June Book Haul

June 29, 2019June 29, 20191 Comment

Happy Saturday, I hope your all having a good weekend. Can you believe June is over. I really wasn’t expecting to haul so many books this month! But I am so thankful and blessed to have gotten books from publishers and I won a giveaway. I’m really excited about all of these.

Physical Books I Purchased

> Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

> Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

> Tithe by Holly Black

> Valiant by Holly Black

Sent by Publishers / Giveaway I Won

> Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle

> The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

> That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert

> Silver in the Woods by Emily Tesh

> Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki

> Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan

Ebooks Bought / Kindle Unlimited

> All Fired up by Elle Kennedy and Vivian Arend

> On the Way Down by Ella Fox

> On the Rocks by Kandi Steiner

> Getaway Girl by Tessa Bailey

> A really Bad Idea by Jennie Colette

> Center of Gravity by K.K Allen

That’s all for this month! Let me know down below if you got any of these books 😊 To all my Canadian followed, I hope you all have a happy Canada day on Monday ❤️

Summerathon TBR

June 19, 2019June 19, 20196 Comments

THE DATES:
June 21 – June 27

THE HOSTS:
Amy @ A Court of Crowns and Quills

Jen @ Pinot and Pages

Heather @ Bookables

Aimee @ Aimee Reads

Reading Challenges

THE CHALLENGES:
1. A Beachy Read: this can be either a book set at the beach or just a book think would be perfect to read on the beach or poolside.

Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno

2. Sunrise colors on the cover: pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue…really, there are so many directions to go for this.

Josh and Hazels guide to not Dating by Christina Lauren

3. Book with a roadtrip, traveling, or vacation

Next Year in Havana by Chanel

4. Book set in the summer

Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno

5. Food on the cover (Or drink! Make it your own!)

Natalie Tans book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim

6. Drink your favorite summertime drink while reading!

I’m going to leave this challenge open in case I pick something up I really want to read and it doesn’t fit the other challenges.

I’m so excited for all of these books ! Are your participating in this readathon? What are some summer-ey type books your reading?

Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

June 10, 2019June 10, 201915 Comments

Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some.

Trigger warnings for drug use, drinking to excess, outting, depression, grief depiction, racist/homophobic views/statements, and mention of a past attempted sexual assault

I adored this book. So. Much. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if it ends up being my favorite book of the entire year. I want to mention that this book is new adult (not YA!) So there are some steamy scenes! Most fade to black, but they’re still steamy nonetheless.

In this story, the President of the United States is a democratic woman from Texas who was elected after Obama. Her re election is coming up quickly, the politics and scheming were so well done. The MC Alex, is the son of the president, and is is to attend a royal wedding with his family. At the wedding he comes across Prince Henry, whom he strongly dislikes as he has always been a jerk to Alex in the past. Things get heated between them, an incident occurs where Alex accidentally destroys the wedding cake. In order to get the media to stop with all the negative comments the two families have come up with a game plan that Alex and Henry will spend time together convincing everyone there friends. I bet you can guess what comes after that.

Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz – The First Son, who is quickly realizing that he is bisexual, but slowly coming to terms with how he feels about this new term for himself. He starts to come out to the people in his life he feels safe with. Alex is also biracial (Mexican and white). He’s is bold and confident in himself, he doesn’t shy away from any situation. He is also witty and loyal to his family.

“He’s just as attracted to Henry’s cloudy tempers, the way he comes back from them, and the millions of shades in between.”

Henry George Edward James Fox-Windsor – A Prince of England,in Whales to be specific, who is closeted gay to most in his family and to all public, because he feels the weight of the expectations placed on him by royal family and his country. He is charming, charismatic and handsome.

If you couldn’t guess this is a romantic comedy, so of course I need to talk about the romance. This book starts out as enemies to lovers, and if you didn’t know by know that is my absolute favorite trope in any book! Alex and Henry felt so realistic, and genuinely felt like real people, that I wanted to google them and see how they were doing. . I was rooting for Alex and Henry so hard and fangirling even harder when they started to explore there feelings for each other. I could gush forever, honestly. And the humor in this story! I laughed out loud so many times, especially when it came to the turkeys.There texting/emails are the most adorable thing ever! Casey’s over here making me swoon and killing me with cuteness!

“That kind of love is rare, even if it was a complete disaster.” He sucks his teeth, considering. “Sometimes you just jump and hope it’s not a cliff.”

This book explore other topics such as coming out to your family and friends and how that effects you. This book has so much heart, Alex is very close with his sister June and there friend Nora. There friendships are so pure and I was so here for it. Henry is also very close with his sister Bea. I was rooting so hard for everything happening in this book, from Alex and Henry to the reelection, all of it.

This story is a 10/10 for me. There was not a single thing I could think of that would have made this story better.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

May 13, 2019May 13, 201910 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!

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.

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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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!

With The Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

April 3, 2019April 3, 201916 Comments

I received a copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and purchase something I’ve talked about or recommended, I’ll receive a very small percentage of the sale. ]

“Sometimes focusing on what you can control is the only way to lessen the pang in your chest when you think about the things you can’t.”

The first time I saw the cover of this book I fell in love, it is so gorgeous!! This book means so much to me! This story was very empowering. Emoni was such a strong character and full of passion. Also the amount of representation in the book was excellent. Emoni is part Puerto-Rican and Black and a teenage mother, there is also a lesbian side character.

Emoni is told that she has a magic touch when it comes to cooking. She takes a recipe and makes her her own by adding spices she believes will enhance the flavors. I felt such a deep connection to Emoni, she is a badass single teen mom, with a beautiful little girl. Many of you probably don’t know that I had my son Noah when I was 17. I understand her struggles, she wants to provide for her daughter. To make the right decisions so that there future will be secure. I have never felt such a connection with a character before, I cried so many tears throughout this book.

When Emoni discovers she has a chance to take a culinary cooking class as an elective in school. She cannot decide if it’s the right choice to take the class,they will also be going on a trip to Spain at the end of the semester. She already has to keep up with school work, and she works part time to help cover the cost of the baby, plus actually taking care of the baby. Emoni has a lot on her plate. She dreams of becoming a chef and someday working in a restaurant. This book could have been full of stereotypes about teen mother’s, but it wasn’t. It was a beautiful story, about a girl despite her circumstances goes after her dream. Oh my Goodness, I’m crying again just typing this review.

” I want to be able to take care of my own and the only thing I would want to study is culinary arts, but why try to learn that in a school when I could learn it in a real restaurant where I’m making money instead of spending it?””

The side character’s were also an amazing addition to the story, Emoni’s best friend is her rock. She has been there for her all through her pregnancy and remained after the baby was born. She is also a lesbian and has the cutest relationship!

The chapters are also really short which I loved. The start of new sections also has little recopies which I thought was a nice touch.It was next to impossible to put down With the Heat on High.

Overall, I would strongly recommend this book.

Pre-Order With the Fire on High
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March Monthly Wrap Up

March 31, 2019March 31, 201912 Comments

It’s that time again, the end of the month and that means I get to talk about all the books I’ve read. I felt a little slumpy that’s why Harry Potter is thrown in there, but I actually managed to read 9 books in March.

Books Read

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

Four Dead Queens is a a fantastic fantasy debut. This is a standalone where there are four quadrants and a queen rules each quadrant .This book is set up like a murder mystery— there are so many fantastic twists. I am absolutely blown away by this book. I devoured this book in a few days as I just couldn’t put it down.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

This is my third time reading City of Bones, I have never made it past City of Glass, but 2019 will be the year I finish all of Cassandra Clare’s books. I still really love this first installment to the series. I love Clary and I always have, I cannot wait to see her development as a character, as for Jace I really don’t like him. I continue to find him annoying, and I don’t understand how so many people love him. I’m excited to see where this series goes.

Sorcery of Thorns by Magarete Rogerson

Sorcery of Thorns has been at the top of my list when it comes to 2019 releases. Enchanted of Ravens was one of my favorite books of .To say I loved this book would not even begin to describe how I felt about it! I really liked the romance. It was a slow burn romance, which is one of my favorite tropes. The ending was absolutely amazing It had me on the edge of my seat, and I honestly wanted to jump up and down!

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling

I wasn’t planning on reading this book but my library hold for the audiobook came in, and I couldn’t pass that up. I’ve never listened to the audiobooks before, and its such a fun experience I would listen to it before bed, and theirs no pressure because I’ve read them so many times. This is probably my least favorite HP book, there isnt as much action as the first book, and Lockhart really annoys me.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Mermaids Voice Returns in This One by Amanda Lovelace

This is the final poetry collection in a three book series. Amanda has been my favorite poet since her Tumblr days, and I will forever support her. This collection focuses on sexual assault and her healing journey. Her writing is so raw and powerful, you can see she pours her heart and soul into each word.I really loved this collection.

The Risk by Elle Kennedy

Elle Kennedy is the queen of sports romance, and I don’t even like sports haha but I will read every book she writes. There just that good.From the very first page, I was obsessed with the banter between Brenna and Jake.I rated this book 5 stars, and I will have a full review up really soon!

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

I Buddy read this book with Amy and Amber. This book was so good that none of us stuck to the reading schedule, we just needed to know what happened next. I haven’t had much luck with thrillers lately and I’m happy to report that this one was really well done.This book is the very definition of a page-turner, the characters are not always what they seem, there complex and have lots of secrets. That ending though !!

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

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. .I was laughing out loud and swooning over Ethan. I was obsessed with there banter! This book was such a fun ride and has me aching to pick up more books from Christina Lauren.

How was your month of March? What were your favourite reads?

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March Book Haul

March 29, 2019March 28, 201915 Comments

Hello bookworms! Can you believe Match is done in a few days. I’ve acquired quite a few books this month. I usually don’t buy to many but so many came out in March and April is another big book month. Also I want to say a huge thank you to all the publishers on Netgalley and Edelweiss. Okay enough talking, here are the books I’ve added to my collection this month!