This was chock-full of so many great things and events. The only audiobooks I can listen to are memoirs. I love it and this time... I struggled. Billie Jean King is a terrible narrator. This book was insanely long and there's a lot of name-dropping and it took me out of the flow. She's an amazing woman and this does not take that away from her, at all. You just can't do everything! I had my audio at 2X and it was still too slow.  That being said, it was great hearing about all her experiences, struggles, and how she overcame them. She's a tennis player but this isn't really about tennis. It's more about her and her life through tennis. Thank you, Billie Jean King, for all the AMAZING things you have done for women. *applaud*

 

I am so glad to be a part of this tour again! I really loved this book maybe even more than the first!

Getting to know more about Ebenezer’s past was something I really loved about this story. It made sense why he was holding onto the beast-ly items so hard. Change is hard and spending time with someone for so long leads to attachment, regardless of the person/thing. Showing us how Ebenezer and the Beast come together and how they lived together was enlightening.

In this book, Bethany is trying hard to turn things around and do good. It’s becoming a bit of a problem because everyone remembers all her pranks. She is determined and I was rooting for her! Claudette was such a great influence that it was easy to see how things turned out the way they did. Bethany is so bossy when it comes to Ebenezer and it was a little too much at times. He does need some pressure because he drags his feet for everything but she’s still the child!

We get some new characters in this book and some of them were hard to love *Gloria.* As we get deeper into the story, I just felt so bad for her. Her parents were something else and she just wants to be loved. Don’t we all?

Not only is this book full of heart it is quite humorous! There are many times that I was laughing out loud. The illustrations are amazing and another aspect of the book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I hope there is more in the future! I would highly recommend these if you are looking for wholesome middle-grade books. These are books that I will be sharing with my son when he is of age. Hopefully, the beast doesn’t try to eat him! 

I went back and forth between 3.5 and 4 stars. I think that I’m going to settle on 3.5 after some time thinking it over. I don’t typically read books in verse but this book was so hyped. It also sounded like an amazing story, which it was. One of the great things about books in verse is how quick of a read it is. You fly through the book but I think it might not be for me. It’s totally a personal preference but it had me disconnecting at times.

I had trouble connecting with the story and characters for about 2/3’s of this book. The last 1/3 was amazing though. I did find it predictable but that’s okay because the story was so impactful. There was so much heartbreak and emotion throughout that it was hard not to feel for these girls. They are both on opposite ends of the world in many ways. They each have a lot of struggles but in different ways. It is kind of like the grass is always greener on the other side.

Yahaira has found out a secret and dealing with it all on her own. She’s isolated herself and dealing with the fall-out after her world comes crashing down. She’s trying to navigate how to deal with her grief, her mother, and her father’s secrets.

Camino is trying to get to the States and go to college to become a doctor. She’s working her butt off but they can barely make ends meet. She’s excited for summer when her dada comes to spend time with her. She’s at the airport when she realizes that he’s not coming.

I do wish we would have gotten more of their story together. They are both in so much pain and in unfamiliar territory. I wanted to keep reading and see how they come together to mourn their father. I wanted to see their relationship unfold.

The content was great but the verse was tough for me and I struggled to separate their voices at times. I did find myself going back and seeing who the plane was pointed at. haha. I think if we started their meeting much sooner in the book it would have made a huge difference for me. Acevedo is a beautiful writer and this book was all of that and emotional.

I buddy read this with Dini @Dinipandareads. We flew through this book! It was my first by Center and I believe for Dini too. I had no idea what to expect but I know so many people hyped up this book for me. A little funny tidbit… the men’s character names were different in our copies!! I was so confused at first because Dini was talking about Charlie and I only knew a Chip! haha. Then the spelling for Ian was different too.

One of the things that I loved about this book was the writing. Center, does a wonderful job of making you think this is a real-life story. There were several times I thought, wow, this feels like an autobiography. The story sucked both of us in that we ended up finishing this book in about two days. There’s nothing that will point out the flaws in your life and those around you than tragedy. Sometimes you just keep going with the comfortable and what you know until life gets turned upside down.

I had a love/hate relationship with many characters. Center, did a great job of making characters unlikeable but toeing the line of not hurting the overall book enjoyment. For example, I immediately hated Margaret’s mom. She was terrible and we do get to know her more and see her change a bit but not enough to just overlook her behavior like Margaret did. There’s absolutely no way that I would be okay with some of her decisions, like a friendship later in the book. I’m not going to spoil anything but if you read this book you will know what I mean. My favorite characters in the book were Kit and Ian! They brought so much more to this book that helped you with the very hard and tough content. Don’t even get me started on Chip because I just didn’t like him from the second I met him.

There are times in this book that I thought Margaret just was too lax about things. I felt like there should have been more times she felt much more. I am must be much more dramatic and maybe it was her self-preservation of just putting it aside in her head. I did love her relationship with Ian. I completely understand how that played out though. You hear about it a lot. I mean, even in her inner dialogue, she was really focusing everything on Ian. It’s understandable when you’ve got nothing else. I think we should have spent a little more time with her after she got out of the hospital. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending. It was sweet but I feel like there was a missed opportunity. I don’t want to give any spoilers but just know that it was the wrong place.

Overall, this was a powerful read and I think it will be one that lingers. I’m so grateful to have a buddy read this with Dini. I need a light read now because I did not expect all the heavy emotions with this one. Center is just a great writer and I can’t wait to read more from her.

 

I am so glad to finally have started this. Thanks so much to stars book and tea for buddy reading this with me. We are planning on knocking out a book a month!!

I was shocked at how brutal and graphic this book was. I was not expecting it at all and it kind of made me uncomfortable. Jafar is evil but in this book, he goes really dark. I loved Jasmine and the Genie in this retelling. We get much more of them and their story, especially the Genie. I loved learning about his background even if it wasn’t the happiest. I liked the extra side characters in the street rats. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending either. Overall, it was a good read and I liked it but there were some things I didn’t love. This was a really quick read though.

 

I know Leslie from Will & Grace. I’ve seen him in other things too but that’s what I know him from the most. I love his comedy, it’s just so easy and hilarious. Listening to this was the best way to go. He’s so extra and made this so enjoyable. A bit of a downer is how short it is. I wanted so much more! There are some really touching stories in here. One that really stuck out to me was about the Bride doll and it’s so sweet.

Although his message is meant for men, this book works for everyone. It’s full of so many truthful messages and a personal book at the same time. I know Justin Baldoni from, Jane the Virgin, which I loved. I miss that show so much! It was so eye-opening to learn about some of his personal struggles during the show because you would never know it. I want to go back and re-watch now. I’ve also been following him on Tiktok and love how he spreads his message there too. I would highly suggest the audio because he gives some extra info to his listeners.

Since I have a son of my own, this really resonated with me. There are times he’s talking about the grooming that society does to boys and men. The words and phrases used to either diminish or raise them up. I see it already. My son loves color, he loves me and wants to be like me. There’s nothing wrong with that but he likes to copy my behavior. For instance, he loves to “color” his nails when I do mine. He will randomly come up to me and say, “matching.” It’s fun for us and we enjoy it together. I cannot even begin to tell you the comments I get from family about it. It’s quite frustrating and this is part of the problem. We need to do better and we need to teach our children to be better.

I’m so glad to have finally been able to read this. This is my oldest Netgalley arc that I received right as we found a house and started the selling/buying of two houses. I’m sorry, it has taken me so long to get to this. With that out of the way, let’s get to the goods.

This is my first Twisted Tale book and I really didn’t know what to expect. I love Tangled the movie and I was really excited when I received an ARC. With that being said, I did feel a bit let down. I really enjoyed a lot of aspects of the book but there are some things that really just had me disconnect. For example, the biggest thing that would take me out of the story were the scenes at Kettering Memorial. I would be into the actual story and then we would just jump right out of it to the hospital. I would have enjoyed it more because I could have been fully immersed in the story. I did understand why she did it after reading her note. I just don’t think it added anything to the actual book.

I really enjoyed the actual “twist” to the tale. Moondrop?! Yes, that was really fun and an interesting take. I really liked the addition of Gina too. She was a lot of fun and she kind of stole Flynn’s thunder. I actually didn’t love him in this book. He didn’t really give me the same vibes that Flynn from the movie did.

The pacing was a bit off but it could be because of the jumps back and forth with the hospital. I do think there’s a lot of things at the beginning that could have been left out. It would have cut the book at some points where it became lengthy. Once we get away from the movie scenes it really took off for me.

Overall, I didn’t love this like I thought I would. I did enjoy it enough that I will keep going. I’m actually reading book one at the moment and I’m loving it a lot more.

Disney-Hyperion provided an e-ARC for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.