danadoesbooks's Reviews (954)

Thank you Grand Central Publishing for the gifted copy of The Lantern of Lost Memories!  All opinions in this review are my own.

"Each of my guests selects their favourite photos, and they end up on this lantern."

We have all heard that your life flashes before your eyes before you die, but I like that The Lantern of Lost Memories explores the idea of what if you were able to choose what you saw.

Mr. Hirasaka meets each character after they die and helps them sort through their photos to choose the ones they want to include on their lantern.  There is a photo for each day that they were alive and they even have an opportunity to go back to one day to take a new photo of it.

Although the subject of The Lantern of Lost Memories is heavy, the book itself is reflective.  It allows each character to remember their life and go back to a meaningful day.  There are three stories told within the novel and a little more about Mr. Hirasaka is revealed with each one.

If you are a fan of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, you have to read The Lantern of Lost Memories!

Thank you Avon Books and NetGalley for the eARC of Offtrack!  All opinions in this review are my own.

I have two favorite things about Offtrack.  The first is that the book starts immediately in the car and continues to have a lot of on-track action throughout the book.  The second is that although Diana is in her first season of Formula 1, she is not on some midfield team, but on a competitive team that allows her to fight for points and wins.

These two aspects made Offtrack such a rewarding read for an F1 fan.  Although it is still a romance at its core, the author makes sure to develop characters beyond Diana and Miguel.  I also loved the frame of Miguel being in an arranged engagement and that him and Diana are on rival teams.

I am so glad that I don't have to wait long for the next book in the series!

I realized as I was nearing the big reveal, I did not care what happened and I decided it wasn't worth my time to finish it.

Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for the eARC of Like Mother, Like Daughter.  All opinions in this review are my own.

I've read Reconstructing Amelia by the same author years ago and really liked it so I was looking forward to reading this thriller.  Unfortunately, Like Mother, Like Daughter was a miss for me.  I felt like there were almost too many red herrings in it so that when the truth was finally revealed, it didn't have the shock factor it should have because there wasn't enough to tie it to the story.

Thank you Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC of Attached at the Hip!  All opinions in this review are my own.

I don't know what it is about the reality TV show frame but I love when characters have to compete on them!  Attached at the Hip is centered around a Survivor-like series, except the players are tethered to each other in pairs and there is the promise of romance for them.

At first, I was a bit thrown off by the fact that the main character is 23 but this book is labelled as YA.  Orie does read very young so I'm not sure if this was a late change in the writing process.  There are also some plot lines that aren't fully flushed out or are fixed a little too conveniently.  

However, while it is not perfect, Attached at the Hip still had me cracking up at various points.  So much so that I actually woke my boyfriend up one time from reading it.

I recommend Attached at the Hip if you are looking for a Survivor-esque plot with truly hilarious moments!