What a wonderful collection of vampire stories! There’s diversity, POC, Queer, romance, action, and above all, the undead. I absolutely adored how varied the stories were from each other. Some were about romance, some about tradition, some about living, but all of them revolve around the theme of vampires. I really did enjoy reading every single short story and loved the little section after the story that talks about what each story is about and raises a question for you. Each story creates it’s own atmosphere and yet still connects to the overall theme of the undead.My favorite part about this collection though was the diverse selection of people of color and LGBTQ+! This was seriously a delightful collection of stories, and I would highly recommend it for anyone who loves reading about vampires!

*Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A gorgeous collection of magical creatures! The artwork in this book is phenomenal and absolutely stunning! This book features a variety of magical creatures from cultures all over the world. From fairies, dragons, to tricksters, and giants, there are so many creatures catalogued in this book. I think this would make a lovely book for everyone of all ages to enjoy. There are so many creatures and this book does a wonderful job of describing them and where they originated from. The details are wonderful, and I couldn’t recommend this book any higher for anyone interested in magical creatures!

* Thank you Netgalley and DK Children for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A quirky and charming story about the angsty teen great great great great great granddaughter of Mary Shelley. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous and I love it! The story is a great start to the series and the plot is fun and interesting. I really liked Mary and how she’s just trying to leave up to here family’s legacy and ty to find her place amongst the talented women of the Shelley Family. I can’t wait to see where the story continues and read the next book!

*Thank you Netgalley*

A fun adventure for kids! This mixes dungeons and dragons with the fun mischief of teen titans go! The story is really fun and filled with lots of shenanigans. The artwork was great and colorful! I think this would make a great book for kids to read. especially if they like teen titans go!

What happens when an art curator and an artist clash? Well, apparently it ends up being a romance between them. The protagonist is Katherine, having just quit her job after not getting a promotion, she returns home and plans on opening her own art gallery. The love interest is Christopher, aka Kit, an artist and art teacher who is friends with Katherine’s dad. The two immediately clash and don’t mix well at their first meeting. Katherine has just broken up with her sort of boyfriend/ friends with benefits, and Kit just screams “closed off”. Here’s the thing, throughout the story I found myself getting a bit irritated with some of Katherine’s choices and Kit made some valid point’s about her character. However, Kit is also not such a great romantic interest, he’s hot and cold at best and honestly, acts a bit like a teenager in regards to how he reacts to his budding relationship with Katherine, the moment something goes wrong he just completely goes off grid and ignores her. Katherine’s character does grow a bit. but if I am being brutally honest, I didn’t much care for her. This story had the potential to be such a great fit for me but it just did not work out. The story started off sort of like enemies to lovers which I adore, but the one thing missing was the actual chemistry between the two characters. I did enjoy Katherine’s relationship with her family, they’re weird and quirky but ultimately love and support each other. I adored that aspect of the story the most. This was all in all, an okay read, and it does drag on a bit and I just felt like it was missing something.

* Thank you Netgalley and HQ for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was a wonderful and heartfelt story! I absolutely adored reading this and joining eleven year old Peter Lee and his journey. The story has fun art inside and little field motes from Peter’s notebook, which is such a charming detail. The story is told from Peter’s perspective and his journey from dealing with asthma, paleontology dreams, a genius little sister, and a family member that has suddenly become sick. The family dynamic is such so well fleshed out and I really adored the authenticity of it. The things that Peter deals with in the story are very real struggles for kids and people of all ages, and found him to be a relatable character. The story was delightful, heart warming, and I think it would make a great read for anyone of all ages!

* Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Oh boy do I have a lot of feelings after reading this. Initially I came in very interested by the premise but while reading it I became a bit more “huh”. The story revolves around two sisters, Lo and Bea. Lo suffered a huge accident in her childhood and Bea disappeared Lo’s recovery. The story alternates between the two girls views and different years. Lo grows up to be an aspiring journalist while Bea has joined a cult lead by a man named Lev who “supposedly” saved Lo’s life and brought her “back” from the dead. Lo is desperate to find her sister and get in contact with her, so she starts to delve into this cult and before she knows it she’s sucked in by Lev. Lo is an extremely broken person who is suffering from trauma while Bea is a bit more naive and also broken in her own way. The story shows you the different experiences each girl has while being in this cult and how they act with Lev. The story itself started off a bit slow but then rushed itself by the end. It completely wraps up the loose ends which is nice and the thriller aspect of the story was fine. My biggest dislike from this story is how Lo, someone who for a majority of the story was adamant about finding her sister and going against the cult that took her, just does a 180 after sleeping with Lev and suddenly saving the cult is her everything. Lo was presented as someone who was strong and fought like hell, but to suddenly have her turn against her biggest character points from the story just because she slept with a guy? No thank you. Don’t even get me started on how grossed out I was by the fact that Lev

Spoiler

slept with both girls

.Lev is your typical cult leader, someone who is charismatic, loving, and beautiful on the surface but manipulative and controlling underneath. If I’m being honest I didn’t like either Bea or Lo, I just could not empathize and find sympathy with how both girls were naive enough to fall for the same thing and did not actually take the proper steps into looking for each other or just make rational decisions. Thats just my own personal preference though, I think this book would be a great read for other people though and would definitely recommend you give it a try if you like stories about mysteries and cults. All in all this was an okay read for me and I found it to be a quick and easy read.

* Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A very cute story about a bear and its journey to sleeping. The artwork was very charming and I found the story to be sweet. It would make a great bedtime story for kids!

This book is chaos and pure fire. It was artistic, romantic, and thrilling. The story starts off as a romance but then takes a turn into a thriller. It went from zero to a hundred and I did not see that coming. I was expecting a romance and a story about two people who were not good for each other falling for each other and their ensuing chaotic relationship, but this book completely surprised me with that and an added thriller/ art murder mystery plot thrown in. It was exhilarating to say the least. The story revolves around Veronica, a photographer who wants to make it big, Mick, a swimmer who hates being photographed and is starting to self destruct, and Nico, Veronica’s friend who is an artist and does disruptive art installations. Wherever you think this story is going to take you, it definitely takes you somewhere else. I found myself completely wrapped up in what was going to happen next. The relationship between the three characters is intriguing and unique. They each take from each other but in varying ways, but they also give each other a sense of relationship and friendship. I absolutely had a blast reading this story and I don’t want to spoil any of the fun twist in this story. I really hope you give this amazing book a chance because I can honestly say, I was completely blown away and I absolutely loved how this book ended.

* Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was brutal and absolutely heartbreaking in the best way. I have to start off by saying this book was HEAVY. The cruelties and trauma that the characters endured was heartbreaking and honestly disgusting. WARNING: there is rape, sexual assault, and other dark themes. I felt so bad for them and I just wanted them to get the happiness they deserved. The storytelling was interesting and told from both Kora and Acheron’s POVs. Acheron was a slave who earned his freedom but is forced to marry Kora, and Kora is a girl who watched her family die and is haunted by the ghosts of the undead everywhere she looks. Both are being manipulated by kings, queens, and past tormentors while facing the looming danger of the Minotaur. Acheron is an extremely traumatized character struggling to just get by day by day while Kora is a very compassionate yet brave character. The romance that slowly buds between them is quite sweet and caring, Kora is a nurse who continues to tend to Acheron despite his adamant refusal to accept any of her care. They both care for each other but are struggling with either their past demons or the present danger at play. The story was definitely unique and I liked the added magical element of the gods and monsters mythology into it. Both Kora and Acheron must rely on each other to survive and make it out of the looming dangers while also facing the dangers of the romance budding between them. I liked how the story wrapped up and I am so pleased that these characters got the happy ending they deserved and are slowly healing.

*Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*