Tag Archives: 4.5 stars

ARC — When Life Gives You Vampires — Gloria Duke

Author: Gloria Duke
Narrated By: Meg Sylvan

Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 stars
Narration: 5 mikes
Content Warnings: Discusses fatphobia, crash dieting, infertility, and kidnapping. Describes fires, death, drinking blood, and hate crimes. Includes some sexual content.

“When Life Gives You Vampires” follows Lily Baines, a 25-year-old New Yorker that was turned into a vampire by a virtual stranger against her (and his) will. Lily meets Tristan at a bar and they hit it off pretty quick, but Tristan did not mean to turn her—that’s actually against all vampire laws. That’s why, now, they’re being threatened and hunted down by, lets say, the president of vampires. How will they fight this double death that is knocking on their door? This and more is what this amazing story has to offer.

This book is fun and funny. It’s about vampires without being pretentious—it might even be a bit satirical when it comes to our young generation’s perception of vampires. I loved how they broke the fourth wall here and there. I did not want this book to end, it was the light-hearted, suspenseful read I needed.

Also, I had never heard a book narrated by Meg Sylvan, but I can honestly say I will be following her work from now on. Her voice really kept me engaged, which is actually a really big feat when it comes to me—my mind is all over the place when I’m listening to audiobooks, yet Meg’s narration really caught my attention.

Don’t expect this book to be life-changing, because it isn’t, but it does touch on important topics like loving yourself, body positivity, and trusting family and friends. It also has quite a cute love story, with all its ups and downs.

I would highly recommend this read and this audiobook if you’re looking for a light-hearted but short and captivating read. With its strangers-to-lovers trope, it’s quite unique, I can’t think of any book to compare it to—but definitely grab this book if you like books with plus-sized main characters and if you won’t be offended by a joke or two about vampires.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, and published by Sourcebooks, in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 4, 2022

ARC — Bad Girl Reputation — Elle Kennedy — Avalon Bay #2

Author: Elle Kennedy
Narrated by: Lee Samuels and Summer Morton

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 4 stars
Narration: 5 mikes
Content Warnings: Discusses parent death, parent neglect, abandonment, alcohol and drug abuse, police/authority abuse, and includes sexual content.

“Bad Girl Reputation” follows Genevieve (Gen) West, a rebel who escaped the small town of Avalon Bay, running away from her past and her reputation—but then, after being a year away, her mother dies unexpectedly, and she is forced to come back and help her father with their family business. So in comes Evan Hartley, Gen’s on-again-off-again high school ex-boyfriend and personal bad boy. As soon as they see each other, they know there’s still something there, and so Gen has no option but to run away from him, constantly. If she wants to break out from old cycles, then she needs to start with Evan. She can’t be dating him if she’s planning on not being her past, irresponsible self. But what if she isn’t the only on that has changed? What if this time apart has also been good for Evan? What if she does have another shot at love after all.

“Bad Girl Reputation” is worth the hype. This second chance romance is both fast-paced and, well, romantic. I was lucky to get my hands on the audiobook ARC of this book, with Summer Morton narrating as Gen and Lee Samuels narrating as Evan. In my opinion, Summer was the perfect cast. Her voice was all I imagined Gen’s voice to be. Evan, on the other hand, took me a few chapters to get used to. I wasn’t feeling his voice, even if the narrator was doing a great job—and even by the end I wasn’t 100% sold on it.

I am happy to say, tho, that I liked “Bad Girl Reputation” so much more than the first book in this series, “Good Girl Complex”. The first book in the Avalon Bay series felt one-dimensional at times and perhaps even a bit bland. “Bad Girl Reputation”, on the other hand, has so many layers and parallel situations that all show their relevance by the end of the book, even if at times they felt like unnecessary filling. Everything from problematic friendships to awkward dating to strained parental relationships being mended to volunteering were discussed and it was precious.

I would highly recommend grabbing this audiobook, even if you haven’t read the first book on this series, as it serves as a standalone novel mostly. Gen are Evan are the sweetest couple and the narration is clear—so clear, actually, that I was able to listen it at 3 times the speed with no problem whatsoever.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio and published by St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 4, 2022

ARC — Something Bright and Burning — Whitney Amazeen

“He does the most dangerous thing a person can do; he lets me hope.
And this kind of hope-the kind that makes me feel like somehow everything’s going to turn out okay in the end-will only end in disappointment.”

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Is all about teenage pregnancy, discusses rape and blackmailing leading to sexual assault, sexual content in general, suicide, underaged drinking, incest, miscarriages, financial hardships, parental death and abandonment, and religious guilt.

“Something Bright and Burning” follows Everly Martin, as she finds out she’s pregnant at 18… and she’s not sure who the father is. Her whole future is ahead of her, she’s taking college classes and working and barely making ends meet. The father could either be Vaughn, the douchebag coworker who’s forced himself on her, or John, the older man she met at a bar. But then there’s also Nicolai, her best friend’s brother, and someone Everly had an instant connection with. In this world, where there are no right answers, will Everly choose to follow what she things if best for her or her baby? Or for both?

Told through journal entries, poems, and a first-person narrative, “Something Bright and Burning” is an ode to hardship and self-improvement. Some characters were a bit cartoonish but, in general, almost all were well-defined, with their diverse personalities, stories, and beliefs.

“I often feel like she willingly allows me to shoulder the weight of our family’s responsibilities. When she leaves the parent role empty, I have no choice but to fill it.”

The only thing I wasn’t 100% sold on was the poetry… It was simply not my cup of it. It was just some instagram-worthy prose, just like the next guy. No poem really spoke to me. It just felt like a little something added to give the main character some hobbies and personality traits.

But oh, was the plot twist so so wild. It has been months, maybe even years, since a plot twist had hit me so hard. Just that plot twist makes this book worth reading. I wish I could go back and read it for the first time all over again.

This book kind of reminded me of Lauren J. Sharkey’s “Inconvenient Daughter” and maybe even a bit to Hanya Yanagihara’s “A Little Life”. It just undertook some very heavy subjects. It did an amazing job of portraying life, with some of its extreme threats.

I would highly recommend this book. “Something Bright and Burning” is a complex read, with a ton of triggering situations (and therefore a ton of content warnings), but if you find the heart to read through them, you won’t regret it.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Swan Pages Publishinf in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: September 20, 2022

“It’s not you, Nicolai. It’s me, I want to tell him. But
those words have never worked for anyone. So, I don’t look back. I grab all my shit, I take a deep breath, and leave.”

Tweet Cute — Emma Lord

“It’s weird, how you have no idea how far you’ve come until suddenly you can’t find the way back.”

Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A, it’s clean
Content Warnings: Deals with teenagers under a lot of pressure, grandparent sickness, and high school bullying.

“Tweet Cute” follows Pepper and Jack, two high school seniors that are under waaay too much pressure. Pepper is the captain of the swim team and the social media manager for her family’s massive food chain business. Jack lives under his twin’s shadow, who’s the captain of the dive team, but the one thing he has that his brother doesn’t is the authority to manage his family’s small restaurant’s Twitter account. When the two Twitter accounts go into full-on feud mode over a grilled cheese sandwich recipe, Jack and Pepper aren’t aware that they’re actually fighting against themselves. Until they are. And things get messy.

This book felt exactly how it felt like to be a teenager: everything was the end of the world and people-pleasing tendencies were at their all-time high. But I loved it. It’s clean, so no spicy content there, but it’s sweet, with its own happy ending and all.

The amount of plot twists we get is almost troublesome, but since the book is written in two points of view—Pepper’s and Jack’s—we also know things that the other doesn’t, making it all a bit more exciting. It’s like you’re in on a secret that you know will come out, you’re just not sure when.

And can we talk about how this was Emma Lord’s debut novel? That’s crazy. It’s so so good, I can’t wait to get my hands on the 2 other books she’s published since (and the 4th book that’ll be published by early 2023).

I would highly recommend “Tweet Cute” as a gift for a young reader. It’s fast-paced but will keep you on your toes. It’s a love story but it also touches deep and relevant subjects for their age, like finding yourself and what you love, standing up to your parents—in a respectful way—to let them know maybe the path they’ve chosen for you isn’t the one you’d like to chose for yourself. I would highly recommend this YA read.

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“A stolen day. The kind of day that ends too fast but stays with you much longer.”

An Offer From a Gentleman — Julia Quinn — Bridgertons #3

“It suddenly made sense. Only twice in his life had he felt this inexplicable, almost mystical attraction to a woman. He’d thought it remarkable, to have found two, when in his heart he’d always believed there was only one perfect woman out there for him.
His heart had been right. There was only one.”

Genre: Historical Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 4 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses parent death, child birthed out of wedlock (in the regency period), child labor and mistreatment, classism, and attempted rape.

“An Offer From a Gentleman” follows Benedict Bridgerton, the second eldest of the Bridgerton siblings, and his one true love, Sophie Beckett, who’s the bastard child of an Earl. These two meet one night at a masquerade ball, fall smitten in love with their masks on, only to not see each other for years—that is because Sophie has been working as a servant to her stepmother ever since her father died, and she had only been in that ball as an act of rebellion. Fast forward a few years, and Sophie is working for another family after her stepmother kicked her out, when the son of said family and his friends are set on raping the young maid, who is then saved by the brave Benedict Bridgerton. He gets a feeling that they’ve met before but doesn’t really recognize her, all he knows is that he doesn’t want to part ways from this clever girl dressed in maid’s clothes.

If we don’t get to see Benedict’s story on the Netflix series I will be royally pissed. I know they’ll be making Book 4 instead of Book 3 into Season 3 of the Bridgerton series, but God will I riot if we don’t get this happily ever after for Ben. The only reason I didn’t give this book the full 5 stars was because it was extremely predictable, in true Cinderella fashion.

I felt like the connection between Benedict and Sophie was explored better than the romantic connections in the previous Bridgerton books, but I think it had to do with the fact that Benedict and Sophie were in a secluded cottage for half the book, rather than in the middle of the London season as we saw with Daphne and Simon, and Anthony and Kate.

This is a truly lovely book. I would recommend “An Offer From a Gentleman” if you’re looking for a regency era romance where the main characters are from different social classes. A.k.a. if you’re looking for a spicier version of Cinderella, grab this book.

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“I shall have to make sure you take me up on my offer to find you employment with my mother. You do bring out the best in me, Miss Sophie Beckett.”
“This is the best?” (…)
“I’m afraid so.”

ARC — The Charmed List — Julie Abe

“This summer’s going to be perfect. This is going to be the summer when my Anti-Wallflower List becomes a reality.”

Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 0 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Mentions cancer, deadly car crashes, and death of parents, and deals with bullying and shame.

“The Charmed List” follows Ellie Kobata and Jack Yasuda, two ex-best friends from magic-aware families in the summer before their Senior year of high school. How they went from best friends to strangers, we’re not so sure, but what we’re sure about is that when Ellie thought about the perfect summer roadtrip it never included Jack—but that’s how things turned out. Driving through California on the way to a magic convention, will Jack and Ellie be reunited, get honest with each other and finally talk about what drew them apart? Or will this be the awkwardest summer ever?

This book has it all—from a summer bucketlist, to a roadtrip, to a friends-to-enemies-to-friends-again-to-lovers dynamic, and a close proximity trope for sure. And of course, it had magic. I loved how this book made it feel like you were in on a secret, like small magic was a simple, everyday thing that few were lucky to experience consciously but many did see it in their lives—describing it as luck or love or happiness.

Some of my favorite things about Julie Abe’s writing was how flow-y it was, the story was well-constructed and used some flashbacks here and there that really made the narrative stand out and be unique amongst so many other magic YA books that I’ve read.

I would recommend “The Charmed List” to anyone looking for a funny, YA romance that centers around lost friendships and magic, and that’ll give you all the summer vibes. It isn’t an explicit romance by any means, all we get is a simple kiss at the very end (they’re kids, that’s fair), so I would highly recommend this book to be given as a gift to young readers. It truly is a lovely, magical book.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 05, 2022

“And, I’ve realized, I don’t have to be all one thing or the other. And just because someone else has slapped a label on me, it doesn’t mean that I have to accept their definition of who I should be. My list was never about standing out and getting attention, but to make myself someone I admire. And I don’t need a bottle of luck or a charm to change my life.”

Today Tonight Tomorrow — Rachel Lynn Solomon

“Maybe that’s the definition of nostalgia: getting sappy about things that are supposed to be insignificant.”

Genre: Young Adult, Romantic Comedy
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Deals with racism, discrimination, and antisemitism.

“Today Tonight Tomorrow” follows Rowan Roth and Neil McNair, two rivals and overachievers—hence why they end up being valedictorian and salutatorian—through their last day of high school. Set in Seattle, we accompany them through Howl, a sort of Senior sent-off that takes them all through the city. When Rowan and Neil realize they have more in common than they originally thought, and they realize the only way they’ll win Howl is by working together, will they overcome their past rivalry or will their stubbornness damn them?

I loved this book so much. Seattle felt like the Vancouver of the United States to me, and Vancouver is one of my absolute favorite cities. My biggest regret is that I lived relatively close to Vancity and I didn’t visit it half as much as I should’ve. This book gave me the opportunity to explore a city I’ve never been to and I loved every second of it.

The romance was childish, just like it should be in every YA book. Rowan’s and Neil’s banter was fun and funny and light. This book served as an escape from my everyday, adult life, and I am so grateful for it.

I would recommend this book to readers who like the enemies-to-lovers trope and to those who like exploring new cities, through all their quirkiness and glory.

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“I’ve given this boy the messiest parts of me, and he’s done nothing but convince me he’ll be careful with them.”

ARC — What We Both Know — Fawn Parker

“It’s as though the more he forgets the more I remember.”

Genre: Fiction, Mysteries and Thrillers
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Dementia, insinuations of incest and child molestation, explicit pet death,

Hillary Greene is left with some hard tasks: take care of her senile father and write his memoir. Her father is a renounced author and, after years of writing, is losing himself and all the secrets he tried so hard to bury. Hillary, on the other hand, is an aspiring author and is grieving the loss of her sister. She is left with a choice: share, through the memoir, who her father really was or cover it all up so his legacy as a writer can live on.

This was an extremely depressing and disturbing read. Let’s start with the fact that the daughter—and caregiver—calls her dad Baby? We then find out why that is, but it still made me uncomfortable at times, even if it was a nickname.

Personally, I think that the most devastating part of this book was how, through her endeavors, she uncovered truths that were there all along, not only about her father, who the memoir is about, but of her dead sister as well. I can’t say I agree with all the actions Hillary took throughout this book, but at the same time I could mostly see where she was coming from.

I would highly recommend this book, especially if you’re fond of dark stories. If you read and liked “A Little Life” by Hanya Tanagihara or “My Dark Vanessa” by Kate Elizabeth Russell, then “What We Both Know” is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: May 03, 2022

“They say a man becomes a man when he loses his father, but what does he become when he loses himself?”

One True Loves — Taylor Jenkins Reid

“All I know is that my parents have always made love seem easy and sometimes I wish they prepared me for how truly complicated it can be.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions injury descriptions, death, and suicidal thoughts.

“One True Loves” follows Emma Blair’s story in a somewhat chronological order. Emma falls in love with and marries Jesse, her high school sweetheart. On the day of their first wedding anniversary, he is lost at sea and presumed dead after a helicopter crash. Emma then moves back to her hometown and after some time falls in love again and gets engaged to Sam, a high school friend—only for Jesse to be found, alive, after surviving years on a deserted island. Now with a husband and a fiancé, Emma is left to find within herself where her love lies.

This book perfectly describes how it’s possible to love two people at the same time in completely different ways. I empathized with Emma, felt for Jesse, and just absolutely loved Sam. I felt like this was a slow-paced book only because I’ve gotten so used to books with alternating timelines. In “One True Loves”, we get to see a glimpse of the future before jumping on a normal timeline, but after learning that Jesse was alive and getting to know him in the first few chapters of the normal timeline, I couldn’t help but want to see another glimpse into the future and then another and another.

I would say this was a very sad book even though it had a somewhat happy ending. I wouldn’t have had it any other way but at the same time, I wish the characters hadn’t had to go through that. That’s how lovable they were, you really did not want to see any harm done to them.

I don’t know why but this book reminded me of Colleen Hoover novels. this wasn’t that big of a tragedy but if you enjoy CoHo books then I would definitely recommend “One True Loves”.

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We’ll Always Have Summer — Jenny Han — Summer #3

Genre: Young Adult, Coming-of-age
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions cheating, but it’s not a real troupe in this book tho.

“We’ll Always Have Summer” follows Belly as she starts college and delves into her relationship with Jeremiah—the relationship that Conrad, her ex boyfriend and forever crush (and Jeremiah’s brother), encouraged them to have. Told between the points of view of Conrad and Belly (but mostly Belly’s), this book is the perfect conclusion to the Summer trilogy.

In my humble opinion, his book was bs. What Jeremiah did that spring break? Bullshit. What Conrad did the day of the wedding? Bullshit. What Belly did to absolutely everyone in this book? You guessed it: bullshit. But yeah, I still loved it. This book hits too close to home this time around. I almost did what Belly almost do: get married ridiculously young. And even though, yeah, I’m still with the same partner I was back then, now, 6 years later, I can see how crazy that was. I think this book can easily be my favorite out of the series.

Grab these three books. They’re short and fast-paced and heartwarming and heartbreaking and funny and sweet and sad. This series has it all. It’s YA for sure, but it’s good YA.

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