Tw: suicide, suicide ideation

THIS BOOK WAS ADORABLE.

Seriously. I can’t even right now. It was cute and relatable and everything was amazing.

Eliza is me. I am Eliza. She doesn’t like people. She likes the internet. I don’t like people. I like the internet. Swap her sketchbook for a book and we could be the same person. She’s just a year older, and probably taller. 🤣

That aside, I really liked the characters. Though I don’t have anxiety, I was able to relate to Eliza in many other ways, and she’s definitely one of my favorite contemporary leads.

I wasn’t a fan of her family, though. Sully and Church were a bit better in the end, but for the most part I found her parents overbearing and her brothers obnoxious. None of them tried to understand until the end, after her parents messed everything up. Maybe that’s harsh, but I just didn’t really like them. However, this didn’t bother me enough to lower my rating.

I loved Wallace. So much. He looks like a football player, but he’s a complete soft boy. He does like football, but he’s also quiet and loves to write. He was so sweet and genuine and honestly my favorite. I felt so bad for him when I read his email to Eliza, but everything after that made me love him more. I’m glad he came around in the end.

As for Eliza and Wallace together... well, if it even needs to be said, I loved them. They were adorable and awkward and legitimately the perfect couple. When they were hurting, I was too. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I can’t express how glad I am that they made up. 😍

One thing I especially liked about this book was how modern it was. It focused majorly on the internet, and online friendships and communities; it was one of the reasons it was such a relatable read. I haven’t been on a forum in years, but the general community feel and the passion resonated with me nonetheless.

Also, I didn’t know it was possible for me to fall in love with a story that exists only within another story? There wasn’t *that* much of Monstrous Sea included in this book, but I loved it all the same. I loved the characters, even though the book was about the people they brought together rather than their actual story. I loved scenes where Eliza made new pages. If there was a spin-off about Monstrous Sea, I’d read it.

All in all, I loved everything about this book, and I’ll definitely buy my own copy in the future. 😊

Recommended for fans of Fangirl and P.S. I Like You!

I wanted to read this as soon as I heard about it. This book sounded like an awesome thriller-type story that put a new spin on a bunch of clichéd tropes. Now that I’ve read it, I can confirm that it’s awesome, but I had a few issues with it.

I didn’t mind the slower pacing, because it was written well and entertaining regardless. But the last 100 pages sped up considerably, and were a bit rushed. I think even 20 more pages would’ve helped, especially in the very end. And the epilogue was nice, but there were a few loose ends I wish had been tied up. What exactly happened to Juliet? To Natalie? In the year since the big showdown?

Some of the dialogue and the scenes involving Caden, Dylan, and Juliet seemed forced, a bit awkward, and if I’m being honest, cheesy. With as smart as Juliet clearly is, I don’t see how she missed the fact that something was going on.

One of my biggest issues was Dylan’s misleading tendencies. It’s hard to specify without spoiling anything, but the simple version is he told a lie that I found unnecessary. If he was honest a lot of things would’ve been easier.

Otherwise, this was a great, addicting read. I liked all of the characters. Caden and Dylan were Nice and Bad, respectively, but struggling with their identities. Juliet was an epic scientist, and Natalie and Trevor were great friends and a cute, if somewhat cheesy, couple. Caden and Dylan were also cute, once they got together.

On that note, if you’re going into this expecting a gay romance, be careful. This book is definitely queer, but the way it’s told isn’t for everyone. Caden questioned his sexuality and realized he liked Dylan, but there are some complications before it’s reciprocated.

I liked the idea of the LIC, the Love Interests, the Nice and the Bad. However, I was a bit confused as to the exact boundaries the Love Interests had, and what was really true. I swear, everyone was lying and playing people, and it would be said something was true only for that to be twisted as false.

Although I had some problems with it, I enjoyed this book; it was good enough for me to read it from cover to cover in only a few hours. 😁

I didn’t get what I expected from this book. It was good, but very different from what I thought it would be.

First of all, there’s a lot of racism coming from and directed toward nonwhite groups. I’m white, so I’m not qualified to talk about this. I think it was addressed well, but I’m not sure. If I find any ownvoices reviews, I’ll link them.

Second, there’s not one, but two cheating stories in this book, and I didn’t like that. At all. Cheating is horrible, and it was worse here because it was justified. One was resolved and I think it was fine, but the other was explained away rather than solved. That was definitely my least favorite thing about the ending.

However, I did like everything else about this book. It was full of strong characters and friendships, and the families grew on me too. There were a lot of people, but it didn’t feel overwhelming; I remembered them. Sana and Jamie were such a cute couple, too. And they were cross country runners! And they shared poems with each other! I never see either one of those things, so both of them made me really happy.

So while this did have problems, it was ultimately a fun, diverse contemporary read. ❤️

I really enjoyed this. It was simultaneously fluffy and emotional. I liked all of the characters, the friendships, the families, everything. I found many aspects of this book to be very realistic and relatable. My two favorite parts were Louna’s friendship with Jilly and her slow-burn romance with Ambrose; my favorite character was Ira. He was cute, scruffy, an absolute joy, and he rocked a bandana. Oh, and he was a dog. The dogs are always the ones that win me over completely and this was no different. 😉

The one issue I had with this book was Louna and Ethan’s relationship. I liked that throughout most of the book the chapters alternated between past and present so we found out their story, and I thought the end result was sad. But I didn’t really like them, if I’m being honest. Yeah, sure, they were cute together, but their relationship felt really rushed. They met at a wedding, spent a few hours walking the beach and telling each other everything, decided they were in love, and had sex in the sand. All of this was in the middle of the night, and then when Ethan had to leave hours later, they were both sad to see the other go. They exchanged numbers and were basically smitten. If this had been spread out, I think I would’ve been all over it. But in a single night? That’s extreme insta-love. No thanks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That aside, this was a good book, and I’d definitely recommend it to all fans of contemporary. 😊

4.5 stars

Tw: death, domestic violence

I really enjoyed this! It was much better than I expected. The story felt realistic and the characters were flawed and relatable. I’m glad that the romance wasn’t the main focus, and I liked the family, friendship, and mystery aspects. Also, Juniper Lemon is a fun name.

More thoughts might come once I’ve had some sleep. No promises.

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. It gripped me from the beginning. There were a few times where I found the story to be predictable, but for the most part it was a thrilling, dystopian survival story.

I liked Kayla’s writing style, how it was a mix of simple and elegant. It worked well.

I also really liked the characters. They were flawed and grieving the lives and people they’d lost. They had depth and, for the most part, were easy to root for.

I did have a few problems with this, though.

1.) I wasn’t quite sure where or when this took place. Yes, it was in the future, and on an empty island. But I don’t know what year it was, or where in the world was affected. The whole world? Just the US? Europe? Was the island originally Hawaii, or somewhere else? These aren’t *huge* details, but I wondered.

2.) The big twist about [character] being alive seemed a bit cliché. It surprised me at the time, for sure, but I just didn’t think it was the most original path to take.

3.) The ending was good, but I’m not sure what to expect from it. It would work as a stand-alone, but it left me with questions, and at the moment there’s no talk of a sequel.

Other than that, I really liked this. It was a twisty read, and a very unique dystopian. Definitely recommended!

I enjoyed this as a whole more than I thought I would, although my thoughts on the stories individually are very scattered.

- The Blood of Imuriv by Renée Ahdieh: 4 stars
- Jack by Ameriie: 3.5 stars
- Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainani: 3 stars
- Shirley & Jim by Susan Dennard: 4.5 stars
- The Blessing of Little Wants by Sarah Enni: 3.5 stars
- The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer: 5 stars
- Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon (tw: implied rape): 4.5 stars
- Death Knell by Victoria Schwab: 5 stars
- Marigold by Samantha Shannon: 4.5 stars
- You, You, It’s All About You by Adam Silvera: 5 stars
- Julian Breaks Every Rule by Andrew Smith: 2 stars
- Indigo and Shade by April Genevieve Tucholke: 3.5 stars
- Sera by Nicola Yoon: 4.5 stars

Favorites: The Sea Witch; Beautiful Venom; Death Knell; You, You, It’s All About You; Indigo and Shade; Sera

Least favorites: Gwen and Art and Lance; Julian Breaks Every Rule

I have to say, I misunderstood what role the booktubers would be playing in these stories. I knew they gave the authors prompts, but I thought each pair co-wrote their story. I didn’t realize the author wrote the story and the booktuber just added a little extra something at the end. While this is completely my own error, I can’t help but be a little disappointed.

All in all, a very good anthology! I’ll definitely buy my own copy.

(For those that might be curious, I got my overall rating by finding the average of my individual ratings.)

4.5 stars

Kasie West’s books are always the perfect pick-me-up. This is the fourth of her contemporaries I’ve read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the characters, the story, the family and friendship dynamics, and the (what I’d assume to be) realistic depiction of the lottery. I loved that Maddie and Seth worked in a zoo. I loved Seth’s Yorkie puppy Quinn and the zoo’s anteater Heeboo. I sped through this in about a day, and it was exactly what I needed at this moment.

If I had to critique one thing, it would be Maddie and Blaire’s extreme study habits. They’re the top two students in their class, only 1% apart, and they’re always studying. I completely understand being devoted to school and wanting to succeed, but I thought it was stretched just a bit. I feel like all the characters in contemporary YA are either top of their class or complete slackers, and I wouldn’t mind seeing an average student.

I can’t recommend Kasie’s books enough. If you’re a contemporary fan, and in this case an animal lover, you should pick this up. It’s a bit cheesy, but very likely to put a smile on your face.

4.5 stars

Who knew such a short book could be so impactful?

I can usually fly through books under 300 pages, and this was no exception. But at the same time, it was different. The chapters were short, and there were many instances where I thought I’d read 20 pages, when really I’d read over 50.

This book discusses racism, poverty, classism, friendship, art, and more. Even better, it has absolutely no romance. The story focuses on Jade’s character development, struggles, acceptance, and self-confidence. It’s a story about defying stereotypes and setting your own boundaries.

In addition to being black, Jade is also fat, and she’s not ashamed of that. I can’t speak personally on the rep, but based on conversations I’ve seen on Twitter, I believe this is a good thing. Body positivity is important for people of color, too.

All in all, I’d highly recommend this read. It’s not quite a favorite, but it was a relevant book that I flew through. Don’t sleep on this.

Full (spoiler-free) review and more on Heir of Glitter.

Thank you to Razorbill / Penguin Teen for sending me an early copy! This doesn't affect my opinion or the content of my review.

This was a very unique, good story, but misleading. It promises a thrilling gladiator tale, and while it is thrilling there are only about 3 actual arena fights. As for the characters, Fallon was an amazing lead and I loved the secondary characters too. (The antagonists were in that love-to-hate category.) Rome was a beautiful but brutal setting. Elka was the perfect feisty, loyal friend, and Cai and Fallon's romance was a slow-burning, forbidden one that hopeless romantics like me love. So although it was slightly disappointing in the gladiator aspect, I recommend you pick it up when it releases Feb. 14, 2017! :)