Giulia
Karen McManus did it again!!! I ate this book in 3 days and now I want to live in Echo Ridge with Ellery, Ezra, Mia and Malcolm, even if it's a little...uhm...murder-y?
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the plot is very original and the characters are interesting and well-rounded. I immediately fell in love with Caroline and it's mostly because of her that I didn't DNF, because I wanted to see more of her. However, the writing often left me feeling confused as to what was happening. It took me several chapters to understand that there were multiple POV and that Livie and Caroline were the same person.
I wanted to like this book so bad, because it had all the right elements: a bi protagonist, a mystery to be solved, careless parents and ‘problematic' girls. Sadly, it didn't completely capture my attention, even though I enjoyed the final twist and the ending.
Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.
admittedly, the taylor swift dedication got me interested in the book and it is a no body, no crime kinda fanfiction but that also turned out to be more.
I'm not a huge fan of the supernatural twist, i think i would preferred a different explanation and i really saw Casey's decision to drow Len/herself coming, BUT i was shocked when it turned out that she wasn't speaking to Tom in the beginning
I receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I can't even begin to say how thankful I am I received this book early because it completely blew my mind. I think it's safe to say it's my favorite ARC and one of my favorite books of the year so far.
Adam Sass managed to talk about such a sensitive topic in such a light, fun but also serious way that you can't help but fall in love with the book.
There are many characters in this book and they're all written in their unique way and they're so well rounded that you would recognize them even if the author didn't mention their name. Every character has their story and their own personality and it makes the book ten times more compelling.
Don't get me started on the twists, because OMG there are so many of them! This is not a book that will make you feel bored or that nothing is happening EVER. I can't even count how many times I gasped reading this book.
The ending is bittersweet but it feels so right, I wouldn't change anything about it.
Thank you Adam Sass for writing such a powerful book and again many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the pleasure to review this amazing story.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
CW: child abuse, toxic relationships, sexual assault, eating disorders, mental illness, self-harm, sexism, suicide, trauma
This is the second installation in the series “You Are Your Own Fairy Tale” and I can honestly say that Amanda Lovelace never disappoints.
Her pieces are always poignant, relatable and easy to pick up. It's impossible to stay indifferent in front of a Lovelace's poem because they know how to get under your skin.
Lovelace speaks the truth on important topics such as feminism, anxiety and depression, most of the time intertwined.
The art is gorgeous and it really contributes to the magic of Lovelace's words.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.
what's with the piss thing,,,, but still a fun and weird book and a quick read. greatly encapsulates what it feels like to study abroad and feel like an alien
it's weird but compelling weird and the right kind of pretentious. kinda reminds me of Sally Rooney if she did horror. the second half was more interesting, I couldn't stop reading and i didn't expect the final plot twist
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This book was equally hilarious and super cute, and I loved every minute of it! Let me start by saying that this is the first paragraph of the book:
I've never seen the point of fancy dress parties. You have two choices: either you make a massive effort and wind up looking like a dick, or you make no effort and wind up looking like a dick. And my problem, as always, was not knowing what kind of dick I wanted to be.
I mean, I immediately had to send this to my friend, who replied with “mood”, which was also a big mood. A mood-ception, if you will.
Okay, so let's talk about the characters! We have Luc, who is a huge mess and the son of two former rock stars. He's really into partying and self-pity and that would be just fine if he was a nobody and his drunk pictures didn't end up all over the internet. But, when his absentee father, who spent most of his life in and out of rehab, decides to make a comeback and the public eye starts focusing on Luc more, his scandalous photographs begin to threaten his job at the Coleoptera Research and Protection Program (CRAPP – the acronym, oh my god!).
All that's left to do is find a respectable fake boyfriend, so he can convince the donors he's not such a trainwreck. Bridget, the token straight girl (Alexis Hall's words, not mine!) in Luc's friend group finally has the chance to set him up with her only gay friend, Oliver, who coincidentally also needs a date for his parents' anniversary. The deal is sealed, now they just have to get along!
So, I mentioned Luc's friend group and honestly, they are all just hilarious. Let me just tell you that one of the many names of their WhatsApp group is QUEER COMES THE SUN!! I mean, this is just genius. Obviously, I went on and changed my own group chat title into Queer comes the sun (don't sue me Alexis Hall).
I can't choose a favorite quote, so I'll leave you to decide which one is the best:
“You really do own your illiteracy, don't you?”
“Yeah, I'm thinking about moving to America and running for public office.”
“For a gay, you are far too sensitive about your arsehole.”
“It was just a dick, looking at a dick, asking why he was always such a dick.”
This book had me cackling out loud several times and it was the right amount of funny and sweet, so I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good romcom that uses all the right tropes (there's only one bed ftw!!)
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy!
And the stars were burning brightly is a book about hope, friendship, and family.
The two protagonists are Megan and Nathan, two very different teenagers brought together by a tragedy: Al's death.
Al is the weird kid everyone picks on at school, just because he was obsessed with stars and poetry and didn't fit in. He's also Nathan's brother and Megan's friend and the continuous bullying brought him to kill himself.
Both Megan and Nathan blame themselves because they could have done more. Megan hid the fact that she Al's friend because she wanted to fit in with the cool kids and didn't want to be bullied too while Nathan didn't pay much attention to his brother because he was busy with his friends. To honor his death, Megan sets up a Facebook memorial while Nathan tries to understand why his brother would do something so extreme.
Nowadays, teenagers feel pressured to conform to the norms of society and pretend to be someone they're not or they look up online to models and influencers and feel bad about their body. It's so important to raise awareness about this and I think the author really managed to talk about this issue in a flawless way. I love that Megan realizes that there's no point in trying to change yourself for the sake of others and she encourages everyone to be more like Al and stay true to themselves.
I really loved the message of this book and I think it's relatable for every age. At some point in our lives, we all felt pressured to hide parts of ourselves, just to appear more interesting in the eyes of others.
The ending was very heartwarming, and I loved that everyone got their little happy ending.
To sum up, this was a great book and I'd recommend it to everyone that felt lost at some point of their lives.