4/5 (physical book)

Jason Tharp came to the school I work for and gave a presentation on his book the day it was released. It was really interesting to hear his thought process behind this story, and to hear about his journey into becoming an author.

Again, I thought this book had a really important message to pass along to its readers - enjoy who you are and embrace being unique. This is something that everyone could use reminding of every now and then.

I also really enjoy the illustrations in this book because they look like they were draw with the image of excited, diverse readers in mind. The colors are so vibrant and fun!

5/5 (audiobook)

I absolutely adore the Montague Siblings series, and the novella was just what I needed this week.

The romance between Monty and Percy is pure and absolutely fun! I love how Mackenzi Lee makes their relationship realistic and relatable. Lee does not glorify anything about the duo for their romance, which is a nice change from most young adult romance.

Multiple times I found myself laughing at Monty, who stayed the goofy, awkward yet confident, and slightly arrogant character I fell for in The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. And of course, there was Percy who remained the gentle, loving, caring young man who always brings logic to a situation. This is a nice side story to see more of their blossoming relationship.

The story commenced with a fun scene where Percy is swimming with the shipmates, and Monty and Felicity are discussing how Monty should set up a romantic night to have his "first time" with Percy. As the siblings continue in their awkward banter about this, Percy remains totally innocent and adorable.

There are plenty of awkward moments throughout the story that made me want to hide my face. The first attempt at their "first time" was so painfully awkward and full of mishaps that turned into an argument, but as uncomfortable as it got, it was real. So many young adult novels glorify sex or make it seem "perfect", but Lee wrote it in such a way that it felt real-life.

I also want to say that Scipio is amazing. He walks in on Monty and Percy half-naked, with Monty covered in blood, and doesn't bat an eye. He jumps in to help get the room cleaned up and Monty to Felicity for more stitches. Then, after all of this, the big burly guy sits Monty down and tells him that he supports him and his decisions 100%, something Monty never received from his own father. This just made me fall even more in love with this story, and I got all gushy and I think everyone needs a Scipio in their life.

Anyway, if you haven't read this series, you should!

2.5/5 (audiobook)

So, I did not love this book but I also did not hate it. It was a light, fun read for the most part, but I felt like the major plot points did not develop as much as they could, especially the romance.

I like Katrina's character, and I enjoyed her in the first book, as well, but I wish there was more development of her life, including her relationship with Jas and her experiences with her father.

Initially, I was intrigued by the story outline of a shy, private ex-model whose life gets turned upside down by two strangers who snapped a couple of pictures in a cafe. And the story even started off pretty good - modern, making a lot of what happened understandable and relatable to situations we would see today.

However, after things started to blow up on the internet, the story started to feel fake and exaggerated. It was hard for me to feel like Ross and Becca would be able to make this story go all the way to a morning talk show and carry it out as far as they did without pushback from the public.

On top of all of this going on with Katrina, we get a subplot with Jas and McGuire. And again, I wanted to learn more about this and understand what caused all the pain and PTSD Jas suffers from. Unfortunately, I feel like this fell short and there was not enough information about it for me to be truly invested in that part of the story.

I thought the romance was cute and real (though sometimes blush-worthy), but, similar to my feelings towards The Right Swipe, I did not feel like it was as developed as it could have been. I wish there was more personal connection shown and more development between the supporting characters. We received very little reaction from the family and friends, which I feel would not be realistic for a couple who have been working together for years.

I did, though, like the history behind Jas's family and his grandfather's farm. I have not done any research to see if this information is realistic, but it made the story feel more authentic. The family dynamic was tense, especially with Jas, his brother Bikram, and his grandfather.

Jas was unable to tell his family why he stayed away from the farm. After spending time back at the house and learning from Katrina, Jas is finally able to tell his family what has been stopping him from certain activities (like attending the parade that is honoring his grandfather) and really explain to his family what was going on inside his head. This felt raw and real, but still a bit underdeveloped because of the lack of development earlier with the story, including Laura and McGuire.

I have to say, one of my favorite parts of this book has to be Doodle. I am an avid dog lover and she sounds like a true gem. And, okay, when Jas calls her Death and she jumps into protection mode over Katrina when her father was trying to blackmail her, I was totally cheering Doodle on!

I am new to the world of adult romance, so I think that has an influence on my more harsh reviews, but I still want to read more and expand my reading palate.

**Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and author Syed M. Masood for sending me an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of More Than Just a Pretty Face in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and feelings expressed in this review are solely my own.**

3/5 (ebook)

This book started as a 2/2.5 star for me, but as it progressed, I chose to bump it up to 3/5 stars.

The overall story was nothing super impressive for me. It was a cute story with conflict and unexpected (but predictable) resolution.

I was not a huge fan of all of the relationships between the characters. I feel like Masood was trying to make them feel real but having so many different conflicts, but sometimes it felt overwhelming. I was also annoyed by the inconsistency in the use of character names. Sometimes the full first and last name would be used, sometimes it was a nickname, and others it would just be the first. I think this might just be a pet peeve of mine, but it was kind of distracting as I was reading.

On the flip side of things, I was kind of underwhelmed by the overall plot development. It does not feel like there is a lot of development and complexity in the overarching plot, but, putting my foot in my mouth (or thoughts?) like I usually do, the subplots are really interesting and kept me engaged throughout.

One of the subplots I really liked was the cultural aspect. I am trying to read more stories with varying cultures, point-of-views, and lifestyles, and this was a nice look into learning more about Islam's values and beliefs, including arranged marriages. This is a culture that I am not very familiar with, but I feel like Masood did a nice job of highlighting certain values, beliefs, and expectations.

The relationship between Danyal and Bisma was sad, funny, developed, and adorable. From the moment they meet, Danyal is kind to her and understanding of her situation, and though he did not agree to marry her, he was respectful and wanted to be friends with her. It is sad to read about the way her father, and most of society, treats her because of the one "mistake" that she made. It is not a fair judgment to be placed upon her, and Danyal understood that right away.

As this relationship grows while they work on Danyal's Renaissance Man project, we watch it blossom into something sweet and cute and fun. Bisma pushed Danyal to think about his project in ways no one was thinking about. Danyal's professor, father, best friend, long-term crush all believed that he should just showcase Winston Churchill in a positive light and ignore the Bengel Famine and the negative impacts of colonialism.

Bisma believed not. She helps him to create an essay/presentation that incorporates what he wants to say with something engaging for the audience, in the end, blowing everyone away. This is one of the other things I really liked about this book. Masood took the topic of the Bengel Famine and shaped a character who could discuss the way in which the famine and the impact of Churchill are still present. This, as the NetGalley summary predicted, had me shouting "YES!"

I would recommend this book. And if you have read it, let me know in the comments, I would love to talk more about it, especially the relationship between Danyal and Kaval.

**Thank you to NetGalley, Text Publishing, and author Georgina Young for sending me an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of Loner in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and feelings expressed in this review are solely my own.**

2/5 (e-book)

Well, I did not love this one. I didn't feel like I knew a lot going into it, and after finishing it, I still feel like I don't know a lot about the book. I am not sure what the overall message or purpose or point of this book is, and that really frustrates me as a reader.

I know this is an ARC, so changes are still going to be made to the book before publication, but there seemed to be many mechanical and grammatical errors, and the organization was kind of all over the place. The paragraphs are broken up into small, single-spaced sections with some bolded headers. I was so much bothered by this as I was bothered by the lack of cohesiveness between the section headers. It seems like the sections would jump from one thing to the next without a clear transition. This became confusing at some points because the jumps were so jarring.

I also felt that a lot of the characters were static, thus making the relationships between all the characters weak. There was little to no growth in characters throughout, and this makes them feel boring and unrelatable. Looking specifically at Lona's character, I was initially annoyed by how persistently pessimistic she was. I felt like it was a little overdone and there was no give to it. But, after finishing the book, I thought more about how that is the mindset that some people get stuck in.

This, however, leads me to a point that I liked about the book. I felt like the characters were real. And maybe this was part of the boring part, but the lives they were living felt realistic, like something that everyday young adults would be doing. So, though they were pretty static, the activities they participated in felt real. And the one relationship I liked was Lona's and George's. Their relationship felt raw and true. There were some ups and downs and the break up was not smooth. This was nice to read after the flatness of the other relationships.

I was really sad that there was not more about Lona's photography. The book started with her sneaking into the darkroom of her old school, and then it felt like it was done. She talks about needing to build creativity and makes the books, but the description of the book made it seem like her photography was going to be a large part of the book. I guess I was disappointed it was not in there more.
SPOILER AHEAD!!!
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The ending of Loner was actually pretty good. I really like how it ended back at Planet Skate with Lona closing down the place one last time, seemingly closing out her youth and moving forward into her new adult life. The only thing that ruined it for me was the phone ringing at the end. This felt weird and out of place and seemed to ruin the nostalgic state. But, besides that, I thought the ending was really nice.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
SPOILER OVER!!!

I am not sure that I would recommend this book to others because of the lack of organization and growth with characters, but I think the author did a nice job creating the average life of a new adult living on their own and experiencing life themselves.

#Readbannedbooks
Though I do not think this book is perfect, I believe it should be read in schools to allow students and teachers alike the opportunity to better understand topics of gender, sexuality, and incarceration.

4/5 (audiobook)

This is a great children's book about sharing and realizing one's own worth beyond the physical attributes. I also think the illustrations are really fun!

5/5 (physical book)

Fiona The Hippo by Richard Cowdrey makes my heart happy. This is such a cute story about the little hippo from the Cincinnati Zoo who won the hearts of millions. This book spins the story to show what the other animals thought about her, and it was so cute to see the adoration and celebration they had for her. I guess I am probably pretty biased as I LOVE hippos, but I would definitely recommend this book!

2.5/5 (physical book)

I did not go into this book with super high expectations. My expectations were met with a contemporary, young adult romance book, though.

I can't say that I loved everything about this book (I guess which is obvious from my star rating), and there were a few things that bothered me. But I want to highlight the parts I enjoyed, first. I have to say that I really liked the characters throughout. I thought that Merideth was loyal, welcoming, and kind, something that is often overlooked or missing in young adult literature - especially those in a school setting. Mer was there to support Anna from day one, and it was kind of (sorry for the cliche) a breath of fresh air for a character at a new school in a new country to be met with compassion off the bat (here I go again).

Anna was likable but not loveable for me. I thought her character was sometimes whiny about being sent to France for schooling, but on the other hand, I thought it was a really cool trait for her to be so invested in movie reviews. I actually found this aspect of Anna's character to be really intriguing because usually, in my opinion, young female characters are more interested in the acting part of movies and not in the writing critical reviews part.

St. Clair's character is where I started to get mixed feelings. I thought that he, similarly to Merideth, was really accepting of Anna and seemed to want to make her feel welcome to both the school and to France. From the moment they met, though, it was obvious that they both had "feelings" about one another. Which I suppose is all fine and dandy, but St. Clair has a girlfriend (at least had...). This part I struggled with because, yes, feelings for someone can take you over at any time, but I also think the way he went about, well, basically everything was wrong. He led Anna on, though I'm pretty sure she knew from the beginning that he had a girlfriend...so shame on her too.

Then there was the fact that he wanted to break up with Ellie but was scared of being alone. I guess you could say this is where I was torn with the whole situation. I was mad at his character for leading two girls on and playing with their emotions, but I also understand that these types of decisions and life choices can be extremely difficult and taxing on an individual. He seemed to have become comfortable in his relationship with Ellie, and comfort can be an extremely difficult thing to break out of.

I guess I have to say overall, though I did not love this book, I still enjoyed it and found myself smiling at many points throughout. I would recommend it to someone who is looking for a cute, light, contemporary read, but I would not recommend it to those looking for something critical or extremely thought-provoking.

4.5/5 (physical)

This. Book. Was. Great.

The Fault in Our Stars is the first John Green that I have read, and the hype did not disappoint. I am usually turned off to books or authors that are super hyped because I feel that my hyped-expectations never reach the real expectations. This book, however, met and even exceeded my expectations. I also wanted to preface by saying that I had seen the movie multiple times before reading this book, so I kind of knew what to expect going into it, but *shocker*, I still have to say that the book is better than the movie - though I think the movie is pretty good!

Green's writing and storytelling are so natural, raw, and real, and his characters are extremely developed and dynamic. This really helped me understand the emotions and decisions made throughout the book because I have not experienced the same traumas as the characters.

I had an instant appreciation for Hazel because her character was real and honest. The first page starts off with Hazel's internal dialogue telling the reader (rather grumpily) about her mental health and what her parents and doctor recommend she do. The narration feels casual and not glorified, something I really appreciate Green for throughout this novel. Many of the characters struggle with extreme difficulties, like illness, mourning, and heartbreak, and instead of giving these situations an idolized tone, Green presents them in what feels like a raw, real, traumatic manner.

The relationships throughout the book are deeply complex and developed, and they really made the dialogue exciting and attention-grabbing. Firstly, I absolutely adore the relationships between Hazel and Agustus! From the moment they meet, it is clear that there is a connection in the acceptance of their current situations. Both characters develop and grow so much throughout the story, and they truly compliment each other so nicely. I've already briefly spilled my feelings about Hazel, but let me tell you how I feel about Gus (**insert dramatic heart-eyes here**). Gus is so understanding and supportive and amazing, and I truly fell in love with his character. He really seems like THE ideal friend to have. And, of course, the relationship between Hazel, Isaac, and Agustus makes a humorous, fun trio that faces hardship but also lives life to the fullest.

I was especially drawn in by the connection and interest of Hazel (and later Gus) to An Imperial Affliction and Peter Van Houten. I feel that it really struck the inner book lover in me by the way she was so passionate and invested in Van Houten's story. But I can't, of course, look past how much of a jerk Van Houten is initially. Even though I knew it was coming (because I have seen the movie), I was still taken aback by how rude and crude he was to Hazel and Gus when they first met him. I started to warm up to him later in the book, but I was still initially shocked and, thus, put off by his character a wee bit.

The only reason I did not give this book a full 5/5 stars was because some of the plot points felt a little bit...strange(?). The points that stand out to me are actually both about Van Houten. The first was the fact that Hazel did not even think that Van Houten could have experience with or relations to someone with cancer. She kept exclaiming that the book was very accurate and she understood the ending so well, but she never once alluded to knowing, or even thinking, that Van Houten could have a connection to cancer...This just did not feel 100% authentic. The second was at the end of the book when Hazel was attending Gus's funeral and Van Houten just shows up unannounced and seemingly unwanted. I just felt like there should have been more reaction from Hazel or her parents, especially since Hazel's mother knew what he said and how he behaved in Amsterdam.

Either way, this book is amazing and by far one of my highest rated novels! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a cute, raw, realistic read. I can't wait to dive into more John Green books!