Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson. All opinions are my own. 

This was my first book by this author, so I didn’t really have any expectations going into this book. 

It ended up being an enjoyable read. It was interesting from the very beginning and I really enjoyed the ending. I think the middle was a little slow, and I wasn’t interested in that part of the story as much. 

I enjoyed Bristol’s character and how she was willing to go off in search of her father at the risk of her own safety. She was out of her element completely in Elfhame, but I liked how hard she tried to adapt to those changes. 

The romance was okay in this story. I thought the dancing was cute, but I do feel like parts of the romance were rushed. I’m also not a fan of spice, so be aware that there are several open door scenes in this book. 

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator. My only issue with the audio was that I had a hard time telling when the point of view switched (and it switched fairly often). 

Overall, I would recommend this book if you’re looking for an easy romantasy book to read. 

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the ARC of Heir by Sabaa Tahir. All opinions are my own. 

After recently reading the whole Ember in the Ashes series, I had some expectations going into this book. I had heard great things from early reviewers, so I was excited to see what this author had in store. 

The first half of this book was great and immediately hooked me back into this world. I liked the different character points of views and how they eventually tied together. It was also fun to see characters from the Ember in the Ashes series. 

However, the second half of the book made me pretty angry. I couldn’t stand Aiz or the type of person she became as the story progressed. The other characters were okay, but I didn’t love them. 

In a similar way to books three and four of the Ember in the Ashes series, Heir really seemed like evil triumphs over good, which is just really hard to read about after a while since there is very little hope in that kind of storyline. I kept hoping to see some good things happen to any of the characters, but it was just one awful thing after another. 

Overall, I would only recommend you read this book if you’ve read the whole Ember in the Ashes series and loved it. Otherwise, you will miss out on a lot of connections to that series, and you probably won’t enjoy this book if you didn’t enjoy the last couple books of that series. 

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang. All opinions are my own. 

In this historical retelling, Xishi finds herself as a spy undercover in the king’s palace to use her beauty to gain the affection of the king. This is a story of sacrifice, betrayal, and loyalty. Xishi learns that her situation isn’t as black or white as she expected and must make difficult choices that could hurt the people she’s come to care for. 

This was the first book I’ve read by this author, so I didn’t know what to expect. Before going into this story, know that this is not a book that’s supposed to make you happy. It’s heartbreaking and honestly hard to read at times because of how tragic the story is. 

The story was interesting, and I really grew to love the characters. I liked that many of the characters were morally gray in the types of decisions they had to make. I also liked how I didn’t know what would happen next. 

Without spoiling what happens in this story, I really enjoyed the first 90% of the book and had no issues with it. It’s the last 10% of the book that made me only rate this four stars instead of five. 

I listened to the audiobook, and I really liked Natalie Naudus as a narrator. Her voice fit Xishi, and she was able to differentiate the characters well. I would recommend this format. This format is especially great if you don’t know how to pronounce the names in this story. 

I would recommend this book for some people, but it’s definitely not a book for everyone because of some of the content and the futures of some of the characters. 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of Perfect Fit by Clare Gilmore. All opinions are my own. 

This was such a sweet romance about two people that came back together when they needed each other the most. 

I loved Will, the main male character, because he was just such a thoughtful person that was patient, caring, and willing to put others first. I really appreciated how he gave Josephine (the main female character) space to grow without pushing her to quickly make decisions. 

I really appreciated that there was no third-act break-up because those always stress me out, and I don’t find them to be the most realistic conflict. The conflict in this story made sense and was resolved well. 

Josephine wasn’t the typical rich girl character that I’ve seen in other stories. I really appreciated her depth and character flaws. She tried so hard to be there for everyone in her life that she often forgot about taking care of herself. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and will definitely read other books by this author. 

What an incredibly moving story. I haven’t read a lot of science fiction novels, but wow, this was so much more than a story in space. The friendship aspect was beautiful, and I loved the characters so much! While I didn’t understand a lot of the science aspects, it didn’t detract from the story at all. The author’s writing was both funny and heartbreaking. I’d absolutely recommend it even if you don’t normally read science fiction.