I did read this as an adult, so I am not the target demographic, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book!

Description: Bug is about to start middle school. The summer before the big 6th grade day, Bug has to stay at home instead of leaving for camp as Bug usually does. Bug's uncle recently died and Bug's mom's business is struggling. This gives Bug a lot of time to spend with Moira: the bestest friend in the whole world. Moira is focused on all the latest make up trends, boy, and people, believing she wants a fresh start in 6th grade. Moira wants that same fresh start for Bug. However: Bug isn't sure that's the right path. In Bug's haunted house, Bug starts to see messages from the other side, leading Bug to the right path for Bug.

The one star loss: For being a 4.5 hour audiobook and middle grade, this was extremely slow for me. However, I did love the messaging so it was worth getting through the pacing.

All the goodies:
- Bug is such a reflective character, with a kind heart: what a positive main character.
- The spooky elements: they kept me engaged while being age appropriate.
- The support system Bug has made my heart melt.
- The overall message of the book is so beautiful, I hope every middle grade student gets the chance to read this.

Summary: Such a great book and age-appropriate, but it is slow, so push through if you're feeling dredged down. 

4.5/5 stars.

Description: When Yadriel undergoes the ceremony to become a Brujo with his best friend Maritza, he never thought of the adventure he'd undergo. Yadriel wasn't even sure he could become a brujo, someone who is able to help spirits cross to the other side. Yadriel thought they would be a bruja until he realized who he truly was. However, Yadriel has never heard of someone who is trans becoming a brujo. After the secret ceremony though, Yadriel and Maritza feel the harm to one of their own: Miguel. Yadriel attempts to find Miguel to figure out what happened and how to help him cross over. However, instead, he finds Julian, a boy with a reputation for trouble. Now the spirit of Julian is stuck with Yadrial through a moving story.

The half star loss: The first 2 chapters I was thoroughly confused, especially the first chapter. There is just so much information thrown in at you and multiple time hops where I wasn't sure where the story was going. However, by the end of chapter 3, I was sold. 

All the goodies:
- The magic: I feel like this is explained thoroughly and includes a bunch of lore.
- Yadriel. I loved Yadriel as a character.
- All side characters were fantastic.
- Fast paced, I could not put this down!
- Multiple storylines to follow to keep you engaged.

Summary: DEFINITELY read this book if you are a fan of YA stories, magic, and fast moving plots.

I believe this is a fantastic read that could definitely be read in schools, especially in a gender studies class.

General Description: Felix has a lot going on- he's questioning his identity as a transgender man, he feels his father does not fully accept his identity, his nemesis Declan is going for the same college scholarship as him, and Felix is the target of harassment and deadnaming at his school. How will Felix navigate his relationships, his feelings about his nemesis and his harasser?

ALL the good:
- This felt fast-paced. You have a lot of subplots to follow along that you never get bored.
- Representation. I feel like there are tough conversations all around gender identity, intersectionality within the LGBTQIA+ community that I think are extremely important, and all types of relationships are explored (father-child, friendships, and romantic relationships).
- WRAPPING IT ALL UP: every subplot that is opened, every question you have is answered. You feel hopeless at one point but Kacen ties up each storyline with a nice bow.
- Characters: you have the characters you love, the characters you are suspicious of, and the one you dislike. And most of these characters get flipped on their head. I feel like each character was well-fleshed out, complex, and kept me interested in reading.

Summary: READ THIS. I feel like this will be an extremely important book for years to come.

I am so happy I was able to read Pet after Freshwater. I feel like this was much more digestable to read and a more enjoyable experience, with important lessons addressed.

General Description: Living in Lucille, Jam and Redemption have been taught there are no longer monsters, that the current day angels of Lucille are protecting everyone from the monsters. However, after Jam frees a creature from their mother's painting, who calls itself Pet, we learn Lucille still has monsters and they might be closer than we think. There are monsters in Redemption's house and Pet wants to get rid of them. Will Jam be able to help Pet get into Redemption's house to find and get rid of the monster?

What I loved:
- Jam, Pet, and Redemption I thought were all fantastic main characters. Each was extremely unique and I loved each of their journeys in this book.
- The overall messages this story has I thought were amazing. I thought talking about monsters, how kids interact with adults, and what to do when faced in a tough situation were great. Friendship is a huge theme that is also done well.
- The worldbuilding: now that we have Bitter, I feel like some of my questions will be answered, but overall, I feel like I understand the world.

The lose of one star: I really didn't get into this book until half way through. The beginning just felt slow and boggy, like walking through mud, but after I got through there, I flew through the book.

Summary: Push through! I feel like this is such an important book for all to read.

I so badly wanted to like this book, but I think this is a book made for a specific reader. It has qualities that I think as important for books, but it was not easily digestible for me. Let me further explain the qualities of this book and where I aligned with them.

1. Character driven book: I am not the biggest fan of character driven books especially if there is not a plot. I just find them harder to follow for me. Since this book is character driven, that was a struggle I had.
2. Time jumps: I am not a fan of unclear time jumps. I am a reader that needs a defined timeline, chronological order, or clear separation between past and present. I feel like this book did not have clear time jumps for me.
3. Spirituality: there are spiritual elements to this book, which I thought were interesting to hear about, so I don't stray away from spiritual books but I know some folks have a tough time with those.
4. The general writing: This gave me the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue vibes, where it's supposed to be beautiful and people love it, but it went straight over my head.  That is definitely on me as a reader, I feel like I need everything somewhat explained or clear and I was getting lost in the writing style.
5. Multiple and omnipresent narrators: I'm somewhat picky with narrators, I usually like them straightforward and I understand what the narrators are. I did not understand exactly what all the narrators were, which made it hard to follow who was speaking. Akwaeke also reads the audiobook themselves which I loved but it was a bit hard to tell who was talking.
6. The underlying themes: this is the main redeeming quality for me. Once I understood the struggles Ada was facing, which was about 60% through the book, I finally got the different narrators and what they represented, but it felt too late by then.

I would encourage everyone to give this book a shot if they aren't bogged down by some of the qualities of this book that I was!

Thank you to Mazey Eddings and Macmillian for the ARC of this book. 

For me this is a 4.5/5 stars.

General Description: Indira's life is turned upside down a month before her brother's wedding, and Jude's life starts to settle down after months in warzones. The frenemies find themselves both crashing at Indira's brothers' house (Collin) and they come up with a plan to pretend to be each others' wedding dates: Indira gets to shove it in the face of her ex, and Jude can escape all the noise without being asked where he's going.

The good:
- The emphasis on therapy. I truly love when books have fantastic mental health representation and this book has it for me.
- The frenemies to lovers vibes. I thought this was done so well!
- The situations they were put into and how they learned about each other I thought was done really well. I could not put this book down.
- I also love most of the side characters (the ones you're supposed to) and I hope we get more in this universe!

The reason for a .5 star loss: there are 3 spicy scenes in this book. 2 I thought were well time/placed, but the middle one was not necessary in my opinion and took away from the flow of the book. however, this is my opinion and I am not a big spicy book person. 

In summary: This was a fantastic read and I can't wait to read more Mazey Eddings!

First off, I want to thank Nikki in allowing me to be one of her ARC readers. I thoroughly enjoyed the book! 

You get introduced to the world of Sabrina and Max. Sabrina, a woman from South Africa who ends up teaching in Japan, and Max, a man in the marines. For me, until Max and Sabrina properly meet (not the first time, but a time after) I was a little confused with the time jumps. However, after the first couple of chapters, I was SUCKED in. 

Max and Sabrina clearly have a relationship, but after 10 years, something doesn't click, they aren't even talking! What happened in their past that drove them so far apart and can they find their way back to each other? I feel like Nikki was knowledgeable of all the locations she described and I was truly immersed in the world.

The spice? CHECK! Tearing out my heart in the best way? CHECK! Relationships and friendships? CHECK and CHECK! I definitely want to hop back into this universe. I would definitely recommend this if you are a romance reader, HOWEVER, please check the content warnings before diving in as it does get heavy, especially in the second half of the book.

Thank you to Abrams and Marianna Baer for allowing me to listen to Wolfwood as an audiobook  ARC.

This had the potential for a 5 star book. I was thinking it would be a 5 star book, until there was a key explanation I was looking for that was not wrapped up. It STILL bugs me! If there's another book, I'll change this to a 5 star, but as it stands, I'm at a 4.5/5 star. If you NEED your books wrapped up likely you won't like this.

HOWEVER, I do think this book has a lot of fantastic qualities that kept me hooked:
- The overall plot: Indigo and her mother Zoe are barely scrapping by. Zoe, before Indigo was born, released Wolfwood, a series of painted portraits showing how 4 girls hunt down a wolf in wolfwood. This fantastical world hooked people, but it was unfinished. Zoe is given a chance to finish it and she refuses. Indigo knows to survive, she must finish Wolfwood. However, what Zoe did not tell Indigo, is that Wolfwood becomes real when you paint it. You enter the vicious jungle, been the clones of the main three girls, and you can get hurt. 
- The relationships: I really did like most of the relationships in this book and I disliked the relationships I think we are meant to dislike.
- Pacing: this felt FAST. My heart was pounding the majority of the book, until the end.

The. magical realism is there, you root for Indigo and only want the best for her in the end, and you want to help the folks of Wolfwood. If you aren't into pop culture references, you probably won't like this. I feel like this also had some interesting undertones talking about classism that I think are still prevalent today. Honestly, I'd go back into this world again in a heartbeat!

This is a 3.5/5 star book for me. Just a middle of the road thriller, so I'll go into more detail below:

Description - Andrea is a US marshall. Hooray! However, the only person that is truly happy for her is herself. Her bio mom and step dad aren't the biggest fans of cops and her bio father is a murderous cult leader in jail. Andrea's first assignment puts her at her roots, where her father grew up and where a girl was murdered 40 years ago. Andrea also has to focus on protecting the high ranking judge and gets roped into trying to bust another cult. Can she juggle it all?

The good -
-- I really did like Andrea as a character, I liked her development, and learning that Pieces of Her focuses on Andrea (at least I assume) I'd read it for her. 
-- It was twisty and built anticipation which I liked!

The meh - 
-- The timing seemed so weird in this book? Like not a lot happened, but a lot of time passed? I just feel like the memorable moments came at the end and that was it, but it's almost a 16 hour long audiobook! The pacing just seemed odd.
-- I feel like while the twists did surprise me, they seemed a little plucked out of thin air, not my favorite type of twist.
-- Just not my favorite vibe in general for a thriller? Especially having 2 mysteries going on and one not being fully finished? But if there's another book coming out that makes sense.

Overall - Check the content warnings, but overall, it seems like a tame thriller to me, which makes it middle of the road.

The hype of this book is REAL. I am so excited to hopefully go back to Skyland, but being introduced to Yasmen and Josiah first was a treat.

We follow recently divorced (2 years) co-parents and business parents, Yasmen and Josiah. Yasmen is finally starting to feel like herself again, after the past 3 years where she has gone through trauma after trauma, filled with death and darkness. During that time, she had to let go of Josiah to focus on herself. However Josiah then had to learn how to navigate a life he never thought he'd live. Still being in close proximity, and Yasmen clearly healing, feeling start to bubble up between the couple. Will they make it back together? Will their second chance be one taken or thrown away?

I would definitely check the content warnings, but this was fast paced, emotionally charged, kept me interested, and I was invested in not only Yasmen and Josiah, but all the side characters! I want books on all of Yasmen's friends, the neighbors, even the employees!

I highly recommend it, this is a 5/5 star book for me, but if you are not a fan of those books with some pop culture references, there are some in here, but not where it bogs down the book. I definitely recommend everyone give this a read AFTER checking the content warnings.