booksare42's Reviews (608)

I purchased this book shortly after it was released last year, and I was looking forward to reading it because of all the hype surrounding it. People seemed to be enjoying it, and the book itself is gorgeous, especially with its blue painted edges. I finally got around to reading it this month, and frankly, I was disappointed with it.

Frankly in Love follows Frank Li, a Korean-American teenager who is struggling to deal with his parent’s expectations and their racism. He hates that they believe all the negative stereotypes about other races and that they constantly spout these stereotypes off as facts. He also hates the pressure that this puts on him to fall in love with someone who is Korean, especially when he starts dating Brit Means, who isn’t Korean.

Frank has been friends with Joy Song since they were children. She understands the pressure that Frank feels because her parents have the same expectations for her. It also doesn’t help that Joy is in love with Wu, someone who also isn’t Korean. Neither of them can tell their parents who they’re dating because they don’t want to get disowned from their family like Frank’s sister. They also can’t keep on coming up with excuses about where they’re going when they’re sneaking out to go on dates. Then, one night when their parents decide to play matchmaker, Frank and Joy decide to start fake dating and it provides them with the perfect alibi to carry on with their real relationships. Unsurprisingly, things start to get complicated between them.

My favourite thing about this book was all the discussions about race and racism. I think that the diverse cast of characters in this book allowed for some powerful moments and discussions that stand out. I especially loved the discussions that Frank had with his best friend, Q, because they both contributed different perspectives to the conversation. I also enjoyed it when Frank tried to challenge his parents on their racist views, even if the discussion didn’t go very far.

One of the reasons why I found this book to be disappointing is because I was expecting a cute rom-com, and instead, I got something a lot more complicated. I was expecting a cute fake-dating rom-com that would leave me with heart-eyes and a new OTP, but instead, this was a book about a teenager dealing with a lot of teenage problems. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with this, but unfortunately, I find it difficult to relate to these problems, especially when they’re relationship related.

As far as the characters go, I didn’t dislike any of them, but there were very few that I really liked. Frank was an okay main character, his inner thoughts were frustrating, but he did make a The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference, which is something I will always appreciate. However, I thought he was a jerk to most of the female characters and I felt that the constant mention that Q’s sister was “hot” was entirely unnecessary. My favourite character was Q, and I wish he could have been in the book more. I thought he was a loyal friend, especially considering everything that was going on in his personal life. I wish that his sexuality would have come up sooner, and I hope the reason why it was brought up so late is that the author is planning on releasing a second book told from Q’s perspective.

Overall, even though I was disappointed by this book, it was an enjoyable enough read. I don’t regret reading it, and I’ll probably read the second book if it’s about Q. I also think that I would have been less disappointed if I knew that this book wasn’t a rom-com when I picked it up.

Alex & Eliza is the first book in a trilogy that tells the story of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler. This book focuses on the beginning of their relationship, and spans from when they first met to their wedding day. My friend and I read this book back in February for our book club, because we’re both mildly obsessed with Hamilton and because we both want to read more Historical Fiction this year. Unfortunately, I didn’t love this book, and I was left a bit disappointed after reading it.

The main reason why I didn’t love this book is that I thought it was slow. The majority of the book takes place between February 1780 and April 1780, and this period felt a lot longer than two months. This is the first historical romance book that I’ve read, so I don’t know if this pace is normal, but for me, the book seemed to drag on.

One thing that I enjoyed about this book was learning more about the Schuyler sisters. I’ve listened to the Hamilton soundtrack countless times, so I’m familiar with Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy, but I really don’t know much about them. I enjoyed reading about their efforts to support the troops, the struggles their family was going through, and their sisterly bond. I especially enjoyed reading about Elizabeth Schuyler because she’s amazing, and I would love to learn more about her life.

I also enjoyed reading about Alexander Hamilton and his struggles to rise above his post. Alexander Hamilton is another historical figure that I’m familiar with because of the musical, but I really don’t know much about it. I found some of his inner monologues to be humorous, and I liked reading about him being love-sick over Elizabeth Schuyler.

As I mentioned before, my knowledge of Alexander Hamilton comes from listening to the soundtrack for the musical, which is a dramatization (with creative liberties) of Hamilton’s life. Reading this book made me wonder about historical accuracy because I noticed differences between the Musical and this book. I don’t think I’m ever going to read Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton, but, I would like to do some reading about Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler, to learn more about their lives and that time period.

Overall, I enjoyed Alex & Eliza, but I found it to be too slow for my liking. I am planning on reading the rest of the trilogy because I want more Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler in my life, but I might wait a bit before picking up the next book.

If I’m completely honest, I bought this book because I loved the embossing underneath the dust jacket of the hardcover edition. I added it to my collection of fantasy books that I swore I would read at some point, and I finally picked it up last week. I’m still processing everything that happens in this book, but I will say that I can understand what all the hype is about.

My favourite thing about this book was how complex all the characters were. Jude is brilliant, driven, and conniving; she’s learned how to be ruthless from Madoc, and I enjoyed her character development. I found Carden to be interesting because a lot was going on underneath his reckless and cruel front. I think that both Jude and Cardan are morally gray characters, and I can understand why so many people ship them together. I loved Vivienne, and I hope she appears in the rest of the series because I’d love to know more about her and Heather. I had a lot of issues with Taryn, and she ended up being one of my least favourite characters. I also love Ghost, Roach, and Bomb, and I loved reading about their sneaking around and plotting.

I found this book to be a bit stressful to read because there was so much going on. A lot of bad things happen to the characters and every time something bad happened, I would get stressed out. This book was full of plot twists, which kept me on the edge of my seat, but it also fueled the stress as I was reading. I found some scenes in this book to be shockingly violent, but I don’t know if they’re actually violent for the genre because I read mostly contemporary, and it’s been a while since I read a book with bloodshed.

I found Faerie to be an interesting place, but I wish we could have learned more about it. I wanted to know more about what everything looked like, what the various species looked like and what they wore, and stuff like that. I also want to learn more about the politics and different hierarchies of Faerie, because I find that kind of stuff interesting. Fortunately, this is the first book in a series, so I’m sure I’ll be able to learn more about Faerie when I read The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I thought a lot of it had been spoiled for me because it’s so popular, and I thought I knew the gist of what was going to happen, but I ended up being completely surprised by a lot of the plot twists. I liked most of the characters, and I like how complex and morally gray a lot of them are. I’m glad that I finally picked this book up, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy soon.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Net Galley and the Publisher (Simon and Schuster) in exchange for an honest review.

The Roxy Letters is told through a series of letters that the main character Roxy writes to her ex-boyfriend Everett. The letters start when Everett moves into her spare bedroom, and they’re a way to lay down the ground rules and communicate with him when he’s not around. The letters quickly turn into more of a diary as Roxy’s life begins to spin out of control.

I want to start off by saying that I found this book to be a bit weird. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t know what I was getting into when I picked it up. There were a lot of strange things going on and a few times I had to stop to ask myself what on earth I was reading.

My favourite thing about this book is that it focused on female friendship. Roxy has her best friend Annie, who supports her, encourages her, and pushes her to make a goal, even if the goal is a bit misguided. Roxy also has the mysterious and crazy Artemis, who she turns to for advice in the relationship department. I liked that Artemis and Annie were able to form a friendship and that they were able to come together to help their friend get back on her feet.

I also liked that this book dealt with mental health and addiction. Throughout the book, Roxy meets different people who are dealing with various mental health problems and addictions. I liked that there was a scene in this book that took place during an AA meeting, and I liked that Roxy was so supportive of her friends with addiction and mental health issues.

Another thing that I enjoyed about his book was all the run-ins that Roxy had with Texas. Every time she ran into him, something weird or embarrassing was happening, and I was amused by these scenes. It did become cringy after a while, but this book had a lot of cringy moments in it. I really liked Texas’s character, and I’m glad that he kept popping up throughout the story. I also liked that there were so many layers to him and that every time Roxy met him, she discovered another one of these layers.

Finally, I liked that part of this book was about Roxy trying to preserve and help local businesses. It’s weird to think of Whole Foods as a local business, but this book takes place in Austen and Roxy works at the original location. Roxy gets upset when a lululemon opens across the street where the video rental place used to be. I liked that this desire to preserve local businesses helped Roxy find her creativity again and that she was able to start making art again.

Overall, I feel kind of indifferent about this book. I liked that it was super feminist and that it emphasized female friendships. I liked that it dealt with mental health and addiction. I also liked Roxy, and I thought she had a big heart, and that she was trying to turn her life around. But I also found this book to be a bit weird, and it really wasn’t for me.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley and the publisher (Simon and Schuster) in exchange for an honest review.

Halle has always liked books; her grandmother was a legend in the publishing world, and when Halle starts her book blog, One True Pastry, she goes by Kels because she wants to see if she can make it in the book world without relying on her grandmother’s name. Nash is a blogger, graphic novelist, and creator of the webcomic Rex. Kels and Nash are best friends online, they talk every day, and they plan on meeting each other face to face when they hopefully attend NYU in the fall. Then Halle moves in with her grandmother and runs into Nash at the library, in a moment of panic, she introduces herself as Halle, and things start spiralling from there.

My favourite thing about this book is that it dove into the world of book blogging, bookstagram, and book Twitter. I loved reading about the online world that I feel most comfortable in, and I was able to relate to Halle because I know and love the online book world. I loved that there was a side story of an author going rogue on Twitter and alienating her fans because that’s something that I hear and read about all the time. This is the first book I’ve read that featured this online world, and I thought it was neat to read about this world.

I also really liked the characters in this book. I liked how ambitious and awkward Halle was, even if her awkwardness was a bit stereotypical. I liked Nash and how hard he tried to be friends with Halle, even when she was acting weird and being pretty terrible to him. I liked Nash’s friends, especially Molly and Autumn, I loved how hard they were both working to achieve their goals, and I liked how easily they accepted Halle into the group.

Another thing that I liked about this book is that it deals with grief. Halle’s grandmother passed away, and her grandfather has been struggling ever since. When Halle and her brother move in with their grandfather, things are weird because he’s not the same. I liked that we got to see all three of these characters dealing with their grief differently because, in reality, everyone deals with grief in their own way.

One thing that annoyed me was how long it took Halle to tell Nash the truth about who she was. I understand that if she had been honest from the start, there wouldn’t have been much of a story, but I did get annoyed after a while. I also didn’t like how Kels started treating Nash as Halle and Nash started getting closer. I thought the whole situation got too messy, but I can also understand why Halle felt panicked and didn’t know how to tell him the truth.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters, and I loved that it featured the book blogging world. I thought the premise of a love triangle with two people was unique, even if I got a bit annoyed with it in the end. I liked how ambitious the characters were, and I was incredibly happy for them when they achieved their goals.

Becca doesn’t believe in love, her dad left, and for her romance only exists between the pages of a book. Brett is the star of the football team, and he doesn’t see the point in having a relationship right now, he wants to focus on school and football, even if it would thrill his parents if he brought a girl home. When Brett overhears Becca tell a former friend that she has a secret boyfriend, he swoops in and becomes her fake boyfriend. It’s the perfect arrangement everyone will leave them alone, what’s the worst that could happen?

I absolutely adored this book, and once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I love books with fake dating, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Becca and Brett’s fake relationship and watching them go from basically strangers, to friends, to being in an actual relationship. I also loved that this book also dealt with things like friendship and processing family issues.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite thing about this book was the characters. I loved how bookish Becca was, and I found her to be incredibly relatable. I liked how caring she was, and I liked that she was able to use her experiences to help Brett process what was going on with his family. Speaking of Brett, I thought he was a cinnamon roll and a sweetheart, and it hurt me to see him hurting. I thought that Becca and Brett made a great pair, I thought they complimented each other well, and I was very invested in their relationship.

I also liked the subplots in this book. I enjoyed reading about their broken friendship between Becca and Jenny, and I’m glad that they had an opportunity to talk about everything. I also enjoyed reading about Becca and Brett dealing with their fractured families. I especially liked the story with Brett’s family and watching him go through the cycle of processing and dealing with everything that was unfolding in front of him. Finally, I loved Becca’s mom’s bakery, and I think that all books should have a storyline that involves cupcakes.

Overall, I highly recommend The Upside of Falling. The two main characters are amazing, and Brett is a cinnamon roll. This book does deal with some serious issues like divorce and infidelity, and I really enjoyed reading about the characters processing these issues. I thought the romance was super cute, even if it was predictable. I recommend this book if you like fake dating, cinnamon roll characters, and are looking for something quick to read.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher (Simon and Schuster/Atria Books) and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start this review by saying that this book made me ugly cry. In Five Years follows Dannie, a corporate lawyer who has her life perfectly planned out; she has her dream job, and she’s engaged to her long-term boyfriend, David. After she gets engaged, she has a vivid dream that takes place exactly five years in the future, but she’s in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and there’s a different man. She files this away as just a weird dream, but then four-and-a-half years later, her best friend, Bella, introduces her to the man in her dream. What follows is an emotional and unforgettable story of love, friendship, and heartbreak.

My favourite thing about this book was the friendship between Dannie and Bella. I loved that were opposites who balanced each other out. Dannie is an ambitious corporate lawyer with a life plan, and Bella is a spontaneous gallery owner who is always travelling and going on adventures. Despite these differences and the disagreements they’ve had over the years, they’re basically sisters who would do anything for each other.

I also loved the friendship that formed between Dannie and Aaron. Aaron is the man who appeared in Dannie’s dream, and he is also Bella’s boyfriend. I loved reading about them coming together to rally around Bella when she needed them the most, and I loved that they were able to be there for each other when their world started to fall apart.

More generally speaking, I loved how strong the female characters were in this book. Dannie is a corporate lawyer who is climbing up the ladder, breaking the glass ceiling with every step she takes. Bella is a creative queen who doesn’t let anyone tell her what to do or how to live her life. There’s also a small part in this book that features a tech firm that was created and run by two women.

Even though I loved the three main characters, I’m not sure if I liked the premise of this book. The entire book is leading up to the date in Dannie’s dream, and it just felt kind of weird to me? It felt even more weird knowing who the man in the dream is, and everything that happened leading up to it. The ending also threw me off, especially because it was very open-ended.

I was also thrown off because I went into this book thinking that it was a romance book, but it certainly wasn’t a romance book. There are some romantic elements in the book, but this is more so a book about friendship and moving on, which makes me put it in the contemporary category. The lack of romance didn’t ruin the book or anything like that, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t love it. I loved the three main characters, and I thought the story was memorable, even if I found it to be a little weird. If you pick up this book, make sure you have a box of tissues nearby, because you might end up ugly crying.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher (Gallery Books/Simon and Schuster) and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes on your favourite home renovation show? Do you ever wonder what your favourite reality TV couple is like when the cameras stop rolling? The Honey-Don’t List offers a glimpse into this world as it follows Carey and James, the personal assistants to the Tripps, as they try to prevent the truth about America’s favourite home renovation couple from getting out.

The Honey-Don’t List is a fun, enjoyable, and quick read. My favourite thing about this book was the two main characters, Carey and James. I thought they both had great character development, and I was impressed with how much Carey grew as a character. I liked how they were both in the same boat, desperately needing their job, even though they were frustrated by the entire thing. I felt bad for Carey, mainly because the family that she was so loyal to took her for granted. I also thought that James was cute with his wardrobe and being constantly dressed up for the job he wanted, not the job he had.

Another thing that I liked about this book was how unlikeable the Tripps were. I found myself constantly annoyed with Melissa and Rusty and wanting to throw my book because of how awful they were. I also found that their unlikability made watching their relationship and empire crumble so much enjoyable, which made this book a lot of fun to read.

One thing I wanted more of was the relationship between Carey and James. They had a few great moments, especially the moment by the pool, but I felt like it wasn’t enough. I thought that there was potential for a lot of chemistry, but their relationship felt kind of rushed. I felt that their story had a lot of potentials, especially with the co-workers who don’t like each other to lovers trope and the forced proximity trope, but it fell flat because it was rushed. I think that maybe if some of the scenes with the Tripps could have been replaced with scenes between Carey and James, their relationship would have had more time to develop, and I would have enjoyed it more.

Another thing that I liked about the book is that there was a bit of a mystery going on. Every so often, the main story would cut away to a police interview with Carey or James. Based on the story, I knew that something happened with the Tripps, but I didn’t know what exactly happened. These mysterious interviews made me want to keep reading, and once I found out what happened, I was shocked and scandalized by it.

Overall, I thought that The Honey-Don’t List was a fun read. It wasn’t my favourite book by Christina Lauren, but it was still enjoyable.