An adaptation of the best selling novel The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji! Absolutely stunning artwork, I seriously couldn’t get over it! The story revolves around a group of university students who are all part of the Mystery Club who all travel to a ten sided house on a remote island for holiday. The kick? This house is the location in which a grisly and unsolved mass murder occurred. The club is filled with students who are all using monikers of famous detective novelists and are here to vacation and possibly try and solve this unsolved murder... yet unknown to them a deadly game has just begun and they are all going to be picked off one by one. While this is all happening, previous club members (three) are sent a letter accusing them of murdering a girl who had died on the previous club’s trip... who just happens to be the daughter of the slaughtered family who died in the decagon house... and the letter was sent from the dead father. Now two mysteries are at play, and this definitely gives off an Agatha Christie “And Then There Were None” vibe. This was such a great first volume adaptation and you can bet I will be reading the rest of this series!

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

A new retelling of The Nutcracker but for adults? Color me intrigued. This story follows Marietta Stelle who longs to become a ballerina, but in 1906 her parents have other plans for her, particularly for her to become the wife of the mysterious and rich new toymaker who moved in next door, Dr. Drosselmeier. Marietta however, has sensed something wrong and dark about him and soon finds herself escaping him and his magic by running through a clock and entering into the magical snowy lands of Everwood. Now she finds herself trapped as a dancer for the king along with other women he has held captive and must join together to escape his clutches before he kills her. Throw in a dashing captain, a kick-ass fairy, and a warrior princess and what you get is definitely an interesting spin on the original classic. While the premise of this story had all the makings for something I would love, I found myself loving interest the further along I got into the book, I found myself not even caring as Marietta was in Everwood (which is essentially suppose to be the whole magical point of this book) which sucks. I didn’t really care for the romance and Marietta was a bit annoying for me, like at certain points I was questioning what was even going on in her head??? At one point she risks the plan the lives of the other two captives to say goodbye to her crush?? Mam, we are all gonna die and this is what you’re gonna risk our lives for? This definitely reads more like YA than adult. Sadly this book just didn’t meet my expectations and the premise of the book was so good but the execution never really met up to the potential. While I didn’t enjoy it as much, if you are a fan of the classic story definitely give this a try, maybe you’ll like it.

*Thanks Netgalley and Harper 360, HQ for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Best friends at work, and essentially work wife and work husband. Cadence Lim and Matt Escanilly are about to take their relationship out of the office and into reality. Cadence Lim is the number cruncher and an integral member of the Prism Reality team, but after years of hard work... she wants more. To make matters complicated her complicated relationship with her family, particularly her father, weighs on her and it makes it her want a new beginning. Cue, Matt Scanilla, her best friend and coworker. Matt is the top broker, everything in his life is coming together, everything except his love life. Matt is the exact opposite of Cadence, he’s super close to his family and they are constantly texting, seeing each other, and when they nag him to bring his girlfriend home for a family gathering... he thinks its the perfect opportunity to ask the girl he’s had a crush on since forever, Cadence. When competing promotion threatens to separate Cadence and Matt and a work trip brings all their feelings out into the open they’ll both have to figure out where they want their relationship to go and if they can make it work. This was a cute rom-com and I really liked how sweet both of them were! Definitely give it a go if you’re looking for a cute romance read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A tragedy sparks an unexpected journey for one girl as she delves deeper into the issues in her community and where she stands in the world. Maybelline Chen “May” isn’t the perfect Chinese Taiwanese daughter her mother expects her to be, her brother Danny however is a great son, he’s charming, social, friendly, a great son, and just got accepted into Princeton. Yet May has started noticing something seems off, little things that show that her brother might not be as happy as she thought. When he leaves to go to a party one night and suddenly May and her family awake to police officers at their door telling them that Danny has committed suicide on the train tracks... May’s entire world is upended. Life without her brother wasn’t something she ever thought would happen... but things only get worse when at a school meeting racist accusations are hurled at May’s parents for putting too much “pressure” on Danny. May’s grief has turned to rage, all her life her parents have been telling her to keep her head down but May feels like this is the time to speak up. She begins to challenge these ugly stereotypes through her writing, and yet the more she challenges them the more her life seems to get difficult. Soon she will have to face hard facts about the world around her, the way racism in her community works, the struggles and difficulties of being a person of color in a world that keeps pushing them down. All the while she’ll have to deal with “not being asian enough” for those in her own community, how her own ignorance to the struggles of others might appear, how racism could have real consequences, especially when her mother’s job is at stake, and how finding her own voice, standing up for her community and herself, truly will let her take back the narrative. She won’t stay silent and she will fight for her story. This was a beautiful story about grief and identity, as an Asian American I could relate to so many aspects of this story. It was a an emotional read that had me tearing up and I would highly recommend this!
*Thank you Harper Teen for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Charlie and Nick are back again and this time will be tackling much bigger and more difficult steps in their relationship. After the Paris trip Nick now knows about Charlie’s eating disorder and Charlie is dealing with his anxiety of finally telling Nick he is in love with him. This volume focuses on the difficulty and struggles of having a love one with a mental disability and getting them the help they need. It’s not pretty, it’s not easy, but it is so beautifully depicted and heartwarming. I truly loved this progress in the story and the way the author handles serious issues. It was heartwarming to read and I found myself even crying at moments in the story. Please pick up this amazing series by this author! Charlie and Nick are both very sweet and caring people, their friends are wonderful support systems for them. The message of this volume was that you do need more than just one person to help you, you need other people: family, friends. and just other people to also support you and help you.

A modern day take on Reylo except they're both chefs??? SAY LESS. This was giving Reylo/Star Wars meets The Bear with a dash of Crazy Rich Asians. Alexander Chen is one of the most talented chefs ever, he's intimidating, controlling, and dominating in the kitchen. Eden Monroe is his newly hired sous chef... and she may have lied on her resume to land the job. Eden is the exact opposite of Alex, she's friendly, sweet, and has a backbone to take him on like no one else. Alex may rule his kitchen with an iron fist and have a bit of a temper, but something about this small, freckled, and sweet woman just calls to him and he finds himself doing things he's never done before. Eden comes crashing into his life, yet she has so many secrets, including that she used to know him, they went to the same culinary school before she was kicked out. Eden and Alex have so many things going on in their lives, yet when they're together, cooking, something just clicks, and they're perfectly balanced for each other. This was such SUCH a cute take on Reylo and I adored it so much. It's so much fun, the story was adorable, the chemistry was hot, and I adored both of the characters so much. I've read a ton of Reylo inspired books, but this one absolutely blew it out the park to me. It changes things and yet still captures the magic. I would absolutely recommend it!

*Thanks Netgalley and Lake Country Press & Review for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A beautiful children's story about the pressure to perform and finding support in a true friend. When a bear who plays piano is pressured to perform he decides to take a break and then meets a new friend. This was a really cute read and it has such a nice message. The artwork was fantastic and I think that this is would make a great read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

When you're the only girl without the magical soul mark it means it's time for you to go on a quest to find one. Dori Lowry is an eleven year old girl who is the only person without a soul mark. She is determined to find out why she is the only one without it and that means asking for help from the mysterious Silis Madden, a classmate with an extraordinary mark. That's only the beginning of the things that Dori has to do, she also has to deal with her mom's new boyfriend who has just moved in... and he is his own kind of weird. Her mother's boyfriend's mark triggers a strange event and Dori begins to see creatures... yet despite not having a showing mark she has a new ability. Dori will have to learn about the strange creatures that she has just begun to see and find herself learning about the mysterious Madden family. Friendship, adventure, magic and more come together in this really fun middle grade novel. I loved the adventure that I got to go on with Dori and her friendship with Silis was sweet. This was a really unique story and I think that young readers will definitely have fun with it!

*Thanks Netgalley and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A really cute gothic little alphabet love perfect for any fan of macabre! This is the perfect little book for learning about the alphabet and the macabre. It's got cute illustrations and a really fun usage of the alphabet. I definitely think it's a cute book for any gothic kid out there!

*Thanks Netgalley and Uniquely Morbid for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

One night, powers out and the perfect pizza delivery guy... anything can happen on Halloween. Lexi is a single mom who loves Halloween... and after being single for so long she decides to try a dating app and when the hot guy she talks to on the app doesn't respond she decides to call it a night and order pizza... but then said hot guy from the app also appears as her pizza delivery guy... and then the power goes out and its just the two of them..... and anything can happen on a hot halloween night. What more could you want from this absolutely spicy fun halloween novella read??

This book was such a fun time. I loved every second of it and would absolutely love to read more from this universe. It's hot, its fun, and it's the perfect Halloween romance read! The characters are fun to read about and the premise was everything. It's just a great time and one that I will absolutely be re-reading next halloween!

Release Date: December 10,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Luna Literary for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*