Wowowowow! For me this lived up to the hype. Steamiest book I have read to date. You never know what you are going to get with retellings especially when it’s mythology. I am ready for the follow up.

Audiobook: The story totally reminded me of Grease except male/male romance. Sophie Gonzales has become one of my favorite authors this year. I love her style whether it is YA or adult, she gives you just enough & doesn’t drag things out. This book deals with the complexities of summer love, new beginnings, grief, friendship & just plainly being a teenager.

Audiobook: this was a much better YA Fantasy than my first attempt; this was rather long but read much quicker which was to my surprise. Anxious to see if Bree’s story will be apart of the next book or if it will be about another character. Also it was cool to have it be current and yet Merlin & King Arthur were also involved.

Audiobook: Absolutely fabulous! I did not want this to end. If you love tropes, this one had a whole bunch: co worker enemies to fake dating to lovers then back to enemies. I really loved the narrator on this one who brought Shay to life.

This was my first Karin Slaughter book and boy did it not disappoint. I was compelled from the very beginning up to the very end. I love that we didn’t need to wait until end to figure it all out; that we knew what was going on from the start but just needed to know how things end. Highly recommend. TW: pedophile, sexual assault, murder

Audiobook: 3.5 - The scariest thing about this book was the poem. Truly terrifying. Loved how it all tied up everything at the end.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Jo Watson & Wattpad for the opportunity to read this!

This book will be published on September 21st!

"Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear" - I needed this book in middle and high school and yes even as an adult. I do not think I highlighted as many quotes in a book as I had with this one.

This is a story about a high schooler Lori who is moved from her home in Johannesburg to Capetown. Lori had to start over in her senior year, going from an art school to a sports filled world at Bay Water High where surfing and bodyboarding were activities. She immediately felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb and tried her best to hide. Lori's mother moved her and her brother Zac to Capetown because Zac is on the spectrum and the best school was located there. Lori's parents are divorced after her dad was found having an affair with a much younger co worker. The whole divorce has caused a strain on her relationship with her parents. Lori is the maternal figure in Zac's life. While picking up Zac at his school, Lori spots the hot, popular boy from her school Jake with the kids at the school. Turns out he not only volunteers there once a week but his sister goes there and has become friends with Zac. In Lori's head, there is no way she can have a crush on Jake because guys like Jake doesn't end up with girls like her. It's so obvious as a reader to see how Jake feels about Lori, but Lori herself doesn't see them herself and denies that there is no way he could be into her. This voice is in her head is present throughout most of the book and many times I wanted to shake her.

Lori grows up so much over the course of this book and really comes into her own by the end. I am so very proud of the woman she had become.

This is my first book set in South Africa and I loved the references to the country. It sounds absolutely beautiful and now I need to see the bioluminescent waves in my lifetime.

I also loved how open the talk about mental health and seeing a therapist was in this book. Lori wasn't embarrassed at the idea of going and knows that it helps her and it did in fact help her.

As I said in the beginning, I needed this book growing up and even as an adult it is a reminder to love your body. Love what has provided so much for you over the years. Stop bullying yourself and giving in to the voices in your head. Also I need to start buying succulents.

This book is such an important book not only for children but for all ages. Especially as an adult, we do not always understand others, our children & maybe even ourselves. And now more than ever we need to develop better culture and diversity of those around us.

As an adult, I work with customers and with people all over the country and sometimes the world and it is important that I use the proper pronouns. I was very happy that my corporate company encouraged us to put our pronouns in our signature to allow others to know how we would want to be referred to.

I love that the illustrations were warm and welcoming. They used examples that made it easy to understand for any age. I also liked in the back of the book that there were resources for adults to continue learning & to continue educating a young one in their life.

Audiobook: 4.5 - my first Riley book. I really enjoyed it and as always I had no clue what was going to happen. I really liked the audio of it and it kept me on edge.

I couldn’t put it off any longer and needed to finally read this. It was such a delight and gave me the same warm fuzzy feelings that I go while reading “The Guncle”. The fantasy element wasn’t so out there that it wasn’t hard for me to imagine what was going on. I truly have a soft spot for each of the children but my favorite is probably Chauncey who all he wants to be in life is a bellhop. There was a hint of romance which as a romance reader I would love to see it but there was so much other stuff was happening that it was fine. This one will sit with me for awhile.