The summary can do better than me explaining this graphic novel, so here is the summary!:

“On the planet of Taldain, the legendary Sand Masters harness arcane powers to manipulate sand in spectacular ways. But when they are slaughtered in a sinister conspiracy, the weakest of their number, Kenton, believes himself to be the only survivor. With enemies closing in on all sides, Kenton forges an unlikely partnership with Khriss -- a mysterious Darksider who hides secrets of her own.”

For those who don’t know, this series is part of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere. The Cosmere is essentially a universe that is interconnected and we see a few characters jump planet to planet amongst other things. I really thought this was definitely a good format for this book. I liked the illustrations in the graphic novel and I wish I got my hands on a physical copy to see the coloring, but the wait was too long and it came in faster on the hold for the ebook version, which is why I read it on my kindle. Please, everyone remind me to stop reading graphic novels on my kindle. I thought the magic was great and interesting in this book and I want to know more. Not my favorite Brandon Sanderson work because there was a lot of jumping around, but it was still good.

The summary will explain better than me:

“Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…
Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block—her neighbor Theo.
But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.
When does coincidence become conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other—or themselves—long enough to find out before they too disappear?”

I definitely got the Get Out vibe when I was reading this. I really enjoyed this book being multi-pov. I did find myself a lot drifting away from the book and not soaking in what was going on. I did find myself bored most of it and just found it mediocre.

This is another book where I feel like the summary will do better than me describing it:

“Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok.
In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.
Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.”

I picked this up because I thought the cover is gorgeous and I’ve been wanting to read this for a while. Plus, I wanted a short book to listen to as I was making dinner and walking Riot. I really enjoyed reading about Thor and Loki and loved them as characters. This book will suck you in.

Wallace Price is a jerk and we open this story up with Wallace being cold and firing someone. A few days later he dies and is at his funeral. Only one person can see him and it’s a reaper. She takes him to a tea shop to meet a ferryman named Hugo. Wallace is a jerk to everyone at the tea shop and all he wants is to go back to his human life, but that’s not possible. With those in the tea shop, he learns how to be a ghost and be a better man and has to decide if he wants to move on or stay with the others in the tea shop as a ghost.
This book is heartwarming, heartbreaking, and hilarious. It makes you think of life as well as death. This is such a powerful story that will stay with you for a long time. The humor takes away from the heavy topics and makes this story charming. I loved Wallace’s character development from a jerk to a better man. There is romance, but it is later in the book and not super prominent. I love all the friendships that are formed in this book. This will definitely be on my favorite books of 2021 list. I highly, highly recommend this book to everyone and you won’t regret reading this book.

TW: Suicide/grief

Anna’s fiancé died by suicide 10 months ago and Anna misses him and can’t seem to let him go. They were supposed to take a sailing trip to the Caribbean and she decides to go on their sailboat. She realizes she can’t sail alone and hires Keane, a handsome Irish man. Will she be able to move on from Ben?
This book was cute and yes it is a rom-com, but it does have that heaviness of dealing with grief and moving on from a loved one. I could not imagine how much pain Anna was in by losing her fiancé. If I was to lose my husband the pain would be excruciating. So, I can imagine how hard it was for her. I really loved her character development with going through her grief and seeing a new future for herself. Also, my favorite part is when they find an island dog and adopt her. I love dogs, so we know I loved that part. I did feel like the ending was a bit rushed and I hope we find out what happens to Anna and Keane in the sequel with Anna’s sister. I do recommend this book who wants a fast read.

This follows our main character trying to get votes to keep the Sand Masters.
I really enjoyed the illustrations and I’m happy I did this as a physical book since I got to see the color and it was less annoying to read it compared to reading it on a Kindle. I think this story is great and is definitely progressing well.

I’m not going to really summarize this book because you would be spoiled on how Gild ended. This just picks up right where Gild left off. Gild was one POV, but Glint is multi POV, but does focus more on Auren’s POV.
If you are looking for romance just know that this book doesn’t have any romance in it. I mean Auren is in love with Midas, but still we don’t see romance and we probably won’t see romance until we read Gleam. The love interest is in this book, but they are going from enemies to friends and I know they’ll eventually go to lovers. This book is faced paced. I love how Auren goes to naive to finding her own way and self. It was great seeing other parts of this world and seeing how the enemies army really is. I really look forward to Gleam and can’t wait for that romance. Also, I docked this a star due to lack of romance, but because I guessed the endings twist. I did not guess the middle of the books twist though.

The Diem is still in trouble and our main character must convince people to vote for it. Plus, there is a duel.
I really like the illustrations and the color to them. The storyline was great and I’m glad to see an end result. It wasn’t all the way tied up though, so I’m wondering if there will be more in this series. I really enjoyed the action in it. It was good and I recommend these volumes.

Olivia and Max really don’t want a relationship. Max is kind of lonely on his campaigns as a senator. They meet each other at a hotel bar and Olivia is not interested in dating a politician. However, she receives a cake from Max with a cute message and she can’t resist him. They start seeing each other secretly and have disguises and when they go public the media goes crazy. With they survive the spotlight?
I love Jasmine Gulliory books and I love how well she writes her books. The romances are sweet and steamy. This is I think my third book by her and this didn’t disappoint. I meant to read it in July 2020 and I actually had the physical book out from the library, but I’m so awesome that I check out too many books and didn’t get a chance to read it. I was looking through Libby and found the audiobook and I was like I’m going to finally read it. It did not disappoint. I loved the cakes and pies both shared. The romance was sweet and hot. The epilogue was my favorite and I was eating dinner by myself listening and squealing. You guys have to pick this book up, you would not be disappointed with this book or any of her books. Plus, look at how awesome the cover is!

I’m just going to leave the summary here because it will do better than I:

“All it takes is one hit on the football field, and suddenly Ash’s life doesn’t look quite the way he remembers it. Impossible though it seems, he’s been hit into another dimension—and keeps on bouncing through worlds that are almost-but-not-really his own.
The changes in his world start small, but quickly spiral out of control as he ends up in universes where he has everything he’s ever wanted, universes where society is stuck in the past, and universes where he finds himself as someone he’s never had to consider before.
And if he isn’t careful, the world he’s learning to see more clearly could blink out of existence…”

I really enjoyed the parallel universes and what Ash learned through each life. I loved how he learned how to accept himself. Sometimes things would feel like things were backwards and wrong. Times where it was heartbreaking for Ash to learn. He learned things about his other peers. Also, if I were to have a stop sign be the color blue, I would lose it too. There is also lgtbq themes in this book too. Definitely a great book and I forgot to mention I went into this book blind. I picked it up off of Libby and saw it was Neal Shusterman, so I had to read it.