Thanks to Flatiron for the copy of this book.

I've loved Jennifer Saint's previous books and really enjoyed the start of this one. However, it dragged for me a bit in the middle and end - and may just be due to a reading slump I'm having this month because I know Jennifer Saint is a talented author and Atalanta's story is intriguing! I'll still come back for more of her books.

Thanks to Harper Perennial for the copy of this book!

Love Buzz is messy and ridiculous but I also enjoyed it. It’s definitely more fiction with a side of romance, so keep that in mind, but Serena goes on a really great and relatable journey in this book. Her 30th birthday is looming and when she meets Julian in New Orleans at a bachelorette party, it sets off a pattern of her wondering where she really wants to be in life and how she can get there. By the end, I loved Serena’s growth and absolutely adored the quirky friends she had in her corner.

Read if you:
- like messy main characters
- have panicked about an upcoming milestone birthday
- fell in love at first sight
- have meddling BFFs who are in your corner

Thanks to Atria Books for the ARC and Simon Audio for the ALC!

Searching for Savanna details the story of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a Native American woman who was 22 years old and eight months pregnant when she went missing in 2017. A week after she went missing, her upstairs neighbors were arrested - they had possession of Savanna’s baby girl, although Savanna’s body was nowhere to be found.

I picked up this book because there is an epidemic of missing and murdered Native American women in our country. While this book talks about that epidemic in general, it’s only for a small portion of the book, and the focus remains on Savanna for most of the pages. Her story is absolutely horrifying, but if you’re a fan of true crime or want to learn more about this epidemic and how missing Native women cases are really handled, this is a great book to pick up.

Thanks to Book Club Favorites for the copy of this book.

"No two people ever loved each other the same way."

In The Half Moon, we follow the story of Malcolm and Jess, whose silhouettes are shown on the cover. It took me a long time to see that, but it's so clever! Malcolm and Jess go through a lot in their relationship, including some very common and hard situations: infertility and financial hardship. In dual timelines, we see their relationship form and fall apart as these stressors occur. We also see the success of Malcolm's bar, The Half Moon, ebb and flow over the timeline.

I loved getting to know these characters in the beginning, the dual timelines, and the small-town bar setting. I thought it had some prospects as a found family and a small-town, character-driven novel that I'd love as we followed Malcolm and Jess's story. As I passed the halfway point of the book, though, the storyline didn't pick up and was just so slow that I became uninterested in what was happening, and the characters became a bit unlikeable. In the end, this fell a little flat for me. It is also VERY heavy on infertility, so if that storyline is triggering for you, skip this book.

Thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for the copy of this ARC!

"Warriors do for their people what others can't or won't."

Angeline Boulley is such a talented author. While her books are YA, she writes across genres so that they're perfect for anyone who likes YA, contemporary fiction, thriller/mystery, and a hint of romance. She also writes about incredibly important topics and educates through often too-real fictonal storylines.

Warrior Girl Unearthed follows the story of Perry Firekeeper-Birch and navigates through missing Indigenous women and NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. We quickly unveil the amount of injustice present in both of these areas, and Perry is determined to take some matters into her own hands with her group of friends, Team Misfit Toys. My emotions were ALL OVER THE PLACE during this read and I honestly learned a lot.

Read if you:
- want to learn from an OwnVoices Native author
- enjoy YA books, mysteries and/or heists
- like cameos from an author's past books
- have wondered where museum items come from
- followed the case of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind and the creation of Savanna's Act

Thanks so much to Once Upon a Book Club for the gifted March Young Adult "A Kiss of Magic" box featuring this book!

A Kiss of Magic features the book Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong. This book was a fun YA witchy read, combining elemental magic with the Prohibition Era, feminism, and LGBT themes. There are strong female characters who are discovering how they can really use their magic while religious zealots want the magic outlawed. They fall in love, bond, and find strength, all with masquerade balls and speakeasies. It was a really unique and fun debut and I’m interested to see where the series goes!

I loved reading this book paired with the gifts from Once Upon a Book Club because the gifts definitely added to the story and were perfectly themed. I also loved buddy reading with @booksandbedtime.

If you’re interested in this or any other OUABC box, use my code EMILYISOVERBOOKED to get 10% off!