Author: Adalyn Grace
Publication date: February 4, 2020
Genre: young adult, fantasy
My rating: 4/5 stars
Magical and imaginative, All the Stars and Teeth is an excellent debut novel and gives a promising start to both a new series and Adalyn Grace’s career. Filled to the brim with curses, powers, mythical creatures, and lovable characters, this book will immerse you in a fantastical world where magic is commonplace and nothing is as it seems.
Continue readingAuthor: Emily Lloyd Jones
Publication date: September 24, 2019
Genre: young adult, fantasy, light horror
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
THIS BOOK HAS A ZOMBIE GOAT. If that isn’t enough to convince you it’s worth reading, well…I don’t know what is. But here are a few more things this delightful book has to offer:
Author: Mary Cecilia Jackson
Publication date: March 17, 2020
Genre: young adult contemporary
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Huge thank you to the Fantastic Flying Book Club for selecting me to participate in this blog tour! At the end of this review, you’ll find the link to a giveaway for this truly impactful book.
Poignant, painful, but ultimately hopeful, Sparrow provides a harrowing look at one girl’s journey from victim to survivor. This is the sort of book that will stick with you for a while–and, yes, you’ll probably shed some tears.
Continue readingYes, yes, I’ve been gone for a while. I got stressed and stopped blogging for a few weeks, just letting the stack of reviews I still needed to write grow steadily. But I’m back now, and I’m bringing you not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR audiobook mini-reviews here! It’s been long enough since I listened to Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino that I don’t feel like I could write any sort of substantial review for it, but with the exception of that title, these books represent all the audiobooks I have listened to so far in 2020. On deck for this post we have a classic, an adult fantasy, a YA small-town fantasy, and a memoir of a journalist who worked in Silicon Valley (in a non-tech role at a tech company).
Continue readingAuthor: Sophie Gonzales
Publication date: March 3, 2020
Genre: young adult, contemporary, romance, LGBTQ+
My rating: 5/5 stars
Cute, queer, and oh-so-diverse, this might be my favorite book I’ve read this year thus far. Only Mostly Devastated is essentially a gay retelling of Grease, only with more humor (and emotions), broader social awareness, healthier relationships, and none of the “change the most fundamental aspects of your personality just to please a boy” nonsense that fills the end of the original musical. In other words, it is everything the world of light, contemporary YA thrives on, and I am so here for it.
Continue readingAuthor: Amelie Wen Zhao
Publication date: November 19, 2019
Genre: young adult fantasy
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
For a novel that has inspired such intense feelings from fellow readers–both positive and negative–Blood Heir was a surprisingly lukewarm read for me. Though it does have its moments, especially with its handling of some real-world problems in a fantasy context, its overall impression on me was still that of a fairly common, predictable YA fantasy.
Scattered throughout this review are some quotes I particularly enjoyed. Some take place in logical order; others I just kind of dropped in there. Sorry in advance for the casual tone of this review–it just felt fitting.
Continue readingI suppose we are all heroes in our own eyes, and monsters in the eyes of those who are different.
Author: Andrew Shaffer
Series: Obama Biden Mysteries (#1)
Publication date: July 10, 2018
Genre: mystery, humor
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
Hilarious, campy, and some welcome relief from the stressful state of American politics today, Hope Never Dies is one of those quick and wacky reads that you’re not always certain you’re in love with, but also just can’t put down. Plus, an Obama-Biden bromance, from good ol’ Uncle Joe’s point of view? How can that not be freaking amazing?
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