**Thank you to Avid Reader Press and author Emily Gould for sending me an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and feelings expressed in this review are solely my own.**

1.5/5 (physical book)

The summary of this book sounded so promising and interesting, and I was excited to jump into a sappy, music-filled romance - and some parts of the book glimpsed to this - but the novel as a whole did not live up to the expectations I had set.

I did not feel like the characters developed throughout the story as they held the same, bland life and characteristics as the years went by. So many had the potential to grow into complex, interesting, possibly even relatable, characters, but I felt like this fell short.

I also feel like the book had too much going on plot-wise to even develop a complex story to overlay the fairly static characters. Gould set up a nice plot jump to the future with Laura's daughter, Marie, mixing in, and I thought maybe we would get to know more about their relationship together growing up, but it just flew by! Within a few chapters, Marie was all grown up and was expected to be heading to college soon.

This book fell short again in that there was no development to the relationships and connections between characters. At each chapter or "part" break in the novel, I was not sure if it was going to jump into a new section of Laura's life or if it was going to further develop the current plot I was reading.

The last thing that I think really dropped this book from a 2 to a 1.5 was the number of errors throughout. I completely understand that no form of writing is perfect and that what I read was the ARC, but there were gender discrepancies with Daisy's dog, random punctuation, misused words, and minor spelling mistakes. As someone who is slightly obsessed with grammar, these stuck out strongly to me.

Overall, I think this book really just fell short because of the lack of development in characters and plot, and I probably will not be recommending it to others.

3.5/5 (physical book)

**Thank you again to Stories Untold Press and author D.E. Night for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and feelings expressed in this review are solely my own.**

The Crowns of Croswald was the first middle-grade book I have read in probably close to 12-15 years. I typically read young adult contemporary literature or adult thrillers/mysteries, so it did take me until about page 100 to really get into the style and writing of a middle-grade book, fantasy at that.

In this first book, we are introduced to an array of magical and royal characters - the main character being Ivy Lovely. Ivy seems like a young girl with a poor picking in life's lottery, but as the story unfolds, she becomes a complex character with many secrets revealed.

I really enjoyed the development of Ivy's character, and I think she is what kept me going in this book. Author Night did a really nice job of developing her background throughout the story, and by the end of the novel, I was itching to learn more about what was revealed.

I also enjoyed the development of friendship in the story between Ivy, Rebecca, and Fyn. The relationships, though at some points may have felt underdeveloped, really created a pact that always felt like they had each other's interests in mind. This is always, in my opinion, a good theme to portray in youth literature.

The more the story unfolded, the more resemblance I felt it had to Harry Potter. I would not say that they are on the same level of world creation and character complexity/development, but the storylines felt pretty similar - a "maid" child with unknown magical powers gets invited to attend a school for people with magical powers and then has a bunch of misfortunes start to occur for the child and their two friends. It was a cute read, though, and this book definitely did a nice job creating a setting to be followed throughout a series.

There were a few things I disliked, and this might be mostly because I have not read a middle-grade book for so long, but also because I am a pretty picky reader. There were a few spelling and grammatical errors that stood out while I was reading. As stated above, I am a very picky reader, and it is a pet peeve of mine to see spelling and obvious grammatical errors (though, yes, I know no work of writing will ever be perfect. All writing is a work in progress). The other part was the underdevelopment of certain scenes in the plot or conversations between characters. Sometimes it felt like a conversation would happen and there would still be so many questions going through my head that were never answered. The questions were more on a logic/trust level of the characters, but again, I think this could be because I am not used to reading middle-grade books.

Overall, though, this was a fun read that has me interested in picking up the second book to continue the story. I would recommend those who enjoy fantasy novels and who don't mind picking up a middle-grade novel to check this one out!

4/5 (physical book)

This is a really cute book about making friends feel accepted for something they can do. Pete the Cat trys really hard to help his new friend Platypus fit in, but they struggle to find something he can do. That is, until Pete finds out Platypus plays music! I enjoy this series of books about would reccomend it to early readers.

5/5 (physical book)

I'm not sure who has more fun reading this book, me or the kids. I love how interactive it is, making it appropriate for a wide range of readers. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

5/5 (physical book)

I adore this book! It has such cute illustrations, and I love the way it encourages readers to embrace their differences and live life with a glass that is half full. I highly recommend this one!

3/5 (physical book)

This book was cute and interactive. The colors were vibrant and the text goofy. An enjoyable read for early readers!

2/5 (physical book)

I was not impressed with this series, and that makes me kind of sad. I wanted to love this series, this book, as much as I feel like everyone else does, but I just couldn't. This was the first time I have read past the first couple of chapters in this book, so a majority of it was new to me (unlike the first two books which I read when I was younger).

I think my biggest issue with this book was that I felt like there was too much going on and not enough depth to the important parts. This book had so much potential to be an action-packed adventure, but instead, I felt like it just skimmed the surface on a lot of the events and characters. Most of the characters felt felt flat, lacking complexity and development. I thought the mental health theme could have been a really interesting point of development for characters like Finnick, Katniss, and Peeta, but the plot just did not dive deep enough into that part of the characters.

There were also a bunch of surface-level issues with the writing that I couldn't get past again, just like in the first book. The sentence fragments made it hard to hone in on what was happening and, for me, it made the paragraphs hard to comprehend at times.

I will always appreciate the world that Suzanne Collins built, and the idea of The Hunger Games is truly brilliant, I just can't say that this series was for me.

4.5/5 (physical)

CW: Missing children, fighting, child abuse, CPS abuse, homophobia

Wow...Amazing, brilliant, gut-wrenching, needed, jarring. Tiffany D. Jackson really made a statement with this book, and I am so glad I read it. I have really enjoyed her work in the past ([b:Let Me Hear a Rhyme|36285129|Let Me Hear a Rhyme|Tiffany D. Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539639119l/36285129._SY75_.jpg|57947509] and [b:Allegedly|30037870|Allegedly|Tiffany D. Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476974718l/30037870._SY75_.jpg|50000013]), but this book really blew it out of the water for me.

This was the first book of Jackson's that I read in physical format, the others were audiobooks, but I feel like I need to go back and reread them in physical format, too. Jackson has such a way with words and storytelling, and all of her novel's topics are relevant and important and needed in our society. I commend her for tackling such difficult topics and doing it so well. She does not glorify them or make them seem fantastical. Jackson makes them raw and real.

I already want to read this book over again. I think that Claudia is such a dynamic character with so much love and insecurity, and Monday was the friend who brought both of those things out. I think that Claudia's attention to her friend's disappearance is admirable, and the development her character has throughout the story because of this is amazing.

One thing that did fall short for me was the chapter formatting. I was actually pretty confused in the first few chapters because I was not 100% sure when/where the story was taking place. The chapters are "before", "after", "1 year before the before", etc., so it was hard to follow the timeline in certain areas. I think just a "before" and "after" would have worked better, or even just not at all.

And I have to say the final plot twist - unexpected, yes - was not fully needed. It felt a bit forced and stood out as being placed in as a plot twist. I think the story was already tragic and beautiful and raw and real that this twist was just really not necessary.

I think this novel would be great for middle school and high school students to read. It shows the horrors of child abuse and neglect and the story really makes its readers think critically about what systems we have in place for these types of events.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to any and everyone. Let's talk about it if you have read it already!

4/5 (audiobook)

This book was a mix of emotions - sadness, laughter, confusion, understanding. It tells the unique, engaging stories of each character without breaking them each up into their perspectives.

I did have to start this audiobook over about three times, and not really to any fault of its own. I just always seemed to start it at a bad time and ended up having to start over because I did not have enough time to listen to a portion to where I remembered the details. With all that being said, I did find the beginning of this audiobook to be a bit slow. It might have been different had I been reading the physical book, but it just seemed to take a while to get into the major plot points of the stories.

The characters in this book are fun and real and dynamic. I was genuinely interested in each of the character's lives because they told a real story. A story that I could be engaged with. Nikki was a feisty, independent woman who wanted to make something of her life based on her own choices, and that is something I respect in characters, especially female characters. Her relationships and personal growth developed so much throughout the story and created a complex character who was interesting to read about.

I also fell in love with the writing class. Initially, I was not sure what to expect, but after the first few sessions when the widows started to feel more comfortable telling and writing their stories, I found myself laughing, gasping, blushing, and rooting for the characters they created. The women were ready to push the boundaries and challenge the traditional expectations of their culture by creating and sharing these stories, and again, it was inspiring to see a group of courageous, strong, intelligent, and amazing women push societal expectations and really challenge those beliefs of the ones who believe they should be silenced.

I really liked the way the two major plots intertwined with each other. From past reading experiences, I know this can get a little messy and it has turned me off from some of the plotlines because I am just not as committed to it. But, I feel like Balli Kaur Jaswal did a nice job of creating a complex plot that includes Nikki's personal development along with the story of Maya and her mysterious death.

So, overall, I really enjoyed this listen, and one of the major "issues" I had was that the beginning was a bit slow for me, and again this may have been an audiobook thing. Either way, I would definitely recommend this book to others!

3/5 (physical book)

CW: Murder, homophobia, mental abuse, physical abuse, reference to drugs

Going into this book, I knew that there are a lot of mixed reviews about it, but I wanted to be able to create my own thoughts on it.

I buddy read this book with a friend of mine, so it was nice to be able to talk about the parts were liked, we didn't like, and the ones we were confused about. And I really had high hopes for this book after the first and second parts. I thought that, hey, this could be a 4+ star read for me. But then the third part came around and blah...

Part I

I was sucked into the story from the first couple of chapters. The story picked up with a vigorous plot, introducing us to a cast of characters who were all put in a situation that was out of the norm for most of them. Bronwyn, Cooper, and Addy all had clean records and good academic standings, so why were they all placed into detention for cellphones that weren't even theirs? And Nate, the detention regular, was caught for a phone, as well? What are the odds? Seems unlikely...And Simon was the odd man out, and soon enough, he was the center of attention. I immediately wanted to find out what happened.

The characters are all so vastly different, but they create a circle of interest and suspicion as their stories unfold. I like how Karen M. McManus tells the story of each character without having to do major flashbacks and "before" scenes. I think that mixed with the multiple perspectives would have been too overwhelming. But learning about each of the characters through not only their perspectives, but also the perspectives of the others was engaging and helped to tie everything together.

Part II

I did not enjoy part two as much as part one, but I still thought it was engaging.

Addy's character really develops and discovers who she wants to be in this part. I was rooting for her since the beginning because her relationship with Jake was sooooooooo toxic. I wanted to see her become independent and realise that she can do so much without him.

We also learn some things about Cooper in this part, and the way they are presented made me suspicious of him in regards to the murder. In Part I and Part II, Cooper was presented as this A+ individual, but there are little things mentioned about him, like the unnamed texts and secret meetings, that made me unsure if he was really as amazing as he was said to be. And at the very end when he met up with Kris, the way Cooper said "we should talk about the Simon thing" made him sound SUPER guilty in the matter.

Part III

I did not love this part. Everything felt really rushed and underdeveloped and underwhelming. I felt like the involvement of Jake was given away by all of the "control freak" comments being made by Addy's sister and friends, so I was not super shocked to find out that he was involved. Same with Janea. There was a lot of focus on her, albeit not for the exact reasons I was expecting, but she was kind of given away early in Part II I feel.

I will say, though, that the book kept me reading. It was engaging, the ending just did not feel completely satisfying to me. I was hoping for more explanation as to how Simon pulled everything off so perfectly without many hiccups. But I suppose that is the luxury of fiction.

I also was annoyed with how Nate treated Bronwyn after he was released from juvenile. I understand that the experience was traumatic and intense for him to say the least, but I feel like to go from the way he was treating her before to the way he treated her after was unexpected. It made him out to be a real jerk.

Epilogue

I did like the epilogue and how it brought everyone together through Bronwyn's perspective, but I feel like it held similar to Part III of just being underwhelming - I was hoping for more. I am sad it ended the way it did, but I still have to stay that the story engaged me and had me wanting to find out what happens next.

Overall, though I was initially sucked into the story and the intense plot, I was not a huge fan of the writing style. It just felt a little flat and underdeveloped at some points, and it seemed like some ideas could have been more complex. And I did not think I was going to be a fan of four different perspectives telling the story, but I think that McManus did a nice job with this and made it feel like an intentional decision. I probably will not read the second companion novel to this story, but I think this book is worth a read if you are looking for a quick-paced young-adult mystery.