Alana

This is a cute, uplifting, and quirky little romcom book about a magic town. If you need a quick and light read that will make you smile, DeWylde has written the book for you.

Bounced back from some disappointing reads to this gem of a book. The characters are amazing, the plot is dynamic and exciting, and though I'm not the most scientific minded gal out there, I can tell just how much research Leimbach put into making sure things were done right and properly executed. Kira is a great and fleshed-out protagonist, quirks and all, which made me feel connected to her throughout the course of her journey and even more worried for her if I felt like she was making a faulty choice. Great, great book of which the due time has clearly been put in. Applauds all around!!

This is like...a very dark fairy tale. That's what I really enjoyed - the dark spin in psychotic fairies and classic tales like Peter Pan/Neverland. I will say this book employs a lot of metaphors that often felt a bit jarring in their execution and were hard to picture, so if you're the kind of reader easily bugged by that stuff, I would give you a fair warning. Wasn't enough to put me off - I still very much enjoyed this one - it was just noticeable.

This book was really sweet. The northern lights are a source of mystery to so many, so entwining them with folklore and a fiction/fantasy book was a great idea. Eli is a wonderful MC who the reader feels attached to all throughout, and the novel, despite mixing genres/themes, really does a fine job looking into mental illness, grief, loosing people, and more. Did not know who this author was, glad to say I do now!

Ok this book has literally been on my tbr ever since I saw it was going to be published, not only because it was advertised as being similar to book series I've enjoyed, but also because of that damned beautiful cover. And after flying through it in two days, I'll say the book delivers. There's a few tropes that feel a little overused (love triangle comes to mind), but that's a personal-taste thing. Absolutely give this one a go if you're a fantasy/romance/ya/adventure fan and you enjoy the likes of Sarah J Maas and similar series. Two days of reading, and now I'm already impatiently waiting for the second. Argh...the life of a reader!

A little on the simplistic side, but a cheesy romance story “enemies to lovers” trope with a fair amount of steam. Was a nice break from the larger fantasy novels I've been reading and provided some respite and a few laughs.

This book has its good parts, it certainly does. And sci-fi is a popular genre, so it gets hard after a while to craft entirely unique stories. Although I liked a lot of this book, something felt lacking, maybe the fact that I didn't totally feel involved with the characters. I was interested enough in the plot, and again, there were some serious strong suits, but when it came down to it, it was a book I was glad I read, but it wouldn't stick with me forever.

Percy Jackson and The Hunger Games vibes....but for adults. And I loved it. The idea of this novel is so awesome and perfect for the fantasy/”new” adult(?) genre I love so much. I love greek mythology and adaptions of it, and Lore provides a fantastical, mature, and entertaining read that I'm blown away at.

I bought this book as soon as it came out because it looked so damn interesting, and it WAS. I love the exploration of the inner voice, and I think it can be helpful for people struggling with anxiety and those who do not. We all have an inner voice regardless of what we struggle with, so there is a wide application and variety of groups who I believe would benefit from reading this.

There are a lot of strengths to this book. The plot is interesting, has a lot of different elements, and the story itself is well thought out. And yet, the nature of the mc makes the story stagnant in the execution. Despite the potential this book had with the idea (and that stunning cover), when it came down to it, I felt a bit bored. Not bored enough to stop reading at all, but bored enough to where I noticed.

This is a solid book. It makes you think about the lines between reality and illusion/delusion and how unreliable narrators can sometimes be ourselves. There's a haunting vibe to it since the delusions don't seem much different than the reality, which I suppose as a reader makes you question what is what in your own life. That said, there were times the book felt overly confusing simply for the sake of being so. Taking the time to read books and pick apart what they mean - especially when those books are constructed in a blurrier way - is something I don't quite mind doing, in fact, on a good day, it's brain stimulation I need (especially in this never-ending pandemic). But when the book feels too blurry, too muddled, that's where I can begin to get a weeee bit impatient. That said, it wasn't all-encompassing of this novel, which is a thought-provoking work but an author I'd like to return to. Confusing, yes, challenging, yes, but worth the read still? I'd say so.

Now THIS is a book you won't forever. Ross tests the boundaries between reality and fiction/metaphor, switching the two to create a singular, beautifully written, and at times very witty piece of literary fiction. There's no better place than books to explore what many of us think of - what IF magic was common? If the things we do now were swapped with the things we imagine? Ross delivers a story that'll make you think, laugh, and stay thinking for days on end. A beautiful addition to the literary fiction genre, and a fantasy of sorts you'll long to read again just so you can digest more.

Very cool premise and it feels...relevant...to our times (yikes). Found it pretty thrilling and engaging. I wished the year had been specified to give the book more of a sense of time, but I still enjoyed it.

I liked this book but I didn't love it. The eerie atmosphere was done well, and for a debut, it was very well-written. Honestly, the characters was where this book fell short for me. With some dumb decisions (looking at you, Ricky) and some lack of development, I was just very “meh” with them, which detracted from the story. But if you're looking for a spooky, haunting kind of read with a college-aged protag, this is the one to read (I still fully recommend it). Debut novels always have the tendency to be a little more rough or underdeveloped and what not, and all that said, Kilcoyne did a good job and I did enjoy it, despite not being head over heels in love with it.

This is definitely a solid family drama - one that explores taking risks and making hard choices. There's funny parts, there's sad parts, there's damn relatable parts. All in all, Mallery's written a great story about a woman who finds herself confronted with hard choices and whether or not to “part” with her otherwise perfect life after she and her husband realize it's not working between them.

4.5 round to 5
A book about flawed heroes, being friends, representation...and PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS. Seriously, we need more of these. I know so many other reviews have stated this, but by god so am I because we so desperately need more books without romance. I could go on a RANT about this - about how platonic relationships should be valued just like romantic ones, about how mainstream media (including literature) doesn't include these enough...but I'll stop myself. This book, despite the obvious parts I love, have heroes you can't quite categorize as heroic - real, deeply-layered individuals who were a treat to read.

Most all readers I know are reading this, and let's be real - it's that darned beautiful cover. The story is great too, which is the cherry on top of a female-centric, empowering, and magical cake that I devoured! This book truly fulfilled all my female empowering/inspiring magical needs, complete with potions, magic, and amazing characters.

That cover makes me want to pin it onto my wall and stare at it forever. The book follows Kindred who is on a quest to find her grandmother, and who takes a ship over grass seas to find her. The world here is so unique and beautiful and magic, and more often than not, I was completely hooked and in awe of Johnson's voice and style. Excited for 2.

When I attempt to sum up my understanding of this book, it feels a little something like this...


It was advertised as dark comedy. Was it dark? Yeah. Was there comedy involved? Yeah x2. Only I didn't find it entirely funny, and Awad's writing style was more painful to get through than quirky. I'm all for mixing it up, reading author's with a little extra quirk to their writing style, but this one missed the mark for me. So....see the gif above, because that's all I'm left with. Not for me.

I don't like to echo other reviews, but when it comes to this one, I feel I must. A great premise, the whole girl-power, vampire, revenge, queer-love is right up my alley, and that cover looks like a band poster I'd hang in my room as a teen (or now...yeah, now). But the execution fell flat. Oh. so. very. flat. It just wasn't memorable, and what was most disappointing was that the premise sounded and is great, so the boringness of it all left a...bitter taste in my mouth. An okay book all in all, I won't lie and say it didn't have its moments. I just wish there was more to it.

This book really is something. It's told in 2 timelines but Dalton does this in a way that isn't overly confusing or muddled. Many authors attempt the multiple timeline approach, and in my opinion, many fail, but Dalton creates something of a masterpiece as she weaves this story together. Maybe it's my genre, maybe it's that damn beautiful cover, maybe it's the content that merges fictional issues with real-world ones, but I enjoyed this book a whole lot.

There's something poetic, eerie, and deliciously dark about young adult novels that deal with darker themes and refuse to shy away from the depressing, scary realities (and non-realities). In this, Miller excels. Her writing is accessible to teens and adults, giving it a feel that's somewhere in the middle of YA and adult, and is extraordinarily creative in plot, characters, setting, and vibe. Haunting, to be sure!

This was beautiful and eloquent and makes me (a non-gardener) want to turn gardener. I haphazardly stumbled across this read, knowing nothing of it prior, yet decided to read it anyway, and my I am glad I did. Beautiful writing and a story the made me want to go out and connect with our world via gardening.

Ok, I think this book re-motivated me. Its DARK, and I LOVE IT. Added it to my tbr a few months ago because of the cover and the plot summary and i can happily say i was not disappointed.

Absolutely GORGEOUSLY bound book of 12 fairytales - Albert immerses you in an alternate world that you won't want to leave. This book is truly an aesthetic piece, but the writing is the cherry on top of what looks like a decorative book. I enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoy showing the book off in my apartment lol.