emilyburdick's Reviews (389)

This book just did not resonate with me the way it seems to with so many people. It was incredibly well written and Jandy Nelson has a way with words but at the end of the day it just seemed like a classic YA contemporary filled with family drama and competing siblings. I was absolutely not a fan of the looooong chapters and if I hadn't listened to this on audiobook there's not a chance I would have finished it.

Meg Cabot’s novella’s are always quite good and they flow well with the main series!

Look mom, I made it! 😭 to have this book on my read list feels AMAZING. It’s the longest book I’ve read to date (unsurprising) and it took me ~37 days to get through. I read this thing in hardback, paperback, on my kindle and as an audiobook. It’s the only physical book I read the entire month of April, everything else was audiobooks so I’m very eager to put my hands on another book. I’m a huge fan of the show and I loved this book so much, even if I am SPENT after reading it. George R.R. Martin is incredible with foreshadowing and word play and I sort of loved that I knew the basics of what was going to happen and could kind of go through the journey with these characters again. My favorites were Tyrion, Dany, and Aria (probably biased because her chapters were a bit dull but she turns into such a badass). And I found Catelyn’s chapters to be pretty boring. Overall though I love being immersed in a new world and this one is so exciting to be in. I can’t wait to read the second book...but also I definitely can 😉

Side note I have the illustrated edition and it is GORGEOUS. If you’re a book collector and you like books for their aesthetic and you like GOT, get it. The images are amazing and add a nice bit of spice to the reading journey.

This was just the cute book I was looking for. I've been trucking through Game of Thrones this past month and I needed something lighthearted to fill in for it when I take breaks. This book fully took me by surprise because I really didn't know what it was about except for a girl going to visit Italy. The twist in the story was interesting and I felt that the overall message was a good one. I did feel that some of the analogies that Lina used were a bit childish for what her age is supposed to be and I thought the ending wrapped up a little quickly. I was really confused when I only had about 20 minutes left in the story and Lina and Ren were in a big fight (and I strongly suspected

they would be kissing and making up). It just felt that their relationship was really rushed at the end with them breaking things off with their respective partners/dates.

Overall, a really cute story and I definitely plan to read the other two in this series!

Love the adventures with Mia and Co. I'm sure I've said it before but I love the plethora of characters that are involved in this story compared to the movies (even though I love those). These are just fun, lighthearted reads that put me in a good mood. I loved the addition of JP and that he is in a similar familial situation as Mia. I'm interested to see the role he plays moving forward and although I'm team Mia and Michael, JP has wormed his way into my heart a little bit. 

Read for my Novelogues YA scratch off poster. 

A really cute story that tackles the topics of loneliness, friendship, determination and loss. These topics can be heavy, especially for children, but E.B. White gives the feeling of hope throughout the story that makes all the struggles feel not too scary. This is also a great book for teaching young readers new words, and Charlotte is great at delivering comprehensible definitions. Overall, a great tale. I never read it as a child but I will definitely make sure my future children read it. 🕷🐷❤️

The second installment to the Legend series was so good! Definitely moved a lot faster than Legend, and I enjoyed it a ton. My heart broke at the end with the revelation from Day. <Spoiler>I hope he and June can come together again in the third book and I hope this story doesn't have a tragic ending (which it appears to be heading for). </Spoiler> I found the weird love triangle totally unnecessary for this story and it felt like an afterthought. I like it when boys and girls can be just friends and there's no weird animosity emanating from one or the other when a new male/female character enters their vicinity. I did enjoy the inclusion of Anden's character and I'm interested to see what happens with him now that everything has gone sideways from what he thought it would be. 

This book has been on my TBR since probably 2016 and I'm in the middle of reading the honker Game of Thrones so I've been knocking some other books off my TBR in the form of audiobooks. I chose this book because I knew it wouldn't take too much to get through and it certainly was an easy read. However, I admit I really didn't know what was going on half the time. I don't know if it was because I listened to it instead of reading it or what. I do intend to finish the series in time whenever I need something lighthearted and easy to get through. What I did like about this story was that apparently Maleficent isn't the biggest villain they'll face, and I feel like usually she is in these kinds of mash-up Disney stories so that was refreshing.

Anything that takes me back to Camp Halfblood is good for me. The Demigod Files covers a few short stories and interviews with Percy's friends and "enemies". I definitely should have read this before The Last Olympian, but it was still very cute and enjoyable. I loved that I got to see where the relationship between Silena and Charlie came from. I always return to these stories in audiobook form, and the narrator never disappoints.