3.5 stars

CUTE PREMISE.

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Here I am again, slowly working my way through Kasie West books. Looking for something ti compare to P.S. I Like You because that book is just a gem. This was cute, but I had the same struggles I’ve seen before.

I loved the idea of this book. Going through different events as the same characters connected over and over again. It flowed well and when it jumped to the next event it still felt continuous. The addition of all the floral aspects was gorgeous. I’m obsessed with flowers so I definitely didn’t mind. Comparing the flowers to the event was a fun quirk at the beginning of each section.

I didn’t love the main character, Sophie. I found her annoying, abrasive, a bit rude, and while yes, she definitely got better, I had already signed off on her in my mind. I don’t need a perfect character it would just have flowed better if she hadn’t bothered me the entire book. I thought her love interest Andrew was cute. They got off on the wrong foot and found their way back to companionship. Nice little happily ever after that I’m always a fan of.

The general adorable-ness usually present felt forced with this cast. I had a hard time convincing myself that I cared for anyone in particular. I feel these books are either a big hit or a big miss.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult contemporary romance
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses

NOT FEELING LUCKY.

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This book let me down in a big way. It’s been awhile since I gave a two-star review because I had a hard time finding things I enjoyed about it. Lucky Caller was overall nothing I expected, and nothing I wanted.

Everything was cringe worthy, awkward, and stilted. The main character, her love interest, side characters, the plot, everything. I don’t feel like anything flowed that well and was extremely choppy. I’m usually a fan of short chapters. These chapters felt like each one was only ONE tiny scene and it was weird. Granted, it made for a very quick read (of which I was happy for), but that’s it.

There was also a portion of the book dedicated to a made-up kids game that Nina, Jamie and her sisters used to play together. I didn’t care one moment about this. I felt it brought it down and made it more juvenile. The background story as to why Nina and Jamie were continually so awkward could have been written out differently.

I don’t really want to raze on this more, it just wasn’t a match for me this time. Which I’m sad about because this gorgeous cover and cute synopsis had dragged me in.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult contemporary romance
- Language: a little
- Romance: kisses

OH THE TRAGEDY.

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Let’s be honest, Cassandra Clare is fantastic at weaving high drama, high tragedy filled love stories. AND I CAN’T HELP BUT BE INVOLVED. So involved. That’s how this book snuck a four star rating out of me. I love how hopeless everything gets, and then how Clare gives me that happy ending I crave by the time the series wraps up. It’s addicting, so here I am again, reading another Shadowhunter series.

James and Cordelia. OH MY GOODNESS YES. I knew Will’s offspring would give me another guy to swoon over. I love the burgeoning sparks and the fact that a new plot/trope was added in that I haven’t seen before in these books? It really brought this up for me. I wanted to see some fresh things and got them.

I liked the plot and how everything flowed. Once again, I felt that things were luckily a bit different than others. This has peaked my interest. The combination of warlock blood, princes of hell, necromancy and ghosts have set up a series that I’m glad I decided to read.

Good news first: I looooove all the main characters: Cordelia, James, Matthew, Lucy, Jesse, Alastair, Thomas, Christopher, Anna…and I know I probably forgot someone because I’m going from memory. Which leads me to my other issue, the vast amount of characters. I had to resort to pulling up a family tree just to keep things kind of straight in my head. I appreciate a story with a great cast, but this is pushing my limits for keeping track of everyone. I can’t wait to learn more back stories and see more ships form!

And I feel inclined to say that there was plenty of Will and Tessa (and Jem) sightings that made my heart so happy. That was my initial inclination to pick up this book because I missed them so much. They were in the background more, of course, but were added in enough to make me smile.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult urban fantasy
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses, intense make-outs; one no detail fade to black scene (between Will and Tessa)
- Violence: demon battles, physical, fires, magic, near drownings

NOT FOR ME.

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With a heavy heart, I have to say, this is the worst Beauty and the Beast retelling that I’ve read so far. And oh, how I wanted to love it (even had requested it on Netgalley), but it was not meant to be. I fortunately read it through the library, and sent it back as soon as I could.

My big issue that I could not get past? Jaya, the main character. I did not like her demeanor, attitude, naivete, anything. I thought she was completely wrapped up in this revenge plot idea against Grey, when from moments of meeting it was abundantly clear that he wasn’t involved. The way she treated her sister wasn’t the best, even if it came from a place of protectiveness, it did not read that way. I was hoping that all of this would change by the end, and while it did maybe a little, I was already over it at that point.

Grey was my favorite. He was broody and was beast-like as he should be. I enjoyed how he grew and adapted over the book. I liked his character most. Pretty sure he and Isha (Jaya’s sister) were the only ones I did like reading about.

And the reveal at the end about what the rose really meant? Fell completely flat. Not as high stakes as I thought it should be (and would have upped the ante).

I’m keeping this short, no need for a long review, this just did not work out for me.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult retelling (Beauty and the Beast)
- Language: a little strong language
- Romance: kisses

4.5 stars

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT ENDING.

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I’ve read some cliffhanger books in my day (looking at you Shadowhunters). I’m generally used to it, can keep my cool. NOT THIS TIME. I sat there gasping and closing my eyes (listening to this as an audio book) with my spouse staring strangely at me wondering what my problem was. TRUST ME, there’s a big problem.

I digress, we’ll move on. Just know, there’s a big cliffhanger at the end.

Anywho, this book started off a bit slow for me. There’s a lot of world building and character structure that goes into setting the scene for the craziness that was Ancient Rome. I love that this Christian historical fiction was set in this time period because it did add to the uniqueness of the category. It’s not often to see so many gladiator battles in this genre.

As I settled into the book I became really involved with quite a few characters lives. Especially Marcus and Hadassah. How could you not?! Watching this doomed relationship even attempt to break soil was tearing at my heart. I felt a lot of the emotions right along side of the characters as they made their destructive choices. Speaking of destructive, I CANNOT EVEN with Julia. How I loathed her so much and it made me like the book more because of my strong emotions. Her awfulness would blow my mind and I think she needs to stay faaaar away. Going back to characters I enjoy, Atretes is now my favorite gladiator. I loved watching how his inner turmoil and struggles affected him. He is a strong and bold man looking for a light at the end of the tunnel that he can’t see, yet.

This story was filled with an intense amount of happenings. Occasionally, I did find it a bit preachy. At other times, I felt like it sang to my soul. There’s a good mix of biblical scriptures and the roughness that was Rome. The writing slowly pulls you in to where you can’t look away as the pages keep flying past. I’m anxiously awaiting reading the next book!

Overall audience notes:
- Christian Historical fiction / Romance
- Language: some derogatory and vulgar
- Romance: kisses/make-outs; mentions of sleeping together and hints at knowing about many partners, etc. but no actual detailed scenes
- Violence: gladiator battles, starvation, physical beatings, poison, murder, see Trigger warnings
- Trigger warnings: slavery, extreme starvation, abortion (described in detail), domestic abuse, eating disorder, murder, abandoning a newborn

I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU.

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Droppin’ the FRIENDS theme song for you today because it’s my favorite and highly applicable to my thoughts on The Creeping Shadow.

I loooove this friend group. Lockwood, Lucy, George and Holly. I like their banter, the way they care about each other, the relentless support, all of it. This is my go-to friend group in books I’ve read recently. They’re what make this book. Honestly though, I’m really hear for Lockwood and Lucy. I love them (they better love each other) and I’m secretly hoping for some kind of extra connection come the finale – a girl can dream!

This is my kind of horror. Substantially creepy, but still within bounds that I can handle. This definitely stepped it up a notch. The amount of ghosts, descriptions of murders and more really amped up the scene. I love that I even got to see a bit of the other side. I’m curious how that will affect them going on.

Talk about some bombs being dropped. Those last few scenes really dropped my jaw. I know I must get this last book to get answers. I’m excited for how everything set up and love that each case throughout the series have led them here. Things weren’t all for willy-nilly and that’s what keeps me going back for more.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult mystery / horror
- Language: none
- Romance: none
- Violence: guns, knives, explosions, bombs, physical, swords, ghost attacks

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED.

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Wow, I was disappointed with this read. It wasn’t the romantic bachelor-esque sci-fi book set in space. It was hardly a romance, and mostly teenagers sitting around talking about their problems while they go on dates. I think this actually needed more romance and less of Leo constantly denying even the smallest interactions.

*sigh*

I liked the main character, Leo. She was stubborn and caring, with a dash of ingenuity. I wish she would have stood up for herself a bit more, but I could at least keep reading this book because I enjoyed her voice.

There was definitely a lot of angst between Leo and Elliot. Not as flirtatious / lovers to enemies to lovers angst as I was hoping. You could feel the connection and chemistry they had though. I liked their interactions and wish they had more quiet romantic moments together! The last few in the closing scenes were tender and sweet and I wanted mooooore.

Side characters were a bit all of the place. I liked the vast majority of them and what they brought to the story. Good friends, siblings, and companions throughout. I could do without Leo’s awful Dad though. Why is there always a parent forcing a teen to marry? You’re the one who messed up? I don’t know, maybe I think this has been over-played one too many times (in YA novels).

The setting was awesome. I loved the idea of all of these people from Earth living in different ships and still following the same kind of dystopian setting of their cultures. If there were even more ships we could have visited and seen it would have been even better. I liked learning the intricacies of each ship, captain, and function as a whole.

At the end there was actually some drama and things happening. I liked that everyone got a happy ending and pieces of the story were wrapped up well for a standalone.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult sci-fi / romance
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses; hints of overnight, but very glossed over with no detail
- Violence: near drowning

3.5 stars

FAIRLY CHARMING.

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I decided to give Carina Taylor books another chance, after being disappointed with Christmas Like This, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read another in this series. Neighbors Like That had some pretty good praise, and here we are! I honestly enjoyed this and it was a super quick read (under 300 pages).

I liked the chemistry between Kylie and Hagen. It was a very literal interpretation of enemies to lovers. A pranking war starts between the two and some hilarity ensues. Creativity was running high as things heated between them. It offered some great banter, close encounters and laughter.

One thing that didn’t quite add up was the attempted kidnapping sub-plot. It felt unnecessarily added to heighten the *drama* of the whole book, but it could have been left out and I would have been happy without it. Hagen had his own backstory and personal issues to deal with and those flowed much better into the story line.

I enjoyed the side characters and how much I could see those types of friends in my own life. They were fun, way too into everyone’s personal lives (but in a charming way) and I thought they were a great addition to Kylie and Hagen’s happenings.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary romance
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: physical
- Trigger warnings: attempted kidnapping (with someone being held at gunpoint)

FEEL LIKE I’VE BEEN GUT PUNCHED.

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This was one of those books where you ask yourself, why did I let it sing for so long on my shelves? I adored it. Even when it hurt my soul.

I loooove Rev and Emma together. They were adorable and so very sweet. Everything was slow and a high school romance that made sense for the story line (which always makes a book ten times better). I like how even when conflict arose there was still a chance for apologies and forgiveness. This all just felt real.

Emma struggled in this book. I went from liking her, to being annoyed, and back and forth. While everything was dramatized, I also could feel how this was a high school girl going through an awful situation (that I’ve dealt with too). So I really couldn’t fault her for her actions, because I also got to see Emma grow and evolve as the book progressed. She wasn’t a perfect character, which made her a great character.

Rev had my heart and soul. I wanted to follow him around and hug him. He needs all the hugs. I loved watching him grow over this book too. He and Emma had great arcs as they grappled with what was before them. Heavy on the drama, yet very easy to be involved and loving the drama.

This book read quickly. I finished this a lot faster than I thought [which was totally fine with me]. The story flowed up and down with a bit of action and quiet moments. I thought the ending wrapped up nicely and I really enjoyed getting to see Declan again.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult contemporary romance
- Language: a little strong and vulgar
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: physical
- Trigger warnings: cyber bullying, extreme child abuse, PTSD, sexual abuse, attempted kidnapping

BROKE ME.

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First reason I picked up this book? Someone commented on one of my Instagram photos telling me about it. Second reason I picked up this book? I have the same name as the MC and have NEVERRRRR gotten to read a book with that fun fact.

And if you’re not one for reading synopsis (I’m not, I usually read it initially then by the time I get to read the book I’ve forgotten it and don’t look at it), let me say, this is not a fluffy Dessen novel. It’s the most mature and serious one I’ve ever read of hers.

Initially, I felt like this book was all about Caitlin’s sister, Cassandra, than it was about Caitlin. This changed. And it changed hard. I was practically in tears listening to this (audio book was good!) because of how much it hurt me listening to what was happening to Caitlin [trigger warning: physically abuse relationship – more details in Overall audience notes].

I felt in physical pain myself because of how Rogerson was treating Caitlin. It was unfathomable and I was upset on so many levels for her. While a very hard hitting novel, it also approached hope and recovery in the last few chapters. I anxiously listened waiting until she was broken free of her bonds to him and had a chance to grieve. The aftermath felt more realistic as well. It wasn’t this immediate, I’m happy again!, it was a process that took months and I loved that it showed that side of therapy.

It’s a very quick and short book that packs a lot in. I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone and would caution to please look into the triggers before reading. The pain explored and expressed had me clutching my heart. This was good, raw, and important.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult contemporary
- Language: some strong
- Romance: kisses/make-outs; quick mention of them sleeping together, but no details
- Violence: see trigger warnings below
- Trigger warnings: drug abuse, underage drug use, toxic/abusive relationship [physical] with multiple scenes of the main character being harmed, domestic abuse, underage smoking