The daughter of a balloonist who secretly loves to create things soon finds herself on an adventure of a lifetime as her father is falsely imprisoned for a crime she committed. When a thief steals her dead mother’s scarf and blackmails her, Prismena has no choice but to do what she asks in exchange for her mother’s scarf back and to keep her projects hidden from her father. Too bad for her that things do not go as planned and the item she had tried to smuggle ends up landing her father in prison. Now Prismena must go on an adventure to rescue her father and face off against so many things. Filled with magic, adventure, friendship, and mystery, this is a great middle grade read.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A Cinderella Retelling mixed in with The Bachelor. Cindy is fresh from fashion school and trying to find her place in the shoe design world. When her step-mother takes her stepsisters and puts them on her show Before Midnight ( a reality show that is essentially The Bachelor) Cindy realizes she could promote her designs and win the money to help start her career. After a plan ride with a mysterious guy who definitely reminds her of Prince Charming... she soon finds that her Prince Charming is the actual suitor of the show she’s landed in. Cindy is a plus size gal and she wants the chance to not only jump start her career but to show that reality tv can have plus size gals on them. Soon Cindy and Henry find themselves falling for each other... but the real question... is is it real? or is it all for TV?

A sweet retelling of a classic in a fun new way! I really liked Cindy. She’s sweet and fun and I loved her body positivity. Henry was charming, and I mean he is essentially Prince Charming. The story is sweet and perfect for anyone looking for a sweet romance read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The author of a extremely popular fantasy novel series.... who has been stuck with writer’s block and can’t seem to write his series finale is suddenly kidnapped and forced to write it..or else. His research assistant and biggest fan is a high school girl named Bridget and after not hearing from him for so long... something seems off. R.M. Haldon (aka Bob to Bridget) is the author of a best selling fantasy series (akin to George R.R. Martin and the whole Game of Thrones books and how he hasn’t written the end of the series) is stuck and can’t seem to write the series finale for his books. Its been 3+ years and fans and the tv show producers...everyone is pressuring him and begging him to write it. One day he is suddenly kidnapped and threatened to finish writing the last book... or else. now Bob has to find a way to not only stall and write the book but to send a message to the only person he knows can help him, Bridget. Soon, it is up to both Bridget and Bob to try and find a way to get to one another and get out of this mess.

This was definitely an interesting read, especially when we consider the whole George R.R. Martin scenario which was in a way kind of funny for me. This definitely takes an interesting perspective on the pressure authors feel from everyone around them to finish their books when sometimes the story will write itself when its ready and not any time sooner. The book was told from multiple perspectives and that definitely added a nice touch to the overall story. All in all, I had a great time reading this and would definitely recommend it!

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

A deadly disease is on the loose and killing children... and its up to Rowan and her friends/love interests to figure it out. The story revolves around a world where there are humans and shapeshifting warriors. Rowan lives in the city of Heliana, a place above the sea where winged-lion shapefshifters protect their kind from humans. Rowan has trained for years to become a warrior but on the day before her training is complete her best friend and the boy she is crushing on are both sent off to fight and she wants to join. Her childhood best friend confesses to her before he leaves and now she is stuck in a love triangle trying to sort out her feelings between the boy who has always been her anchor and friend from the boy who makes her feel alive. Along the way politics, secrets, and war are all unleashed. Rowan must find a way to stop the disease and protect her people, while also deciding who she belongs with. Overall a interesting story, I am usually not one for love triangles and so for me that just didn’t work so well in this story but otherwise it was an okay read.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Forbidden magic, friendship, and adventure await as Emmaline Black’s secret of having witch powers lands her in trouble. In a world where witches are feared and forbidden, every year there is a testing for witches and if they are found out they are exiled. Emmaline’s time is here and her testing reveals her deepest secret...that she’s s witch. Soon she is meets other witches and finds out the real abilities of being a witch and what is actually happening. As she discovers new friends, new powers, and a whole new world she will have to survive all the darkness that is closing in on her. This was a fun read and a nice story about friendship and magic.

*Thanks Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

One girl moves into a new home... but that home has a creepy dollhouse and ghosts.. and mysteries that begin to haunt her. Alice is forced to move after her parents decide to start getting a divorce. Alice and her mother head into a small town where her mother can work as a live-in nurse to a rich elderly lady. The house they move into is regarded as somewhat haunted. It is a huge, imposing house that is kinda spooky but kept in perfect shape. Things begin to get weird for Alice when she finds a dollhouse in the attic that is an exact replica of the house she’s living in... and she wakes up to a ghost girl that looks like one of the dolls in the dollhouse... Overall an interesting middle-grade read filled with a little bit of haunting and a little bit of ghosts and a lot of mystery.

*Thanks Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

*Trigger Warning: depictions of abuse, self-harm, violence, parental neglect, panic attacks, drug use, mental illness, inappropriate student/teacher relationship, racism, and suicidal thoughts*

What would you do if someone found out your deepest darkest secret and is blackmailing you? Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend Jamie Ruan (aka the top ranked student at Sinclair Prep) is found dead. Nancy has always been second place to Jamie. They were more frenemies than actual friends. Jamie was the top rank student... terrorizing people, destroying reputations, and even taking things further to remain at the top. When her father was arrested for embezzlement all her friends left her but she still remained the top student. Nancy’s mother had worked as Jamie’s maid before Jamie’s father was arrested... but now that Jamie is gone soon Nancy finds that the top is open for grabs... too bad someone else has different plans. Nancy and her friends

Spoiler

( Alexander- a fellow scholarship student whose’s brother use to be a top student before he was expelled, Akil- a track star and top ranked student who is dependent on pills to maintain his top spot, and Krystal-a fashion icon at the school who was a delinquent in her past)

find an anonymous poster calling themselves “the Proctor” who is threatening to reveal all their dark secrets if they do not confess to what happened 2 years ago... to a student named Em who use to be their friend.

Spoiler

Nancy has been in a secret relationship with her teacher who is also Jamie's cousin

If her secret gets out... then its all over for her and her friends. Soon they find themselves racing against the clock to uncover who the Proctor is and trying to keep their reputations in tact.

This story was basically a recast asian-American version of Gossip Girl/Pretty Little Liars, down to the student-teacher relationship, the anonymous blackmailer posting their secrets, and friends to enemies relationships. If I’m being completely honest I was on the side of the Proctor and couldn’t really find myself liking Nancy or Jamie

Spoiler

I mean wouldn't you also want revenge against the people who LITERALLY TRIED TO KILL YOU??

As an Asian myself, I completely understood the pressure that comes from your family, from yourself, to be the best, to do whatever it takes to try and not disappoint anyone and just make your parents struggle worth it. I understood where Nancy was coming from, from the part of you wanting something that was just a little self destructive because being perfect isn’t that great. But on the other hand.... eh. Overall the story is only the first in a series and is left with an ending that definitely means theres a sequel as there is still so much more apparently that needs to be explored. If you enjoy stories like How We Fall Apart, Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, The Perfectionists, then this is right for you!

*Thanks Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A queer version of the bachelor except its the bachelor and a producer falling for each other???? SIGN ME UP. This was a surprisingly sweet and funny story about two people getting to know each other and falling in love. Dev Deshpande is a romantic, he believes in fairy tale endings and happily-ever- afters... too bad his own love life is far from that. After breaking up with his boyfriend of 6 years, who also is a coworker with Dev on the reality dating show Ever After, Dev is more than happy to be focusing on work... and that work is the new bachelor Charlie Winshaw. Charlie is doing Ever After to prove to the company that he was just fired from that he can be sociable and regain his reputation in order to work at his company again. Charlie is a gorgeous tech millionaire... but his biggest problem stems from his difficulty with working with other people, be it in working relationships or romantic relationships. Charlie has severe anxiety and has extreme OCD, but he can’t seem to let other people know and people find him difficult to work with. Now its up to Dev to coach Charlie through this dating show and make him presentable to national television, the only hiccup is that now that Dev and Charlie are partners they can’t seem to stop falling for each other... even though Dev is suppose to be helping Charlie date 20 women and finding a fiancee at the end of the show. Soon Charlie and Dev are going on practice dates, working on puzzles, and dealing with mental health issues and discovering one another all while trying to work out their feelings for one another and what will happen at the end of the show.

This was a very cute romance story that handled mental health and sexual identity really well. Charlie has severe anxiety and OCD, and was treated as “crazy” and fired from his job and hasn’t really told anyone except his one friend about it while Dev has clinical depression but does not want to acknowledge it and refuses to go to therapy despite knowing that everyone wants him too. Charlie is also just starting to realize that he is not straight and trying to understand his own sexual orientation. The characters in this story both struggle with many real issues, especially with having mental health issues and the difficulty of not only accepting it but letting people around you know as well as discovering yourself and your sexual orientation. I found Charlie and Dev’s struggles very relatable as someone who deals with similar things and found this to be a refreshing story as it delves into these difficulties while also having a very sweet love story. I would highly recommend this because its just so well done and sweet.

*Thanks Netgalley and Atria Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Margery Kitteridge is mourning the loss of her husband and receives a blackmail letter saying that her husband was a desserter and the news would be revealed if she does not send 100 pounds. Having been disowned from her father for marrying her deceased husband Margery must find some way to get the money. Daniel Hayle, Duke of Carlisle, is returned from Waterloo, but severely wounded with the battle scars to prove it, so wounded that his fiancee left him because she couldn’t stand to look at him. Now he is in search of a wife who isn’t frightened by his scars. Margery and Daniel are soon introduced by their mothers and Margery offers Daniel a proposition, she will play matchmaker for him and in return he will pay her 100 pounds for her services. The only issue is that they both find that they are starting to fall for one another. Now they must deal with complicated feelings, past secrets, and the ominous blackmailer. This was a really sweet story about two people dealing with grief and trauma, who are healing and learning to start over again. I really enjoyed reading it and found their relationship to be quite sweet.

*Thanks Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Being stuck in a spooky mansion for one month cant be too bad right? Ginny Anderson just wants to spend her summer working on her mystery writing workshop and hanging out with her best friend, too bad her parents suddenly spring a research family trip that they are all going on and now have to move into a mansion for one month for her dad’s research. The mansion they are moving into is called Woodmoor Manor and it supposedly haunted. Strange things start happening around Ginny in the mansion and soon she is convinced that she is being haunted. Now its up to her and her new bookworm friend Will to investigate the strange things happening around Woodmoor Manor before something bad happens to Ginny... This was a fun spooky little read! I really liked the whole atmosphere created from the story and I do adore a good ol spooky house story!

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Kids for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*