In a world where people fight dragons for entertainment and money, the daughter of a famous flamenco dancer and a Dragonador, 18 year old Zarela Zalvidar is about to have her entire world go up in flames. After the death of her mother Zarela has taken up her mother’s mantle and become a flamenco dancer herself. After a disastrous show in which dragons escape and many audience members die and her father is left too injured to even work she’ll have to find a way to not only save her family’s reputation but the arena and uncover what actually happened that day. In order to do that she’ll have to get the help of a dragon hunter, but the only dragon hunter who will even have a chance of helping her is Arturo Montserrat and he absolutely hates her and what her family stands for. Arturo wants to rescue dragons, he abhors the killing of them and everything that Zarela’s family does, but what does she do? Strong arm her way and essentially force him into help her. She will have him train her to become a Dargonador and she’ll also be trying to uncover the murders that are happening around her. This was an enemies to lovers story set in an intriguing world of dragon battles and a little bit of mystery. My biggest issue with the book unfortunately was just how much I found Zarela to be irritating. Yes she is suppose to be a spoiled, selfish, and self righteous 18 year old, but my god it was hard reading from her POV. I honestly don’t see what Arturo even saw in her. For romance to be one of the main parts of this book it sure didn’t seem like it. The only reason I was able to finish the book was because I had already read about 50% of it and was determined to see how the mystery resolved itself. While the world and premise itself seemed interesting, the execution was lacking for me. So despite it not working out for me, definitely give it a go, mayb you’ll have a better experience then I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

In a place where everything you do is micromanaged, upcoming actress Hana has finally landed a leading role in a kdrama across from super famous Kpop star Bryan Yoon. When their show gets low ratings the higher ups propose a tactic to garner more attention for the show: Hana and Bryan fake dating... except Bryan starts falling for her and when Hana’s old classmate/ rival/ and best friend Minjee comes back into her life... Hana is starting to realize the reason she isn’t falling for the sweet K-pop heart throb is because her heart already belongs to the one person it wasn’t suppose to. In the Kdrama world the rule is : don’t fall in love with your costars... but how will Hana balance the line between her fake relationship with Bryan, her feelings for her best friend Minjee, and escaping the ordeals of paparazzi, crazy fans, and the pressures of the industry? Hana will have to find it in herself to be brave enough to stand up for who she is and who she loves in an industry that does not look kindly to queer individuals, especially when pressure from the higher ups could completely ruin her career but the career of those she cares about. This was a sweet and cute story about finding the courage to stand up for who you are and who you love. As a huge k-drama fan myself it was so much fun to see hints of other K-drama shows mentioned and how realistic the pressures Hana was under. Her relationship with Minjee was adorable and so sweet, seriously Minjee is amazing. Her friendship with Bryan was just as cute and fun! Definitely give this one a read!

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

An elite summer camp, a secret society, and a girl thrown into the legacy of her mother. This story follows Arlee Gold, all her life she has never been good enough for her mother, she’s failing school, she’s got an extreme phobia of insects, and she’s just not doing great after her dad left. So what does her mom do? Send her to the camp that changed her life, Camp Rockaway. A elite college prep summer camp deep in the North Carolina wilderness (yes send the girl with extreme phobia of insects into the freaking woods filled with insects, brilliant). Arlee suffers from insecurity, shyness, anxiety, and the moment she steps into camp and people discover whose daughter she is, she is instantly made a pariah and feared by everyone but no one will tell her what her mother did to garner this reputation. The only people who welcome her are her bunkmates, and after two days she falls for the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her, Winnie. Soon Arlee must navigate a camp where girls dislike her, where her mother’s legacy haunts her, and when she is invited to join a secret society in which girls must protect the other girls at all cost, she will soon find herself in over her head. Arlee is an unlikable narrator, and the story pacing was off for me. I did appreciate the unsettling camp atmosphere and the in depth descriptions of the insects to highlight how gross they were, but the entire storyline and murder mystery was just kind of meh for me. Arlee was a frustrating character to read from, and if I’m being real honest the ending of the book was just ugh. I honestly was rooting for the camp compared to Arlee. This was set up as a creepy mystery with a Lord of the Flies meets Wicker Man story but kind of missed the mark on both counts for me.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A new adventure awaits for Samantha Knox and her friends! After her harrowing escape in Dublin Sam has returned to school and is finally looking forward to going on a student trip... except her Professor is misogynistic and outright hates her and has specifically excluded her from it. But when has that stopped her? When Sam discovers a letter asking for help with an ancient artifact her bags are packed and she is on her way. Along for the journey is her boyfriend Bennett and his sister her best friend, Jo. Sam is here to prove to her professor that she is more than what he thinks, that she is worthy. When she arrives in Crete, Greece she soon finds herself discovering an ancient Snake Goddess’s golden girdle in the depths of a cave shrine that has been buried for decades... yet something is not right about the girdle and soon she starts hearing things. The girdle isn’t a simple girdle and once again ancient powers are awakened. Now Sam, Bennett, and Jo will have to go on a wild hunt to stop the rise of an ancient goddess and a minotaur in a labyrinth. Can Sam and her friends make it out alive or will this be their last journey? Unfortunately for me this one just wasn’t as exciting as the first book and that is mainly due to how character focused this one was rather than journey focused, and by character focused I mean it heavily dealt with Sam’s struggle of being a woman in the field as well as her naive nature as well as her slipping under the pressure of constantly wanting to be right and risk everyone’s lives without caring and with Bennett, despite being the love interest, being a man who is privileged and can’t support or work with Sam. Bennett and Sam’s relationship struggles was prominent in this book, especially with them constantly butting heads but I do understand both their points of issue, Sam wants to be seen, she wants to make her place in the field, but she’s reckless, selfish, impulsive, and naive on the other hand Bennett is privileged, he can’t understand her struggles so he kind of undermines her and constantly sides against her, while worrying about not only her safety but all of their safety, because I mean, after Dublin I too would be concerned. Bennett just wants to make sure they aren’t destroying the world, risking their lives, or awakening ancient spirits or anything again, and thats valid. So while yes, I did enjoy getting to see them on their journey and getting a new artifact and adventure from them, this book struggled with being enjoyable since the characters were constantly at odds and fighting with each other or making dumb decisions. By the end of the book they all resolve their issues and do grow which is great and I hope the next adventure they go on in the next book will have more of a pleasant time for them and theirs more sweet fun moments for the trio in general.

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

Monster, Savior, Angel, Destroyer. Sixteen-year old trans boy Benji just wants to escape from the cult that raised him and unleashed Armageddon... and decimated the world’s population. They have experimented, killed, and created monsters, and Benji is their ultimate project. Benji wants to save the world from their destruction, he wants to be able to be himself without having people worship him for being a monster that will kill people. When his escape attempt goes wrong and his father is killed he is saved by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center (also known as the ALC). Their leader is Nick, a gorgeous deadly shot who is autistic and he knows Benji’s secret. Benji is the cult’s bioweapon that is slowly turning him into a monster and they want to use him to wipe out humanity from the earth once and for all believing that they will all be going to heaven and doing God’s will. But Nick has other plans and darker secrets...and Benji will have to ask himself if he can trust Nick. When Benji’s fiancee finds him and tells him that he has left the cult for him, things get even more complicated. Benji is slowly deteriorating, his boy is decaying and soon there will be nothing left but the monster in him. Benji only has a few weeks left to save the world and he’ll have to find out who he can truly trust and if he can embrace the inner monster in order to stop those who want to hurt him and the ones he loves. This was a beautiful story, albeit filled with horror and action, it was absolutely fantastic. It was one trans boy’s journey into defining himself, and taking a stance against the world that doesn’t see him for who he is and to go against all the labels created for him. It was magical, it was action packed, it was romantic, and it was just an absolute joy to read! ( Though if I’m being honest I WOULD LOVE MORE, LIKE MAYBE AN EXTRA EPILOGUE OR SOMETHING CUZ I DO NEED ME SOME MORE BENJI AND NICK CUZ THEY ARE JUST SO SWEET).

*Thanks Netgalley and Peachtree, Peachtree Teen for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Mysterious letters, a shapeshifting boy/crow, and a girl who is about to discover unlikely secrets. Roda lives in a place where monsters room free but she is safe in her small town surrounded by a wall of freezing mist that keeps the beasts away. She’s been receiving letters from a secret pen pal that helps her, when she gets instructions to save a crow she does. She takes the crow home and nurses it back to health only to find out its a shape-shifting boy named Ignis. Ignis doesn’t remember where he was going before he crashed into the enchanted mist but there has to be a reason Roda’s Anonymous penpal brought them together. So begins their journey to a mysterious place called Nowhere, just beyond the mist. But Ignis has secrets, so many secrets, and Roda doubt’s she can trust someone who keeps her in the dark. However their journey will push them to work together, and soon face an even greater dilemma. Throw in some time travel, some complicated moral decisions, and magic and you get a fantastic journey. Roda and Ignis are connected in more ways than they though and every action and choice they make will impact their past, present, and future. I hope there is a sequel to this book, it leaves on a bit of an open note and I would love to see where these characters go next and how their choices impact them. I had so much fun reading this and it was definitiely a unique story ( honestly definitely worthy of being a show/movie!!)

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

Two brothers, two daughters, secrets, betrayal, and danger all await them as they set on an adventure. The story follows brothers Algie (12 years old) and Everett (16) who have gone to a secluded hotel in Florida for holiday with their mother. The hotel owner’s girls, Frankie and Lulu join them as they embark on their adventure to solving mysteries. Giant squids, friendship, and hijinks await these characters as they try and figure out what sort of creature is haunting the hotel. It was a cute read with fun elements of fantasy and an overall fun book for readers. While it night have felt a bit disjointed at points and the story might seem a bit confusing at points its an overall fun read.

*Thanks Netgalley and Union Square Kids - A subsidiary of Sterling Publishing for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Magic, history, and the roles we are given. This is a story following four people who want to restore magic to Ricer City after its decline twenty years ago. Each of the characters has a complex and layered relationship to gender, sexuality and magic. Let me first start off by saying I love the cover of this book and the premise of this book sounds so interesting. Now, onto the more difficult, the way the story is written and told is a bit confusing, the narrative use of “we” and “us” and constant changing of “he” and “she” left me trying to piece together what was going on and who was what as well as the whole archetype thing of -maiden, king, monster, etc going on. This story deals with abuse, both physically and mentally, and so many of the characters were abused but the abuse isn’t really properly addressed in about the first 50% of the book. The book started off great but the more I read on the more I lost interest and got confused about what was going on. Theres nothing really explained about these characters and the romance was meh at best. The characters ( except for Turing) felt flat and I truly don’t see how much of an emotional investment you can have for them and expect to have to go forth into a second book when they dont have any personality beyond the superficial elements. The multiple povs does not help the plot itself, it just complicates it and the pacing was also a drag. I adored the author’s other book and this one had so much potential but miss the mark for me.This was on my list of most anticipated books and it just fell flat unfortunately. I feel horrible and bad about giving this book such a low review when I adored the author’s previous work but this was just my experience and well I do hope you give this book a chance and hopefully its a better experience for you.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A mysterious box shows up all around the world and in it, it has the time written of how long you have left to live. This is a story about the people and how they react to this event, this is a story about the relationships of people and what they do now. I was expecting this to be a story about the box mystery rather than the people aspect and I guess thats why this one didn’t work for me. The story felt a bit lagging and while character based I was hoping for some further plot developments about these mysterious boxes. I would definitely recommend this book for people who love reading about character relationships.

*I was given an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A new take on Beauty and the Beast... with an arranged marriage and monster romance. Yes you heard me. MONSTER ROMANCE. Katee Roberts has done it folks, she’s gone and done it and now I NEED THE ENTIRE SERIES. This is the first book and focuses on Briar Rose a human who makes a deal to get out of an abusive marriage and in return she has agreed to be married to a mysterious spouse for seven years. When she meets Sol, he is not what she was expecting, despite being fearsome and a dragon, he is kind, sweet, protective, and caring. He cherishes her and thats something that Briar has not experienced in a long time. But with a ticking clock of 7 years, will these two be able to fully fall in love or will their differences set them apart. This was honestly a sweet story, yes it was steamy, and yes it’s a beauty and the beast retelling, but above all else its a story about caring for yourself and being able to find love again. I adored Sol and Briar’s relationship. They are honest with each other, they communicate, and discuss their problems. They work to give the other space and understanding and it’s just overall a healthy and great relationship. I can’t wait for the second book!