I'm um...

Wow.

1. It's absolutely cruel that this updates only three times a month because I desperately need more and I also totally didn't think I was done.

Uh.

2. It's beautiful beautiful beautiful

3. I want to hug both of them so much.

4. The stress of seeing Charlie pre-Solitaire and k n o w i n g what is going to happen is killing me.

5. I don't want to get into things, but let's just say that representation's important (and the rep here is so outstanding) and leave it at that.

-Book Hugger

reread #2:

the only crime right now is that I don't own the second or third books and Amazon is only shipping essential goods atm.

I know I've read them before, but ya girl needs to see Andrew and Neil together again


reread #1:

this book made my evening infinitely better (and it was not going great tbh), so yay! i missed my foxes, even if some things bothered me more the second time around than the first. it's a problematic series, but i still love it with all my heart

-book hugger

Why hello! I could do this in individual reviews, but I think this is more concise.

The Foxhole Court:

I gave this one four stars, mostly because I felt like it was missing something. I loved the introduction to the characters and the fictional sport Exy. I read this within a few days and fell in love with it. The writing isn't fantastic and is heavy on the description, which is, most of the time, unnecessary. However, I loved it nonetheless and especially enjoyed seeing the character's backgrounds unfold on page. This book is the least dark of the entire series (which is saying something), but I could see where it was headed.

Also can I just give Neil a hug?

Warning: Do not give Neil a hug.

The Raven King:

I gave this one five stars because it really upped its game (pun intended). The writing is still rather eh, but the plot thickened and the characters became deeper. I think one of my favorite parts is how none of the characters feel flat, even though there's so many of them. They all have deep backgrounds and deep stories. It's not just Neil's story, but all of their stories. That's probably why it was so hard to let go of the trilogy when I finished it.

Ohh boy though. This book got insanely good, but insanely hard to read at times. These characters have been through A LOT and it really doesn't sugarcoat it.

I left this one wanting to hug Andrew, which is also a terrible idea unless you want to get stabbed. Though, I wanted to hug Renee and I think she'd let me.

The King's Men:

Also five stars.

I fell apart when I finished this. I read these three books over the course of two weeks, maybe three, and I loved every second of it. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entirety of The King's Men. NEIL DIDN'T DESERVE ANY OF THAT. ANY OF IT. Argh, it was so sad. But it also had some amazing quotes. I think the part that broke me the most was when Neil asked Andrew why he hated the word please. No spoilers, but his response is devastating.

To conclude? I highly recommend this series, but it's probably not for everyone. If anyone is conflicted about reading it, I believe there is a list of content warnings floating around somewhere...it is not for the faint of heart.

-Book Hugger

I think I loved this more the second read through. Absolutely beautiful.

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I won't do a full review of this one, mostly because I just don't have the time nor energy, but I really enjoyed this, especially as someone who adores art and art history! I highly recommend it!

The Orphan's Tale is a sweet story about friendship and love set during the time of the Holocaust in Germany. It's about a female aerialist in the circus who is Jewish and a young woman who comes to the circus after saving a Jewish baby. The two and the baby develop a close bond as they hide from the Nazis. It's a very beautiful story that I would definitely recommend. I even cried at the end, which doesn't happen too often!

I think ultimately the only thing I didn't like was the insta-love. Noa and Luc fall in love so quickly and while I respect that that is realistic in some cases, it felt rushed to me considering the pacing of the story. I also had a few qualms with how contrived the ending felt (literally it was the only way to successfully end the novel without having it be messy), but I was so swept up with emotions that I didn't end up minding it as much as I otherwise would have!

Ultimately, I highly recommend this! Great book! Really sad! Solid read! If you're looking for a WWII book that's not like other WWII books, I'd give this one a shot!

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Wow that shouldn't have been allowed to make me cry the way it did at the end, holy shit.

Review to come probably tonight so look out for that! I'll hopefully do a little one on here once I...get it together haha

-Book Hugger

To be clear, I don't think this book is problematic or that the questioning rep is bad, which I've seen a few reviews suggest. Coming from someone who spent quite a bit of time questioning her sexuality, I understood Nandan greatly and I think it's important to represent internalized homophobia, something I still struggle with every single day. The repulsion Nandan feels about being queer, gay, bi, whatever label he hasn't discovered yet, isn't because he hates gay people or thinks they're disgusting, it's because he thinks he's disgusting.

I do wish this book concluded more in the end, maybe discussed how Nandan pushed Dave around so much, maybe unpacked his feelings of internalized homophobia and personal discovery. I wish his relationship with Dave hadn't been rushed in the beginning and hadn't happened so quickly. However, that could be realistic for some people!

Ultimately, I think this is an important and valuable book and maybe it would have been important for me a few years ago! I just think that the writing style (messy, complicated), the amount of characters (WAY too many), and the pacing let it down. It had the opportunity to discuss internalized homophobia, to discuss what it means to question your sexuality, what it means to come out when you're not ready, what it means to be outed (which was brushed over in a way and I don't fully appreciate that), and what it means to be queer and not know what label to use.

This book isn't a failure; it just isn't done as well as I had hoped. But that's just me! I wouldn't persuade anyone not to read this book; I just didn't like it myself.

-Book Hugger

well shit that was good um i'm gonna go like freak out for a bit

me: *reads this book for the book that makes you smile prompt of reading rush*
me: *finishing it and trying not to cry*
me: ah yes, i completed this challenge.

anyway, hugs and kisses to matthew only tonight, goodnight, folks

-book hugger

I am so grateful to have received an E-ARC via Netgalley. I may be reviewing it after the publication date, but I am nonetheless so honored to have been able to receive a copy. 

There's something so wonderful about this book that's difficult to put into words. Julia Drake is a debut author, yet this book seems like one produced by a weathered author. It reads so personally, like Violet is telling this story after the fact really, not like it's someone dictating her story for her.

I'll be honest, stories where a girl who does something stupid and is sent to live with her estranged relative in some beach town is a concept that is both tired and tedious to me. However, this flips most of the tropes expected of this story on its head. The boy she meets so suddenly and "cutely"? Not her love-interest. The uncle she's estranged from? Not so difficult for her to get to know. The family who sent her away? Not so unsympathetic. 

I felt so much for Violet, even if I have never been anywhere near her shoes. She is grappling with her brother's suicide attempt by not speaking with him and by pushing her family away. She is grappling with her own irresponsible behavior (yet the narrative never shames her for being relatively promiscuous the year prior) and embarrassment. She is faced with her own demons and comes out stronger and I just love her so much. She reads so realistically, like she could walk up to me right now and ask me if I loved her story. (I did.)

The side characters have so much depth, but the focus is on Liv and Orion. Liv's family situation was delicately handled. Orion's heartbreak was palpable. I wanted to wrap them both up in my arms and hold them.

Violet's brother, while I cannot speak for the mental illness representation, was beautifully written. And her love for him so wonderful, even if mostly unsaid.

I love that Drake showed so much more than told us this story. There were wonderful poignant lines that told so much more than if we had been spoon-fed the important details. I just...I love her writing. I will probably read everything she writes in the future just because of this. 

This isn't a happy story. While it has happy bits, it's a heavy novel about a family falling apart (and coming back together) because of a suicide attempt and mental health problems. It's about finding yourself and your family, but coming to terms with the fact that searching for answers won't always solve your problems; the past will always stay past. 

I hope everyone reading this decides to pick up this novel. You will not regret it, I don't believe. 

-Book Hugger

I received an E-ARC of this book from Disney Hyperion via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way impacted my review or rating of this novel. 

Yeah fine, I'll accept that I loved this so much more than I expected, even if Sage's chapters bored me and I just wanted to get back to Charlie and Luke.

Also, well, this made me flat-out sob and not really in a "it's sad" way, although it is, but more in a "I feel far too seen and this reminded me of all of the messy, broken things in my life" kind of way. I'm not as strong as Charlie and Luke are, but I wish I were.

I didn't love the parts with Sage, mostly because her back and forth with Nick was so typical of a YA book. Once I understood that she was protecting Charlie, I appreciated their sneaking around more, but I think it's so dumb for a couple that has nothing to lose to lie to each other. But whatever. That aside, I also didn't love some of Sage's actions regarding Charlie's sexuality; it's not fair of her to tell him when and where to come out and to act like she's held hostage by his secrecy. But in fairness, I did see her perspective as well; I just think she was being a tad selfish (and I suppose that was kind of the point).

Anyway, I really appreciated the discussion of how hard it is to come out and I absolutely adored Charlie. I don't love when books pull the "I don't want us to be together in secret, so you have to come out" card, but I think it worked better with this book than it has in other ones. Charlie still did it on his terms and his time and more as a result of realizing the importance of his relationship with Luke than emotional blackmail. I do wish the book had discussed that it's unfair of someone to expect someone else to come out for them but I also realize that there's a level of honesty someone would like in a relationship and I don't think Charlie was fair to Luke at many points either.

So yeah, this book isn't perfect, but it captivated me, I read most of it today, and the writing is really good. I ended up being swept into their drama, their lives, their loves, and I would absolutely die for Luke and Charlie. The cutest. The sweetest. The best.

-Book Hugger

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This is no way impacted my review/rating of the book.

To be fair, I kind of expected this would be a 4 star read, but ultimately, I think my confusion over the amount of characters, their individual, complex motives, and the under-developed yet extremely complex world is what hurt it. Although, with that said, I still totally stand by my recommendation of this book. It's so underrated, so much fun, and I think if you want a book you don't have to take too seriously, this is the one! With that said, it discusses some important political matters, like immigration, and integrates those interestingly into the fantasy world.

I definitely think this would appeal to fans of Once Upon a Time!

Also I do think it's worth noting that this book reads like lower YA, which means that I'm a bit out of the target age, in my opinion. So I don't think it was mature enough for my taste. But that's just me! All of my qualms with it are in the realm of "it's not the book, it's me" so I definitely think it could be wonderful for someone!

-Book Hugger