4.5

This was such a cute and fun summer contemporary, with a low stakes plot and a really sweet romance! Meredith, our FMC and Wit (Stephen), our MMC, had such a sweet relationship and I adored their interactions. I also loved the family bonding, and the fun little assassin plot. I think the only thing that bothered me about this story was the pop culture references, especially the overuse of hashtags, Instagram, and the occasional Timotheé Chalamet references (who I love, but don’t like to be reminded exists, fictionally).

Despite the pop culture references, I absolutely loved this story, and it really scratched my itch for a summer romance after finishing TSITP season 2. Meredith was such a relatable character, and Wit was so sweet to her. The analysis of grief, and learning to live again after a loved one passed was also very relatable, and important.

I also adored the plethora of Taylor Swift references, and I loved the insistent nods to Fearless, especially Hey Stephen. If I could sum up this book in a few songs it would probably absolutely be the atmosphere of August, the relationship of Invisible String (also mentioned in here), and the aesthetic of the entire Fearless album; especially Jump Then Fall, The Way I Loved You, and obviously Hey Stephen.

Overall, I loved my time reading this book and I’m really excited to read more from this author! This was such a cute YA contemporary romance and I would definitely recommend it to finish off summer season, especially for fans of Sarah Dessen, Morgan Matson, Kasie West, and/or Emma Mills.


4.5 stars

THIS FUCKING BOOK, OH MY GOD!! I just want to out front say that I loved every single second of Ghost Walk. This was a perfect contender 5 star for me. The characters were so damn likeable, the romance was swoon worthy, the hero was Scottish and I adored every word that came out of his mouth, and the plot was even better.

Ghost Walk is set in the summer during the 4th of July (which is Independence Day in America) where our heroine, Grace, works as a tour guide in a New England colony town open for tourism. On one tour she takes, she meets our hero, Jamie, a ghost of a man who was a notorious pirate and alleged serial killer back before America was just colonies. Jamie wants Grace to help prove his innocence of the murder s he didn’t commit, and Grace believes she’s going insane. Time travel and a murder mystery follows.

Not only was this plot perfection, but I also just adored these characters, on their own and together. Jamie and Grace were perfect for each other, and I loved Jamie so so much. This is another golden retriever man, and if you guys are regulars here, you know I adore lovable himbo idiots. Jamie loved and protected Grace the whole time, while also being the perfect amount of an Alpha hero. I usually hate the whole ”you’re mine” B.S., but on Jamie it just worked.

I will say I did guess the killer and plot twist at the end, but I wasn’t really here for the mystery. I was here for Jamie and Grace, and this author exceeded in writing them without fail. I know this book takes place in the middle of summer, but this was absolutely the perfect cozy, Fall read. I absolutely adored everything about this book and I cannot believe how severely underrated it is. Everyone read this book, this is absolutely going to make it on my favorites of the year list.

5 stars

* * *


GUYS I LOVED THIS SM!!! RTC

Halfway to the Grave is one of the many late 2000s PN-romance novels published, and very much a product of its time. You want slut-shaming? There is an abundance of it. You want some questionable lines on SA and racism? That’s definitely here. You want quirky, Mary-Sue MC that’s definitely not just Sarah Michelle Geller’s Buffy with red hair? Cat is where it’s at. You want a bad boy vampire that can’t decide if he’s hot or corny? The Spike wannabe is also here too.

And even though I make all these complaints, I didn’t think this book was terrible. Yes, this story has loads (and I genuinely mean loads) of our heroine finding hundreds of ways to shit on other women, and some really problematic takes on SA. But I thought the plot and romance was entertaining nonetheless. The mystery aspect lost me about halfway in though, and I just was following for Cat and Spike-I mean Bones by the end.

I also want to say before I finish this review, I absolutely love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s one of my favorite tv shows, and I adore Spike. I also love Spuffy, and I think if you’re in that boat, you will probably enjoy this book (as long as you can look past the problematic elements). I think for me though, the problematic elements were just too much at times (and again, I’m not giving this book much fault for that. Talk of things such as SA and feminism were definitely different in 2007). But if you’re a Spike lover such as myself, Bones is your new book boyfriend bc this man is literally just Spike copied and pasted. He has the bleached hair, the leather trench coats, the stupid quips. Bro even has a fucking British accent (and the audiobook narrator did him so dirty with it, he sounded so fucking stupid lmao).

Anyways, not terrible, but not great. I’ll probably continue on to see if it gets better, but this was definitely not a new favorite.

dnf at pg. 67, dec 2021

I just don’t think this is for me, too instalovey.

AUDIOBOOK DNF @ 10%


The constant book references are giving me so much ick, I’m going to have to DNF.

I read this when I was in the 3rd grade. One of my favorite books then, but don’t know how it holds up now

Super super cute! This was the perfect cozy fall read, and I absolutely adored the art style!

*3.5

Bible thumpers, religious cults, midwestern gothic, and folk horror; what more could you possibly ask for? Together We Rot was a very solid debut novel with social commentary on religion, golden retriever bf x feral gf, and some really weird horror elements. I quite enjoyed this, and I really thought this authors writing and prose was beautiful.

The very purply and colorful descriptions, combined with the weirdness really set the overall tone of this story, and I quite enjoyed it. Wil and Elwood, our MC’s, were also quite nice characters to follow, and really had a lot of depth built into their characters. I was definitely rooting for them and their romance, and I loved their dynamic.

I think my main issue with Together We Rot was the length. This book is probably considered novella length from how short it is, not even reaching 280 pages. The story itself is very straightforward, and doesn’t give the readers a lot of time to breathe. It just happens. Which is fine, but I really think this book could have been something special had we had more time inside.

I wish I had more to say (and I probably do, I’m just lazy), but above are really the only things that come to mind. Regardless, this author really can write and I’m intrigued to read more from her. She has a little bit to go to make a “perfect” story, but I thought this was really solid for her debut. This book doesn’t have nearly enough attention as it deserves, especially with how beautiful the cover is.

* * *

That cover is literally so so stunning, I’m so excited to read this

Good reads loves to delete books I’ve read off my shelves

Magic Strikes is the second book in the Kate Daniels series, and it absolutely outdoes it’s predecessor in all areas. I had a range of problems with book 1, but I ultimately ended up giving it a 3.5 for enjoyment. However, I didn’t just rate its sequel purely on my enjoyment: I truly think this book improves a tenfold from the first book.

Not only is the world so much bigger (which was one of my critiques in book 1), but so is the mystery aspect. It made for a much more fun reading experience, and I actually enjoyed the mystery this time (as opposed to book 1 where I gave a shit less about the mystery and all my shits were on Kate x Curran). All the twists and turns really got me, and I thought the incorporation of Celtic mythology was super interesting. It really felt more accessible for me as a reader, because these characters are finding out about this side of the magic with us, the readers. I thought it was a really fun way to introduce new ideas and concepts, while also making the world so much wider.

Not only was the world better, but so was the writing. There is such a drastic improvement from Magic Bites writing to its sequel; the descriptions are less dry, the characters dialogue is more believable, and the mystery aspect (as I said above) was so much more engaging, whilst also being more complex too. These authors really honed their craft in this book, and I can’t way to see how much better written this series gets as the books go on.

I can’t finish off the review before mentioning Kate, the absolute loml. If you really want a truly laugh out loud series to read, Kate Daniels is where it’s at. Not only is she absolutely tongue-in-cheek, smart-ass, hilarious, but she’s also hella smart and a really compelling heroine to follow. Ok, yes, is she a little overpowered and a little too cocky, at times? Yes. Usually this would be bother me, but I just think the way she’s written—with not just her humor but her love for the people around her—makes me look past the lowkey Mary-Sueness of her.

Also Curran x Kate is so fucking cute, I love these two together and they hardly got any page time in this book; I was pissed. These two feed my enemies-to-lovers, slowburn banter need like a drug. They’re so funny together, and the way they clash on literally everything is so fucking entertaining, you can’t help but root for them. Kate and Julie also have the best relationship in here. The way Kate went from calling her a “street-urchin brat” to “my kid” OH MY GOD!!! The protectiveness she started to feel over Julie. My heart is so full for them, I literally adore them so much, and I can’t remember the last I’ve read a genuinely good found family trope.

Anyways, enough about my gushing. I know this book took me almost a month to read (I have my reasons, leave me alone