted and not jealous of the women surrounding Billy. Karen she is the only female in the band before Daisy came along, she does not take shot from anyone and stands up for what she believes. I won’t go into what I mean because of spoilers.

Speaking of Billy, he is selfish and stubborn. He is a perfectionist when it comes to his songwriting, when it comes to music he’s the boss or you can find the door and leave. Even during the rough times his love for Carmilla shines through everything he does.

“Art doesn’t owe anything to anyone.”

The atmosphere of the 70’s was captured perfectly. This book does heavily talk about alcohol and drug abuse, because that was a big scene during this time period. I cannot wait for the tv show, to see which actors will play the characters and being able to hear all the songs!

This book has been getting a lot of mixed reviews, a lot of people really don’t like it. For me this is a five star read!

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Get To Know Me Tag

April 5, 2019March 31, 201922 Comments

Hello! Since I’ve gained so many awesome new followers in the past two months, which I am so blessed you all subscribed to my blog! I thought I would do this tag as a way to introduce myself.

1. What do you study/what is your job?

First of all I’m a mom to two beautiful kids, my son is 12 and my daughter just turned 15 months old. You can read her most recent update here. Aside from mommying, I work full time as a personal support worker in a mental health special care home. I’m not currently studying but I am halfway through the LPN program, I’m not sure if I’m going to return or not at the moment.

2. What is your favorite social media channel?

Currently it’s Instagram, I’m a visual person. So I love seeing everyone’s photos and there creativity. I’ve been busy trying grow my presence over the past two months and I’m really loving it.

3. If you had another channel, what would it be about?

I would really like to make booktube videos but my anxiety gets the better of me. But I’m hopeful that one of these days to dive into youtube. I’d like to creat book content ,as well as mommy lifestyle content.

4. Do you play an instruments?

No, but I would love to learn guitar.

5. What hobbies do you have other than reading?

I don’t have to much time for much else between the kids, work and reading. But I don’t binge a lot of tv, and I’m trying to get more into photography.

6. Favorite TV Shows?

Here is where I could go on forever but I’ll try and narrow it down a little. My all time favourite tv show will always be Gilmore Girls. I love this show and its characters so freaking much. Another fave is Game of Thrones, who else is excited for the final season?! Hmm let me see I also love The Office, Jane the Virgin, This is Us,Queer Eye and How to get away with murder. There’s more of course but I’ll stop here.

7. What got you into reading?

I have always been a huge reader, I didn’t have many friends growing up. Books ended up being my best friend and shaped who I am today. My dad would take me to the library during the summer and I’d spend hours browsing the shelves.

From goosebumps to the babysitters club. In middle school I became obsessed with Stephen King I couldn’t get enough. Then I discovered Harry Potter and it changed my life! I didn’t read as much in high school then I had Noah. Around the time Noah was 2 I started reading Twilight and it re ignited my love for reading and I never stoped.

8.What are your favorite and least favorite genres?

My heart will always belong to Fantasy. I love huge lush worlds full of magic. Also contemporary is becoming what I teach for the most. My least favourite would have to be historical, steampunk and westerns.

9.What books define your childhood?

I discussed some in an earlier question, but some others include Heartland, The Saddle Club, Shivers and Nancy Drew.

10.Tell us an interesting fact about you!