Thank you to Netgalley and Crumblebee Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Max and the Spice Thieves took me by surprise, as many ARCs do! I picked up this book because of the aspect of pirates, and I was not let down.

Max and the Spice Thieves follows Max Daybreaker. His world is turned upside down when his mother goes missing. Lucky for him, a crew of Spice Pirates led by Captain Cinn help Max on his dangerous mission across the three sees.
Along the way, an unlikely alliance aids his search-a teenage warrior queen, a 3 eyed seer, and an assassin spy.
Their journey takes them through many treacherous lands while facing an ancient witch, harpies, shapeshifting bears, and the terrifying Djinn, who will stop at nothing to enslave the entire world.
With every new challenge, Max unlocks the secrets of his unsettling past. Powers are awakened inside him, questioning what he knew about the world.
Is Max who he thinks he is?

I want to start out by saying I felt the plot was a little messy, but I think it works for the story. I feel as if the first 25% of the plot is so jumbled, but from that point on, it is great. It progresses so well and I loved every second of it. I did take a star off for that reason, but that is my only issue with the book.

Now for the characters; I LOVED Max. He is a strong pre-teen figuring out who he is throughout the entire book. Reading from his perspective as he progresses through the story is amazing. Since this is a children's book, I did not think that any character would really stand out, but I was mistaken. Max really stands out as a strong male character, which I do not see a lot of. It is such a refreshing story to have a male POV. Max definitely was the most well-rounded character with an amazing character arc. As for the other characters, all of them were amazing. Linzy, Mesha, Sal, Anya, Captain Cinn, everyone was amazing.

The world-building was done in a different way than I am used to, but it was great! It was super simple to understand, and I think that is why it works so well. Being a children's novel, worlds are usually super easy to understand, and Peragine did not disappoint with a well-rounded world that is easy to understand.

I truly enjoyed this book, and hope that people read it when it comes out. Pirates, kick-ass characters, well-rounded plot AND world, end of the world situation, it has got everything! Not to mention the cute love-triangle throughout the book!

I cannot wait for the sequel, I am so excited to see what journey they all embark on next.

*actual rating: 2.5*

Thank you to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Rose Kiss follows Lana, and is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It’s a solid retelling.

I like the overarching theme of the book, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. However, it fell short in some aspects. It’s a short read, so it goes quickly. However, my copy of the book had lots of missing parts. Chapters ended in the middle of sentences, chapters started where the previous chapter was no where near. But forgetting that, the story itself was okay. I wasn’t blown away by it.

It’a not the best Beauty and the Beast retelling I’ve read, but it’s not the worst. I liked it.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad has a promising premise to it, I will admit that. And the cover is absolutely stunning. But my god, I was confused the entire time.

I gave myself some time to gather my thoughts on this book, so here we go.

The Wild Ones follows multiple women, and centres on their hard struggles in life, the strength they can gain from one another, and creating a family out of nothing to feel supported in.

Characters: there are so many god damn characters. It’s hard to keep track of all of them. There’s 11 Wild Ones, plus lots of side characters like Taarana. I don’t honestly remember any of the Wild Ones names except Paheli, because she is the one POV where it’s obvious that it’s her. I wish we could have get to know more of them.

Plot: this plot was so choppy, and I’m disappointed in it. It has such a cool premise but it fell so flat for me. On top of that, the story was told in alternating POVs. One pov would be Paheli, and one would be from a Wild One, but we wouldn’t know who it is. I already knew going in that those types of POVs I don’t like, but I had no clue it was going to be in here. It wasn’t done that well for me.

Worldbuilding: I felt like the world wasn’t flushed out enough. We didn’t get that many descriptions, only that the Wild Ones went to a place called “The Between”. Only Middle Worlders can go there, and the Wild Ones are able to become invisible in the real world. That’s really all I understood about the world in this book. I’m still confused about it.

Since I gave myself a few days to gather my thoughts, I found that I forget a lot of what happened. And that doesn’t happen often. When a book I read becomes one I don’t remember key details of, it shows me that the book wasn’t for me.

Even though this book was not for me, I think it will definitely be one that is beneficial to other people. I am a very white passing Métis man, this book was not written for me. I am reviewing it from my standpoint, not someone else’s. Please keep that in mind.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start out and say I couldn't finish the eARC. I tried pushing to halfway but I couldn't force myself to and then put myself in a reading slump. I stopped around 30%. It is one that when I get a physical copy of it, I will finish it.

What We Devour by Linsey Miller is a perfect dark fantasy. It's filled with gory sacrifices, a unique magic system, and LGBTQ representation.

It's definitely a more slow-paced book, but sometimes those are great! From what I read, I liked this one! I do want to get a physical copy once it is released and read the entire thing, because from what I read, I was intrigued, but couldn't force myself to finish it. I will be getting a copy to read in October because this book gave me that vibe of a book perfect for October (if that makes sense).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Traitors of the Black Crown was a miss for me right now. I did not finish it because I couldn't really connect with any of the characters through an ebook copy. I really wanted to finish it but I just could not in ebook format. I do want to give this book a try in a physical format!

I dnf'ed (for now) @ 25%. I really wanted to continue but I was going to get myself in a reading slump if I tried finishing it.

There is loads of LGBTQ representation in this book, so I really do want to give this book a try in physical format, because it seems right up my alley!!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

I’m sorry but I had to DNF @20%. I was really excited to read this, but I just couldn’t get into it.

The premise of this book was super interesting; two boys in a boy band falling in love. It sounds like Larry fanfic to me, but since I never read any, I can’t say if it’s like that. But I just didn’t like the story.

I’m disappointed to say the least, I was super excited to read this. The plot just felt boring to me. I liked the characters, but it wasn’t enough for me to keep reading.

In saying that, I do think this is a quick summer read. It’s perfect for a beach day.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for an eARC in exchange for an honest review*

I want to preface this review that this book NEEDS to have trigger warnings for SA and grooming. These are heavy topics in the book and it needs to be addressed for readers wanting to read this book (and FROM the publisher/author and NOT reviewers).

Tell Me When You Feel Something follows 3 points of view: Vivi (the girl who overdosed), Davida, and Tim. I loved each of their views.

One thing I loved in this book is how there were police interviews woven into the story. The story was also told in separate time periods (before the overdose so we saw how it came to be, and after the overdose with Davida trying to figure out what happened).

I took a star off because of the missing TW. For me personally, I do not need them but based on stuff that has happened in my family and hearing from friends, it is a MAJOR deal to have them for something like this, a book where SA and grooming are main topics in it.