Tag Archives: 4.5 stars

The Summer I Turned Pretty — Jenny Han — Summer #1

Genre: Young Adult, Coming-of-age
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses cancer and divorce.

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” follows Belly through her summer, as she, her brother, and her mother join her mother’s best friend and her sons, Conrad and Jeremiah, in their beach house—a long standing tradition that Belly’s been doing pretty much her whole life. But this summer is different. This summer she’ll get it right. She’ll pursue Conrad, her forever crush, and live out the perfect summer… or will she?

This book is childish in all the right ways. And yes, I have definitely outgrown this type of narrative, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think this will always be my go-to YA series when giving recommendations to younger readers, there’s something ageless about this book. It was published 13 years ago but it still hold true: summer love is the shortest and sweetest thing.

The only reason I didn’t give it the full 5 stars I gave it 8 years ago on Goodread is because at times the chapters wouldn’t fit together. I’m not sure how to explain it, but I guess it’s that sometimes the transition between one chapter and the next was very abrupt and just felt forced, as if the author was trying to dump some information or flashback on us.

I highly recommend this book to pre-teens and young teenagers, and would also recommend it as gifts for any young nieces or daughters you may have. This was one of the series that made me get into reading when I was younger, it’s easy to read and relatively fast-faced. It’ll catch anyone’s attention pretty early on.

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ARC — Waiting for Frank Ocean in Cairo — Hazem Fahmy

“I recall the moment
white Americans around
me started learning how to
fear the police, or at least
understand why others do.
I wish I knew what that
sweet innocence tasted like.”

Genre: Poetry
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions police brutality, discrimination, domestic abuse, and violence.

“Waiting for Frank Ocean in Cairo” is Hazem Fahmy’s sophomore book and it uses some Frank Ocean lyrics to build the story of a life: one that is split between two cultures, two continents—or across Oceans, if you will.

This poetry collection gives you a multi-sensory experience, as you’re moved by Hazem Fahmy’s words and Frank Ocean’s tunes and lyrics. Hazem Fahmy has found a way to transport you into their poetry collection in such a unique and absorbing way.

Hear me out, this is of utmost importance: as you’re reading this collection, open up whatever app or website you use to listen to music and be ready to look up Frank Ocean songs as they come up. Personally, I would listen to the song first and then read the poem, but you do you.

I think this is the most creative poetry collection I’ve read in years. I love music and how it can move you; and even though Frank Ocean isn’t amongst my favorite artists, it was still amazing to revisit his music from a whole different perspective, one that invited me to live through it.

I would recommend this poetry collection to people who like melancholic songs—those that make you want to dance *and* cry. It’s hard to read this book and not be moved. Oh, and of course, absolutely read this book if you like Frank Ocean or experimental soul and rap music in general, or if you’re up for a uniquely different poetry collection.

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Thanks so much to Topaz Winter and the team at Half Mystic Press for sharing this ARC with me and including me in their blog tour.

Publication Date: March 18, 2022

“Music, at the end of the day, can only do so much.”

ARC — Come As You Are — Jennifer Haupt

“It occurs to Skye now, listening to her mom’s eulogy, that forgiveness is the difference between the way a wife loves her husband and a child craves love from a parent.”

Genre: Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses death and descriptions of panic attacks.

“Come As You Are” follows Skye and Zane, two childhood best friends turned lovers, through the decades that brought them together and tore them apart. Told mostly from Skye’s point of view, and following various timelines, this is a story about how loss and distance can mend and break relationships.

Expertly written, you truly are transported through the years, from 1987 to 2002 (and a 2013 epilogue), in a grunge-y scene worthy of the reference its title suggests. Jennifer Haupt made a wonderful job with her jumping timelines, slowly revealing things to the reader, building up curiosity and suspense around what happened in the past and what the future could hold.

I grew fond of all the characters, even the ones we were encouraged to dislike. They were complex, well-defined, and consistent throughout the book. I really felt like I got to know them, close and personal. If anything, I wish there would’ve been more. I would’ve liked to see more into the future, but the ending was a true testament that most times history repeats itself.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories with alternating timelines (think like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo). Also, I would encourage anyone fond of the 1990s rock-grunge vibe to grab this book. It’s a unique story told through clever means, it’ll be worth your time.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: March 01, 2022

The Spanish Love Deception — Elena Armas

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warning: Mentions sexual assault, power-imbalance couples, and cancer.

“The Spanish Love Deception” follows Catalina—a.k.a. Lina—Martín, as she sets to find a fake boyfriend that’ll follow her all the way to Spain, to her hometown, for her sister’s wedding. Then bring on her only candidate: Aaron Blackford, her annoyingly smug coworker. Ever since Aaron’s been in the office, Lina’s had the impression he doesn’t like her that much, and so she’s skeptical, to say the least, about him being her fake boyfriend. Set mostly in New York and the northern coast of Spain, this book will engulf you between two cultures and a not-so-deceptive love affair.

First things first: HOW IS THIS ELENA’S DEBUT NOVEL? It’s so well-written, her storyline was clear and well-constructed, and her characters were unique and lovely… Most writers don’t get it this right this early on in their careers. I can’t wait to read her second book, that’s coming out in August 2022—although it won’t follow Lina and Aaron, it’ll be following Rosie (Lina’s friend and coworker) and Lucas (Lina’s cousin) instead.

I would recommend this book to anyone who liked The Hating Game (book or movie, doesn’t matter), or anyone who’s fond of the enemies-to-lovers troupe. It’s a semi-lengthy book (almost 500 pages) but oh God, did I not get enough of those two and their story. I can’t recommend this book enough.

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Second First Impressions — Sally Thorne

“That red string never gets it wrong, and unlikely puzzle pieces always fit together.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

This books follows Ruthie Midona, an employee at the Providence Luxury Retirement Villa, who’s both reluctant and curious about re-entering the dating scene. So, in comes Teddy Prescott, the son of the new owner of the Retirement Villa, who’s looking to earn some money in order to buy his way into a tattoo studio a few towns over. Between them comes an un expected friendship filled with sexual tension, but if there’s one thing they both agree on is that they wouldn’t be right for each other; Ruthie is looking for something serious and permanent in Providence while Teddy is only passing through town, eager to move on. Set in a retirement villa, this book is quirky, funny, and perpetually entertaining.

If I’m being honest, I’m not too fond of the “preacher’s daughter” trope (and hence I had a hunch I wouldn’t like Ruthie—or this book), but I can say I was pleasantly surprised. Overlooking that Ruthie is a preacher’s daughter and Teddy is a tatted-up bad boy, I still loved this book because the characters were so much more than their stereotypes. Sally Thorne, as per usual, has done an exceptional job on her character and world building. I honestly pictured myself working alongside them, happily helping in turtle rehabilitation.

This book is definitely a romance book and oh, does it bang. The sexual tension was patiently built, having us more than 70% through the book and still not having something as simple as a kiss. The only reason this book didn’t get a higher rating was because I felt like it was childish at times, especially when the main characters fought.

I would recommend this book to readers who have enjoyed books by authors like Emily Henry, Christina Lauren, or Sally Thorne herself. This isn’t a mind-blowing romance book, but it is still pretty great and entertaining, and so I would still recommend it.

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“Tidy, messy. Give, take. Adorer, adoree. Together, we can be all these things.”

ARC — The Maid — Nita Prose

“It’s easier than you’d ever think—existing in plain sight while remaining largely invisible. That’s what I’ve learned from being a maid. You can be so important, so crucial to the fabric of things and yet be entirely overlooked.”

Genre: Mystery and Thrillers
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses death, murder, and drugs.

“The Maid” follows Molly Gray, a young woman whose passion is to be an exceptional hotel maid. After she finds one of the hotel’s guests dead in his room, she is thrown into a whirlwind of chaos that ends with her being accused of being the murderer. The summary of the book describes it as a “Clue-like, locked-room mystery” and it really delivers just that.

This book has a very interesting narrative. Molly seems to be neurodivergent in some way and I just loved how her inner voice remained consistent. Oh, she is blunt, but she’ll stay blunt throughout the entire novel, through the chaos and sometimes even comical mystery. It made me furious how some people took advantage of her naïvety, but that just made it into an even more wonderful book.

I would recommend this book to fans of murder mystery parties, escape rooms, and true crime shows and podcasts. This book will have you nervous with anticipation and is exceptionally written. The only reason why I didn’t give this book a full 5-star rating is that I wasn’t as surprised as I thought I would be by the end of the book.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: January 04, 2022

ARC — The Lives of Diamond Bessie — Jody Hadlock

“Do you know why most of us are here? Because we’ve been betrayed by the men who wanted to enjoy the pleasure of our company, who lead us down the primrose path, promising to defend our reputations, to marry us, but then abandon us because they’re engaged or married to someone else. Then they claim they’ve never known us (…).”

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mysteries and Thrillers, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Domestic violence, mentions death, sexual assault, suicide, and drug abuse.

“The Lives of Diamond Bessie” follows the story of Annie Moore, a woman in the 1860s who, after getting pregnant out of wedlock, is sent to a convent to pay for her sins and not bring shame upon her family. After giving birth and having the baby taken away from her by the nuns, she runs away in hopes of being reunited with her daughter. With no references, she can’t find a decent job and is left with no other option but to resort to prostitution. This is essentially what’s given to us by Jody Hadlock through the book’s description, but I must say this isn’t even one-eighth of the story.

You build so many preconceptions about what will happen in this book based on its summary… and then Jody takes them all and rips them apart. Annie, Elisabeth, Bessie, you were such an amazing character, such a resilient woman. Once you learn why they call her Diamond Bessie, you’ll be devastated and hoping it’s all a dream or some kind of premonition.

This book is very fast-paced, and maybe to a reader that enjoys extensive details and narrative it may seem like it skips through some steps. I think it was paced differently from other books I’ve read, and so I enjoyed it very much.

I would recommend this book to any reader who thinks sex work is real work (because it is) and to readers who like historical fiction and true crime.

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ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: April 5, 2022

ARC — Someone Else’s Dream — Janet Pywell

“You have to be a friend to have a friend.”

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Covid-19, mentions suicide and death, mentions racism and homophobia

This book follows Amber, a lawyer that’s moved away from London in order to fulfill her girlfriend’s dream…only to then have her girlfriend leave her. Essentially stranded in a harbor town, she starts meeting the locals, setting up a business she did not want, and perhaps, just maybe, finding love again.

This is a true tale of friendship and new beginnings. I loved this book beyond what words can describe. Would I call this a love story? No. But I enjoyed every word of it.

I grew up in a big, busy city and then moved to a small town for uni, and I must say I fell in love with the quaintness of it all. The author has perfectly described the feeling of community and claustrophobia that can be born from small-town living. Amber’s inner voice is my inner voice, our way of thinking is very similar and I felt connected to her pretty much right away. Rarely do I ever read a bisexual/queer character that resonates so much with my own identity.

I can’t end my review without pointing out how weird it was to start reading a book and realizing it’s set in the present-day, where Covid-19 is a thing. Every time lockdowns or face masks were mentioned, it caught me off-guard, but I honestly liked it; this is the reality we’re living in and it was bound to show up in literature eventually, right?

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light read that’s not predictable in the slightest. “Someone Else’s Dream” will transport you to a small town, with all its people and all their mosaic opinions and beliefs. It will serve you love in so many ways, maybe just not so much in a romantic way.

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ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: November 30, 2021