Book Review | Gotham High by Melissa de la Cruz

Title: Gotham High

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Illustrator: Thomas Pitilli

Expected Publication Date: April 7, 2020

Pages: 208 pages

Genre: YA graphic novel/Comic books

Format: ARC via Publisher

Find It Here: Goodreads

Synopsis from Goodreads:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Alex and Eliza and The Witches of East End comes a reimagining of Gotham for a new generation of readers. Before they became Batman, Catwoman, and The Joker, Bruce, Selina, and Jack were high schoolers who would do whatever it took--even destroy the ones they love--to satisfy their own motives.
After being kicked out of his boarding school, 16-year-old Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City to find that nothing is as he left it. What once was his family home is now an empty husk, lonely but haunted by the memory of his parents' murder. Selina Kyle, once the innocent girl next door, now rules over Gotham High School with a dangerous flair, aided by the class clown, Jack Napier.
When a kidnapping rattles the school, Bruce seeks answers as the dark and troubled knight--but is he actually the pawn? Nothing is ever as it seems, especially at Gotham High, where the parties and romances are of the highest stakes ... and where everyone is a suspect.
With enchanting art by Thomas Pitilli, this new graphic novel is just as intoxicating as it is chilling, in which dearest friends turn into greatest enemies--all within the hallways of Gotham High!

Review:

I've never been into the whole superhero thing. I had a stint where I tried binge watching some superhero movies and I couldn't tell you what they were about if you asked me to recall them. Turns out, I'm much much more inclined to remember if I'm reading rather than watching movies about them.

 I knew I recognized the illustration style somewhere so I looked Thomas up on Goodreads and realized he also worked on the Archie/Riverdale comics. So cool!

I loved how diverse the cast was. Bruce's mother hails from Hong Kong, so he's half-Asian. His uncle Alfred is gay, while Selina Kyle is Cuban. I see a lot of people having issues with the fact they Bruce ends up being switched from white to Asian. I think the diversity that stems from this book is a response to us asking for more diversity. While it's a definite change, it's not that bad to me. 

Book Review | Crave by Tracy Wolff

Title: Crave

Author: Tracy Wolff

Expected Publication Date: April 7, 2020

Pages: 592

Audience: 14 and up

Genre: YA Fiction

Series: Book 1 of 3

Format: ARC

Find it here: Goodreads

Synopsis from Goodreads:

My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.

Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.

Which could spell death for us all.

Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.

Review:

I got an amazing package from Entangled Teen accompanied with this book. There were so many goodies in it including some marshmallows and hot cocoa. Perfect for a novel centered around snowy Alaska. 

It's been a long, long, longgggg time since I picked up a book about vampires. I first started with the Twilight series, which I admit I enjoyed a lot. Then I read The Vampire Academy series and I loved that just as much. This novel arrived on my doorstep and it's the first vampire book I've read in years. I'm in love! The novel doesn't just center on vampires though. We've got werewolves, dragons, and witches a'plenty!

Grace shows up in Alaska, still reeling from the sudden and traumatic death of her parents. She's been whisked away from everything she's known and planted firmly in a brand new world. She quickly picks up on the fact that some things are just plain weird around this secluded school she now calls home.

We're quickly introduced to an awesome cast of characters. Not only is Grace a bad-ass, her crush is just as swoon-worthy as can be, her cousin and Uncle are amazing and super supportive. Grace makes other friends soon but she soon realizes she can't trust everyone she calls her friend...

Bonus points for an extreme amount of sexual tension!

The novel ends in a cliff-hanger and I'm already wanting the second book. This one isn't even actually out until April 7th of this year. Sad face.

Life Update + Mini Book Reviews

Hello, everyone! I haven't posted anything since my first book review of the year. It's only March 8, but this year has been awfully rough for me. 

In December I went through a really nasty breakup. Whilst still reeling from that I had a client go into a seizure on me at work, by the time they got her to the hospital she had very little brain activity and her mother decided to take her off the ventilator. I knew her from before working with her so I took it especially hard.
A few weeks after that, my half-sister's sister got into an accident with a train and she ended up passing away along with her friend. Seeing my sister so distraught really took a toll on me too.
Finally, my uncle got a really bad infection in his arm and had to go stay in the hospital for 15 days. He's rather old and I think he knows his time is up soon because he refused to stay in the hospital any longer. He checked himself out against the wishes of others and is home now. He had a heart attack yesterday morning but was revived. Hospice is in his home now and I suppose it's just a waiting game now.

In 4 short months so much has happened but I'm trying my hardest to remain as positive as I can. Sometimes it's hard and I break down but I always manage to get myself back up and keep it moving. A few good things have happened as well. I found a person I really enjoy spending time with. He likes the same music I do and enjoys showing me new movies and music. He's been my silver lining in all of this recently and I'm really appreciative of all the support he's given me.

Recently Read + Mini Reviews

Survive The Night by Danielle Vega - I gave this a 4/5 stars simply for how weird it was. It went from a normal creepy book to WTF really quick and I love that. I read a lot of reviews on Goodreads that were less than great but if you want an easy to get through book that will leave you saying ummm...what? This one is the one for you.

Tommyland by Tommy Lee - 4/5 Everyone knows Motley Crew's drumer Tommy Lee. The guy I'm talking to lent me this book to read. Another reason why I really enjoy him because never have I talked to someone who recommended me a book before. I devoured it in about a week and we actually talked about it. I don't listen to Motley but hearing how wild Tommy and the band were was pretty cool. There were some parts that made me cry and some parts that made me howl with laughter. I definitely recommend it!

Beautiful Broken Girls by Kim Savage - This one follows two sisters and their cousin who the whole town is obsessed with. After the three girls' deaths one of the sister's, Mira, left notes for Ben. These are clues that led him to the truth about what really happened with the girls. I can't give too much away but if you like stories with tragedy, a bit of intrigue, obsessive teenage boys, and mysterious girls this one is for you!

Currently Reading

I received a wonderful package from Entangled: Teen with Crave by Tracy Wolff. It's been quite a long time since I read a book about vampires. I'm a little bit into it and it has quite a few tropes I despise, yet for nostalgia I'm gonna stick with it. I'm getting Twilight vibes even though the setting for this is a boarding school in the middle of a snowy nowhere. It came with a ton of swag and I enjoy the cover quite a bit.

Thanks for visiting and I'll see you all next time!

Book Review | All of This Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor

Hey, y'all! First book review of the new year. I had been wanting to read this one for quite awhile. I saw it one day browsing BookOutlet during a Christmas sale and finally picked it up.

All of This Is True is about four girls who befriend an author named Fatima. The author ends up using the girls and their friend Jonah to her advantage and writes a novel that ends up putting them in a pretty horrible predicament.

The concept was amazing. I love books that are set up like this one, through diary entries to note-taking and interviews. What I didn't like was the fact that some of these characters weren't as fleshed out as they needed to be. The only character I connected with was Jonah and Fatima because they were the most emotionally compelling characters to me. Everyone else was just background noise to them.

Nothing too jaw-dropping but I did love how it was a slow-burn with the few reveals and twists the novel did have. That ending was maddening to me, though!

Book Review | War Is Over by David Almond

Short review for a super short story! I received a package via Candlewick Press filled with some ARCs and this gem was among them. Almond wrote War Is Over out of respect for the hundred year anniversary of the First World War.

This book is an illustrated short story about a little boy named John. His father is away at war and his mother seems to always be at work at the munitions factory. War doesn't sit well with John and he begins to feel for social outcast Uncle Gordon and for some reason has a sudden connection with a picture of a boy from Germany.

I was in love with the illustrations by Litchfield and how Almond didn't hold back on his talk of how war was. I'll be passing this one onto one of my client's so she can read it! I think it's a book that she could learn from as well as enjoy simply for the poignant story itself. 

Book Review | Scythe by Neal Shusterman

I know, I know. "Sabrina, how come you haven't picked this one up yet?" I have an issue where I have too many books on my TBR and too little time to read all of them. I did finally get around to buying and finishing this one finally so I can mark at least one more book off my TBR and feel at least a decent amount of satisfaction about it. Scythe by Neal Shusterman is the first book I've picked up by this author. He's extremely well-known, he just wasn't ever on my radar until this series came out.

What It's About:
The perfect world has been achieved. Death has been conquered. In order to keep population down, Scythes were formed. Scythes are basically reapers who have the ability to "glean" (kill). A girl named Citra and a boy named Rowan were chosen by a Scythe named Faraday to be his apprentice. Under his wing, they learn endless ways to glean others and why it's necessary but that it's also an extremely necessary job to have around.
Not every Scythe is fair in their gleanings, though. It's up to Citra and Rowan to stop that by any means necessary.
At the end, only one of them can be chosen as an apprentice. The winner's first task? To glean the loser.

What I Liked:

• Dystopian isn't my favorite genre by far, but somehow Shusterman managed to make me fall in love with this insane world of reapers doling out death to people as they see fit. There's no racism or war or negativity. Every complaint we have right now as a world is gone in this fictional one.
• It's a subject I've never read about before. I know they're called Scythes but we all call them grim reapers in our world. Some of them are good, some are bad, but all of them are without a doubt badass.
• The evil characters were extremely evil. They had zero conscience and were all-around everything I could have asked for in villains. 
• Even though humans don't have to worry about politics or war or anything like that anymore, it's very apparent that within the Scythedom there is unrest. Extremely complex politics and non-stop headbutting between the good and the bad Scythes are seen. 
• It brought a ton of questions to my mind. What would life be without death? Would I be able to become a Scythe if it were required of me? How far would I go, and how do you keep your morale whilst still killing others?
• It's an alternating viewpoint novel. Told in Citra and Rowan's perspectives as well as diary entries from different Scythes. I love books told in different perspectives rather than just one the whole time I'm reading.
• The main characters are also bad-ass and they struggled with asking themselves the same questions I would ask of myself had I been put in their positions. They were both extremely relatable. 

What I Didn't Like:

• I feel like I could have gotten more out of Rowan. We caught glimpses of him and his inner workings but I feel like he was always removed from the story and never actually really there. This may have been due to the fact that he was in a very stressful situation but I wanted so much more dialogue from him that I didn't get in this first novel. Hopefully I'll get my fill of Rowan in the next one. Literally my only complaint! 

All in all, I'm definitely ready to pick up the next two novels ASAP. Enjoy the book trailer below.

Book Review | Tear Me Apart by Sara Sligar

Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar definitely threw me for a loop. For some reason I expected this novel to be one of those cliche thriller tropes that are chalk-full of twists and turns just to end up with an ending so out there there's no way anyone would be able to guess it.

This was not one of those novels.

In Callinas, California, a well-known artist named Miranda Brand suddenly died and the shock-waves were felt high and low. Years later, Miranda's son, Theo, hires an archivist (also an ex journalist) named Kate to go through his mother and father's things to create an archive of their work to put up for an auction.

As Kate delves deeper into Miranda's personal belongings she begins to piece together tiny fragments of her life and in turn, learning more about her enigmatic yet frighteningly handsome and sometimes terrifying boss. Through Kate's discoveries we see that Miranda was under so much pressure due to her job, motherhood, and being a wife that she was slowly buckling underneath it all.

Kate doesn't have it all together herself, so we slowly see her decline as well over her summer stay at her aunt and uncle's. She soon spirals into an obsession over trying to figure out who killed Miranda and it takes over her very being. There are quite a few parallels to Kate's life and the deceased Miranda so we can understand Kate's need to figure things out.

What I Liked:

• Learning about Miranda and her life through her personal belongings like receipts and diary entries was interesting. You can see her slow decline and feel her pain and confusion through them.
• It deals with more than a few tough subject matters like spousal rape/abuse, post-partum depression, bosses taking advantage of their positions, and gas-lighting. These issues are handled with care yet still provides an honest and raw depiction of the matters at hand.
• It had The Seven Lives Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes. With that being one of my favorite books within the past few years, I had to check to make sure the author of this book wasn't the same author as that one. It isn't. Lol!
• The ending. While there wasn't a massive amount of twists and turns to end up at a mind-blowing revelation, I quite enjoyed how everything was wrapped up in the end.
• I did not feel like I was reading a debut book from a debut author. I feel like I just read a novel by an extremely well-seasoned author who's been around for awhile and I believe that speaks volumes to Sligar's writing abilities. 
• It's a slow-burn novel. Things aren't in your face so it's definitely more psychological than anything else.

What I Disliked:

• I only have one complaint and it has zero to do with Sligar or her writing, it's more of a personal quarrel with things in general.
  Why do most characters seem to make their minds up then when one thing happens they end up questioning literally EVERYTHING about the thing/person they made their mind up about. If you're so sure of something, why does one tiny thing someone else says sway your opinion so easily? Maybe Kate was purposely written that way to show how having a mental illness can warp your sense of judgement or something but it's so aggravating because I know people in real life do this as well. Que eye roll. Lol.
  
  

  So yeah, there you have it! I definitely enjoyed this one and I'm going to start following Sligar as I can tell she has promise and talent. She'll be going far for sure!

Book Review | Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire

I bought this at Half-Priced books in Louisville, KY and I am just honestly so taken aback by how much this amazing novel by Gregory Maguire managed to move me. I'm not normally into the kid-lit fantasy genre if it's not a short novel. This one was 475 pages of an amazingly epic fairy tale-esque adventure and I did not regret a page of reading it.

Basically, a peasant girl from Russia named Elena is taking care of her mother all alone. Her brothers gone, her dad dead, her mother on the brink of death. She thinks everything is hopeless until a train stalls in her village due to a lightening bolt. 

This is when she meets a girl named Ekaterina. She's rich and is traveling to St. Petersburg in order to impress the Tsar's godson, something she doesn't really much care for to begin with.
One day, the girls were hanging out and with a jolt of the train, their lives change forever. They end up switching places when Elena decides she should go ahead and try to find her brother and bring him home to help her take care of their mother.

While Elena is pretending to be Ekaterina, Ekaterina encounters a witch named Baba Yaga and together they travel to St. Petersburg. Baba for her own reasons, Ekaterina to reunite with the people she knows after being ran out of Elena's village.

Even though this book is aimed towards the younger crowd, I think you have to be older to truly acknowledge some of the aspects of Maguire's novel. There's struggle between classes and they're discussed in an type of way that makes you pay attention.

The narrator is someone with infinite amount of wisdom, and wise beyond his years. You can tell it in his dialogue as he tells Elena and Ekaterina' story.

This one was fun and entertaining, but also a novel to ponder over. I know I'll be thinking of it for months to come.

"Your life story is really about how the hands of history caught you up, played with you, and you with them. History plays for keeps; individuals play for time."

I'm All Booked! - A Monthly Bookish Q&A

Hello everyone! I happened to stumble on this monthly Q&A that's being hosted by Library of March and I decided to go ahead and give it a go. I'm trying to start posting more often so I believe this is one way to get started in doing so! She'll basically be posting 10 bookish questions at the start of every month. Easy way to get to know bloggers and it also seems pretty fun as well!

1. If you could change one thing about the latest book you read, what would it be?

The last book I read completely through was The Backstagers and the Theater of  the Ancients by Andy Mientus. It's a middle-grade novel so I can't expect it to be aimed for adults, so I don't have any complaints. It was a really good second book to The Backstagers and I'll definitely read any others published after. Such a cute and funny cast of characters!

2. If you could have cofee/tea with your favorite character, what are 3 questions you'd ask them?
Hmmm. I have to pick a top favorite character? I pick Dimitri Belikov because he's...handsome. Lmao! Definitely have a massive crush on that fictional man, not gonna lie.
1. How did you mask the Strigoi smell? Rose still loved you during your stint as a Strigoi yet we all know you stunk horribly.
That's pretty much the only question I have, other than, "How did you get so perfect?" With googly eyes. Hahahaha.

3. If you had to form a team of your fave characters, Avengers-style, who would you choose?
I'll be honest, I had to look up how many people were in the Avengers so I could make sure I have enough on my team. Lol! Can you tell I'm not a big super-hero fan? It says there are 9 after 3 were added in Age of Vultron.
My team would be Dimitri Belikov and Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy, Rhysand from ACOTAR, Blue Sargent and Ronan Lynch from The Raven Boys, Monty from The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Stevie from Truly Devious, Penny from Emergency Contact and last but not least, Camellia from The Belles.

4. You have the choice to either live in your favorite fictional world without your favorite character or have them live with you in the real world, what would you choose?
I'd probably live in my favorite fictional world without my favorite character. The real world sucks, which is why my favorite fictional world is my favorite fictional world to begin with. I definitely wouldn't want to subject anyone to this world if they don't have to be. Lol!

5. Do you have any insta-buy authors?
Yes! Jodi Picoult has been an insta-buy author since I discovered her in say...8th grade? I'm pretty sure it was 8th grade. I love how raw all of her stories are and how heavy the topics are while still maintaining a respectful grace in her writing.

6. If you could spend a day with 3 authors of your choosing, who would you choose?
I'm gonna go ahead and be cliche. I have no shame! Stephen King, Jodi Picoult, and J.K. Rowling.

7. You work at a traveling agency. How would you convince your clients to travel to your favorite fictional world?
My favorite fictional world is located in Harry Potter. Cliche again? Pretty much. I think I'd mentioned the way The Three Broomsticks stays busy on cold winter days and how all the creatures are beautiful yet dangerous so you have to admire them carefully. I'd explain the sprawling forests and deep, dangerous lakes. I'd explain everything. The whole place is beautiful!

8. Pick 5 characters and then pick 5 actors to play them.
I always suck at this question. I'm gonna skip it because that requires more brain power than I have right now. Lol!

9. Which characters do you think would fit perfectly in your current job/school/university?
I work with mentally disabled women in their homes so I would need to think of someone who's patient and really kind. A soft persona. Hm....probably Mary Poppins! She's a nanny, but she still has gusto and the ability to take care of anything pretty much. She fits the bill!

10. You're dropped into the universe of the last book you read. How screwed are you?Depends on if the Backstagers will help me out or not and show me the ropes! They're a funny and accepting crew so I'm pretty sure I'd be okay. ;)

November Shenanigans!

You all! It's officially November! While I am extremely sad all the spooky things I've been seeing on blogs or Instagram and even in stores will be going away for another 365 days...I'm super excited for Thanksgiving. I keep thinking about mashed potatoes, banana pudding, and turkey. Not necessarily in that order.

Can you believe we're actually going into the 20s? I hope these next 10 years bring amazing things for myself as well as any of you who are reading this. I know 2011 and up hasn't been the best to me but I'm determined to make moves over the next 10 that will get me to where I want to be in life. Good luck to you all on your journey as well!

This year has been an extremely bad year for me as far as reading goes. I usually always have a book in my hand, but this year has been different for some reason. The enjoyment went away from me for a little while but hopefully if I get back into blogging and make some blogger friends I'll come out of it. If all else fails, I do want to document my life a little bit more so fingers crossed I'll be making more appearances on here in the upcoming weeks and months.

November TBR
1. Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire
This one is written by the same person who wrote Wicked which I haven't read either. This has been on my TBR on Goodreads for a little bit so when I saw it at Half Priced Books in Louisville on my birthday in September I had to pick it up. I'm about 133 pages in so far and I'm actually enjoying it!Amazon | Book Depository

2. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton
I picked this one up at Half Priced Books as well. It's a short book so I know I'll get through this one this month. I've flipped through it and it looks really cool to be honest. I love me some Tim Burton but had no idea this book was even a thing until I saw it at HPB! It was a definite must have.
Amazon | Book Depository

3. Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar
I got this in the mail this week and I think it'll be my third and final book I'll try to get through this month. I don't wanna pile too much on as I've said previously I've been having a really rough reading year but this seems do-able to me. Plus it's got a decently intriguing cover and synopsis so I'm okay with slipping this into my TBR. It's an ARC and isn't out until April 2020!
Amazon | Book Depository

November TBW

1. Frozen 2: I'm 24 years old but when I say I watched Frozen over and over again, I'm nowhere near kidding. I don't even have any kids! Yes, I'm going to ask my boyfriend to take me to see it, no there is not an ounce of shame in my game.

2. Doctor Sleep: I have to admit I have this book but I've yet to read it. I know, I know. Spare me the eye rolls, please! I also didn't read The Shining but I still enjoyed the movie so...I'm sure I'll be okay this time around as well. I love King, just haven't gotten around to reading them yet. Sad days.

3. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Um...who ISN'T excited for this one to come out? It's Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers. I personally feel like he was born to play the role.

4. The Lodge: There's just something terrifying to me about being snowed in a place and not being able to escape. Also, I'm a sucker for horror movies so this was definitely going to pique my interest no matter what.

Those are the movies I'm going to try to go see in theaters but it probably won't work out that way with my schedule clashing with my boyfriend's but if push comes to shove I'll settle on just going and seeing Doctor Sleep and wait for the rest of them to come out to watch them!

I don't know if you all keep up with Netflix, but they're releasing 73 movies and shows during this month and more than a few of them are interesting to me. Have you checked out the list yet? I won't write all of them that I'm planning on watching right now, but there may be a post about it at the end of the month.

Are you all excited for any upcoming movies this month? What about books or albums that are coming out as well? Let me know below! See ya next time. :)

REVIEW: Enchantée by Gita Trelease

Hi! I won this book in a contest and I was so excited because just a couple of days prior to entering I had added it to my TBR.
Needless to say I started reading it as soon as I got it and flew right through it.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Paris in 1789 is a labyrinth of twisted streets, filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionaries—and magicians...
When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail, naive sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magic—la magie ordinaire—Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
With dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into the ‘Baroness de la Fontaine’ and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for la magie. There, she gambles at cards, desperate to have enough to keep herself and her sister safe. Yet the longer she stays at court, the more difficult it becomes to reconcile her resentment of the nobles with the enchantments of Versailles. And when she returns to Paris, Camille meets a handsome young balloonist—who dares her to hope that love and liberty may both be possible.
But la magie has its costs. And when Camille loses control of her secrets, the game she's playing turns deadly. Then revolution erupts, and she must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, freedom or magic—before Paris burns…

Review: 

If the cover drew you in then the inside cover would blow your mind! It's a beautiful sprawling map of Paris that transports you right into the story with Camille and the rest of the characters.

Camille can do magic but it comes at a cost. When she starts performing it in order to get her and her sister out of a bad situation, she quickly becomes addicted to it and slowly gets caught up in a wretched plot.

I adore the magic system because it's not like others I've read about and a massive part of this story is Camille's enchanted dress. I loved it even though it was an object met with a ton of apprehension for good reasons.

The romance was wonderful. I'm usually not a fan of romance but Trelease knows how to balance it perfectly in time with all the other aspects of her novel so it's not so blatant and up in your face.

The pacing is quite slow but I loved the way I was eased into the setting slowly and completely. In this way, I felt like I was walking the street of Paris with Camille and attending card games at court, getting into mischief. The pacing was perfect for me!

Diary of a Murderer: And Other Stories by Young-ha Kim

Hello, everyone! I don't remember requesting this one but it showed up on my doorstep so I decided to pick it up. It's a collection of short stories so I knew I would finish it quickly even if I didn't like it.

The first story follows a murderer who ends up getting dementia years after he quits murdering.
I really enjoyed this one as it was a slow, horrifying buildup. The thought of losing your memories is terrifying. Alzheimer's creeps up on you before you know it, and its shown as such in this novella.

As for the other three short stories...I feel like I wasn't intelligent enough to understand the point of them. They were beautifully written, don't get me wrong! I just feel as if some things got lost in translation or maybe I really am just not smart enough to grasp the concept of why I was reading what I was reading.

The plot of them were decent and the characters interesting, I just...didn't get it. I don't know what else to say about it. I need a discussion group to open up so I can join and get different perspectives on this.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee

I finally picked this one up on a trip to Barnes and Noble with my boyfriend a couple weeks ago! I went in for some books that have been on my TBR list for quite some time now and this one made the cut!

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue follows a group of three friends on a Grand Tour during the 18th century.
Henry Montague, along with his biracial friend and true love Percy, plus his sassy sister get into all kinds of trouble on their tour. It's like their last hoo-rah before they have to be adults.

Percy is to go off to law school, Monty is to take after his father running the estate, and Felicity is set to go to finishing school. None of them want what their lives are set to turn out to be.

After a petty theft happens, the trio are thrust into a world of highwaymen, pirates, sinking and dangerous islands, and a cure-all for ailments. For sheltered children, they sure do endure a lot and overcome the many obstacles thrown their way. Many a time during this book I would have thrown in the towel at some of the situations they were put in!

I loved all of the characters and the plot was wonderfully unique. I had no idea what the Grand Tour was before reading this so I actually learned something! I really like that it's an LBGTQ+ story. And the adventuring is amazing! It also covers quite a few other topics such as suicide, epilepsy, and racism and slavery to name a few. They were touched on in a nice manner in my honest opinion.

I'm not really a romance kinda gal, but this was right up my alley. Flamboyant and not ashamed of it, Monty stole the show. I loved him the most. This novel comes highly recommended from me. Click here to buy it!

Book Review: Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

Good morning, everyone! I finished this one in the wee hours earlier today and hopped on to write this. It was definitely a book that throws you for a lot of loops but overall I actually liked it.

Synopsis:
Thomas moves to a new town with his mother but before long he's suspected of her murder. The town turns against him but he's sure he didn't do it. He loves his mother.
The only person who thinks he's innocent is Charlotte, who also happens to be in a family full of cops who suspect him of his mother's murder.
20 year prior to this, Charlotte's ballet friend had been murdered but the murder remained unsolved.
They both have questions begging to be answered but the truth is worse than they could imagine.

Review:
For the better part of this book it read like a mystery. Then a surprise is thrown in and suddenly it becomes a paranormal mystery. It honestly threw me off for some reason and I put the book down for a total of two days to recover from that whiplash.
Kemmerer helped me recover easily though because as soon as I picked it up I finished it within the hour.
I really liked the dynamic between Charlotte and Thomas. There's always something about a bad boy and an innocent girl that draws people in. Forbidden relationships are my forte apparently. Oh, the teenage angst!

The only downside to this novel is the fact that it ended abruptly with no plans for a sequel. I had more than a few questions that needed to be answered that weren't and I'm quite upset about it! I need more. 

Book Review: The Antidote by Shelley Sackier

Synopsis: 

Fee is harboring a horrible secret. She has certain abilities that have been outlawed for years.

After an illness swept through Fee's homeland, Fireli, was quarantined for 10 years. They finally get to meet with their neighboring kingdom but things don't go as planned.

Fee, her best friend Xavi, and her betrothed Rye are thrown into a battle that started years ago with Fee's parents. In order to save Xavi, Fee must come to terms with who she really is and unleash what she's been hiding all these years.

Thoughts:
This was a quick read for me. The chapters are the perfect length the font is the perfect size to me. I love books like this because I feel like I get through them quicker. The plot of the story definitely helped with that as well.

Quickly we see Fee and Xavi are best friends. I loved their dynamic and the fact that it wasn't a romantic one added to it. Although some may agree Xavi is more suited for Fee than Rye is, I think you'll come around as you finish up the book. I did want to throttle him a few times but you can't blame the poor soul. He was horribly mislead and went on what information he was given at the time. The romance isn't all up in your face nor does it feel like it's forced which is always a plus for me.

I do feel as if this book could have been more fleshed out. I would have liked to see more of some of the characters because they were important to the development of the story but I didn't see as much of them as I wasn't to. I also believe the world-building could have been written better as it had a lot of potential but what we were given is sufficient enough.

Friendship and love and bravery are core concepts in this novel. I loved it!

Book Review: The Missing Years by Lexie Elliott

Synopsis:
An eerie, old Scottish manor in the middle of nowhere that’s now hers.

Ailsa Calder has inherited half of a house. The other half belongs to a man who disappeared without a trace twenty-seven years ago—her father.
Leaving London behind to settle the inheritance from her mother’s estate, Ailsa returns to her childhood home, nestled amongst the craggy peaks of the Scottish Highlands, joined by the half-sister who’s almost a stranger to her.
Ailsa can’t escape the claustrophobic feeling that the house itself is watching her—as if her past hungers to consume her. She also can’t ignore how the neighbourhood animals refuse to set one foot within the gates of the garden.
When the first nighttime intruder shows up, Ailsa fears that the manor’s careless rugged beauty could cost her everything.

Thoughts: 

If you're anything like me, you've been getting tired of the same old suspense books that authors seem to be doling out like no other. I requested a review copy of this book solely based on the fact that it centers around a massive house in the Scottish countryside. I didn't expect much from it, but I was pleasantly surprised. This novel has its way of delivering a slow and steady creeping feeling. It makes you question whether the bump you heard in the night really was just a bump. 

In addition to the creepy house, Ailsa has to deal with the fact that when she was a young girl her father disappeared. It left her with questions that she has no idea will ever be answered. On top of that, she feels like the house is against her as well as having the feeling that everyone has something to hide in her old hometown. 

The scenery is beautifully Gothic. The characters are a somber cast which aids the novel along wonderfully and sets the mood well. Add in the Scottish dialogue and you've got a book that transplants you right in the middle of Scotland.

Everything ties up well in the end but during your read Elliott only gives away half of what you need. Guaranteed to make you ask questions, guaranteed to make you turn the pages the find the answers to those questions. 

I was thoroughly surprised at the end and I didn't guess anything at all. I'm usually good at figuring out what's going on in these types of books but I honestly had no clue whatsoever. Anything you think you know is called into question as soon as you think it. 
Are you and Ailsa both going crazy, or are things really as they seem?

Definitely a book I'm recommending. Read it! 

You can pre-order it on Amazon here.

Book Review: Before I Disappear by Danielle Stinson

I'm not crying...you're crying!

Before I Disappear is marketed as Arrival meets A Wrinkle in Time. I've never Arrival nor have I ever read A Wrinkle in Time, so I went into this novel pretty blind.

Rose Montgomery has had a hard life. After their latest setback, her, her brother Charlie, and her mother find themselves in Fort Glory, Oregon.
Rose's goal is to make a better life for her younger brother and her mother. Before she knows it, everything is flip-turned upside down and Fort Glory seems to be gone. Poof, into thin air. Taking Charlie and her mother along with it.

Rose finds herself trapped in The Fold with four others who have to rely on each other to figure out how to survive. The Fold is a 30 mild wooded area hell-bent on killing them if they're not careful.

The whole time they're separated Charlie is sending Rose signals that help pave the way to save the group and their whole town.

I love the characters. Rose is amazingly grown up for her age due to the circumstance that led Rose and her family to Fort Glory. She's strong and resilient and hard-working. There's no one she cares about more than Charlie. Charlie is a wonder and he's selfless and it's not hard to see why Rose goes through everything she does to get him back.

There's a small relationship that blossoms between Rose and another character and I like the way Stinson wrote it in. It isn't the main plot of the story but it helps the story along. It's subtle and I'm all about subtle. Romance that's too in your face isn't for me so I really appreciated this aspect of the novel!

If sci-fi isn't your thing, take a leap of faith because it's not mine either and I still enjoyed this one quite a bit. Stinson focuses more on the driving forces of life like love and longing instead of making it all about sci-fi.

The Expedition (The Initiation #2) by Chris Babu

The Expedition (The Initiation #2) by Chris Babu

The Good:

- I really like the characters of this book. They're all unique in their own way and they have their strengths and weaknesses as well. In order to survive, they all have to work together. Where one falls short with their weaknesses, another picks up with their strengths. It really creates a bond between the groups that gradually grows on you.

-I read The Initiation and The Expedition back to back so I didn't need much of a recap but it was there for others who may not have read the first book. I'd say it's much easier to make sense of the second one if you know everything that happened in the first, but from Babu's recapping it's not completely necessary. I do recommend the first book, though. It's amazing!

-The group centers around teenagers who are just now getting a feel of the real world. There's love, betrayal, confusion, loss, gains. The story feels fleshed out due to this. The way the characters are exploring their world along with their newfound feelings on love and relationships makes it a great read. You can really connect with the characters because you can look back on when you were just starting out with a relationship and can recognize some of the errors you may have faced as well.

-The scenery! The kids are exploring a brand new world outside of their cut off civilization. The world-building is amazing due to the fact that some 90% of the population has died. Babu writes that the world is lush with greenery and animals you normally wouldn't find in a bustling city roaming around on highways due to Mother Nature's regrowth.

-There's so much humor within the story! Seeing as this is a group of teenagers embarked on a seemingly impossible mission, they rise above and beyond while still maintaining their sanity while they're at it. The bickering and short one liners are what make the story.

-There's a plot twist! I live for those, and I'm excited to see what pans out in the next book! Threw me for the biggest loop.

The Bad:

- I really wanted to yell at Drayden and tell him to stop being so MEHHHH. He aggravated me with all of his internal struggling. I wanted to shake him and tell him who he is and what he's capable of. He went back and forth between who he wants to be and who he really is so bad it started grating on my nerves. I understand that becoming who you are and getting there is a challenge and Babu really showed the internal struggle a lot of people have. So it's not a negative per se, but I needed Drayden to know he doesn't have to be anyone other than himself because he is enough.

The Initiation by Chris Babu

I've been slowly delving into the world of dystopia. I got comfortable reading YA and thrillers I've rarely picked up other genres unless I was super interested in them.
I was approached to review The Initiation as well as its sequel, The Expedition. It seemed sort of like The Hunger Games so I decided to give the books a try!
I enjoyed it.

The Initiation follows a group of teenagers who enter a competition to better the lives of themselves and potentially their families by moving out of the Dorms.
They all have to band together to pass tests any normal person wouldn't be able to pass. In order to advance they use their wit and their strengths.
We encounter brain-teasers and heart-pumping, action-packed bravery challenges that would make even the cockiest person whimper in fear.

It is very The Hunger Games-esque but Babu writes in a way that is a refreshing take on the trope. My only problem was the fact that is was super slow in the beginning but it sped along when the teenagers finally got to start the Initiation. The last 100 pages I sped through because I absolutely had to know what was happening.

Two rather sad things happen within these pages and one event had me fist-pumping the air screaming, "FINALLYYYYYYYY."

The Initiation is guaranteed to get your adrenaline pumping. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

It's Paris in 1899. The Tower of Babel fell long ago and the fragments from it gives some people the ability to Forge.

Where there used to be four houses, only two remain: House Vanth and House Nyx.

Séverin is the rejected heir of House Vanth who's main mission is to restore his inheritance.
Hypnos is the House Nyx patriarch who also happens to be Séverin's childhood rival. He knows what Séverin is after and offers his help under one condition: Séverin recovers an artifact called the Horus Eye. The Horus Eye can locate Babel fragment.

Séverin won't be alone in his mission. Joined by his brother Tristan, Zofia who's an engineer, Enrique, a historian who also happens to be bi-sexual, and Laila, an Asian Indian dancer.

I haven't read any other books by Roshani, but I've seen praise. If her other books are written anything like The Gilded Wolves, I can easily see why.

There's something I enjoy about reading novels set in France. I feel like everything is 10x prettier in description. But Roshani has the ability to forge beauty out of death and you'll find yourself transported to the catacombs of Paris during the group's race to the Horus Eye.

One of the main things I really appreciated about The Gilded Wolves was how intricate it was. There are so many puzzles the group have to pull together to figure out how to advance to the next part of their plan. The way they all use their individual gifts and come together to help one another was beautifully well-written.

A+ for a bi-sexual representation along with a great diverse cast as well! The romance was written in a way that felt natural and not all in your face. I was rooting for the love that was slowly blossoming for sure.

Thanks to BookishFirst for allowing me to review this book! You can pre-order it here.