"I am a Princess AND a Warrior."

Princess Monroe is more than just a princess. She's an independent girl with lots of different interests. While her Queen Mom has ideas of finding her a prince, Monroe wants to explore, learn, play, get dirty, and find her own way in the world. As the princess continues to prove that she can do anything she wants, without being saved by a prince, her mom starts to listen. 

Ultimately, Monroe finds her own happy ending.

This was such a great story to teach young girls about empowerment and choosing their own path in life. Princess Monroe is not your typical princess. She might like the pretty dresses, but she also wants to run and play and enjoy the world in her own way. She doesn’t just want to find a prince because that isn’t her happily ever after.

I loved the way this story was written and the illustrations were great. Princess Monroe is a great role model for young girls to help them know they can do whatever they want in life. This is a great fairytale and Monroe is the type of Princess we’ve all been waiting for!

I don’t have children, but recommend this for parents who want to teach their children empowerment and how to be brave and strong while making their own choices.

Thank you Love Books Tours for a gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars

Theo Decker loses his mother in an explosion at an art museum, but he leaves the scene unharmed with a rare painting, The Goldfinch. We follow Theo on his journey of finding a home while finding himself and protecting the painting.

I honestly don’t know how to rate this book. It was beautifully written, but I felt it was too long and drawn out. I enjoyed Theo and his story. He went through so many ups and downs and even at the points in his life when I didn’t like him, I was still rooting for him.

There are so many secondary characters in this book, but the one who stood out to me the most was Hobie. The way this man took Theo in and treated him as a son was so heartwarming. I was glad he was in Theo’s life throughout the book. I also loved learning about his business with restoring antiques. I found that very interesting.

I felt the part in Las Vegas was really drawn out, and I just wanted Theo to go back to New York City. NYC was such a main part of this book that it was almost a character itself.

I listened to the audiobook (mainly because big books intimidate me) and adored the narrator, David Pittu. He does a fantastic job with voicing the characters and using different accents for them. I always knew who was speaking in a conversation by the way he voiced them which is impressive in my opinion. He brought this story to life and I look forward to finding more books that he narrates.

Overall, I did enjoy the story, but wish it had been about 300 pages shorter!

Unpopular opinion, but I did not enjoy this book. The writing is good and the character development is great, but I really didn't like any of the characters or feel a connection to them. That made it hard for me to invest my time in although I did read the entire book. I’m not sure I would have if I didn’t need it for a reading challenge.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed that it was a multi-cast narration. I do think the narrators all did a great job bringing their characters emotions to life.

I planned on reading this in October for spooky season, but didn’t get to it so it was my first read this month. It definitely would have been perfect for Spooktober with its eerie vibes.

This was such a strange and unique story. It’s a modern day fairytale where everything isn’t as it seems. I honestly had no clue what was going on with the Hollow sisters and couldn’t stop reading until everything was revealed.

I liked how much these sisters meant to each other and how Iris and Vivi would do anything to find Grey. I also really liked Tyler’s character even though he was a stuck-up jerk at times. I found his sarcasm enjoyable in an extremely dark story.

This was an original story and a great read. I did find the beginning a bit slow which is why I gave it four out of five stars. Read this if you enjoy dark fairytales with a bit of a mystery.

Never Broken is the singer/songwriter Jewel’s memoir. I can’t remember who recommended this to me, but I decided to listen to the audiobook, narrated by Jewel, for non-fiction November.

In this memoir, Jewel talks about her upbringing in Alaska with her abusive father, her time being homeless and living in her car, her rise to fame, and her marriage and motherhood. She covers all of her life up to the point of writing the memoir. In the book, there are song lyrics and what I liked best about the audiobook was that she actually sings them.

Jewel lived a very hard life, but was able to come out of it as a strong female role model and a loving mother. I struggle with rating memoirs because I know the author is opening up about their life to their readers. I would say read this if you are a fan of Jewel’s music and want to see how she got to the point of having a multiplatinum album while living in her car and how that shaped her life.

I used to love Sex in the City so was glad to finally read Is There Still Sex in the City? by Candace Bushnell. This book follows Bushnell after her divorce and into the world of dating in her 50's. I found some parts of this book very funny especially the tinder stories and the stories of the "cubs". I'm sure this is a very realistic take on what dating in your 50's is like, however, I couldn't really relate since I'm not that age yet and I am not single.

I'm not really clear if this is actually a memoir or just based on some of Bushnell's experiences. I wish that was clear because it reads more like women's fiction, but is based on her life. I like to know the genre I'm reading. I would love to know if this is a memoir because it would make it more entertaining if her and her friends went through these experiences.

I listened to the audiobook and as always, Julia Whelan did an excellent job. She is one of my favorite narrators, and I think she was the perfect narrator for this.

I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it. Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for a copy in exchange for my honest review.