“To the blessed darkness from which we are born, and to which we return.” – 3/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: tapestries, paintings, destivities, decorations, presents, dinners, snow and Winter Solstice shopping.

Hope warms the coldest night.

Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit circle of friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly-changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it, a hard-earned reprieve.

Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated–scars that will have far-reaching impact on the future of their Court.

So… what was the point of this book? Nothing really happens and the biggest conflict of this book is characters not knowing what to give to each other for Winter Solstice. I was expecting at least something interesting to happen, but it never did. It’s funny how the entire series had so much quality and excitement… and then there’s this novella. I was expecting more from Sarah J. Maas because her other books were very elaborate and had complex stories.

If this wasn’t so short I would have DNF it. If you really miss the story and want to read more with the same characters, give it a go. Otherwise, I would skip this one.

xoxo,

“(…) You are not only what you do, Ebenezer. Activity makes a man neither better nor worse. It merely reveals what he values. Do not chase your worth or seek to establish it. You own it already.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: buttons, borrowed books, headstones, contracts, factories, espionage, Christmas carols and ghosts.

The prequel to A CHRISTMAS CAROL— A sweet Regency Christmas romance

Here at last is the untold story of Scrooge’s doomed engagement

Belle Endicott and Ebenezer Scrooge are young, bookish, hardworking Londoners drawn together by button-making. His brand-new factory threatens her family’s tiny shop, yet they fall in love and start planning their future. When personal and business calamities strike, they confront them vigorously side by side, but ultimately something has to give. We know what it is. They do not.

Even though I have never read the classical novel “A Christmas Tale” by Charles Dickens, I’ve heard a lot about the famous, grouchy character, Ebenezer Scrooge. But don’t worry, you don’t need to read the classic to pick this up!
This prequel written by Keith Eldred is a great retelling of how Scrooge’s engagement with Belle ended and how he became the character portrayed in the classical novel. There’s some romance in this book, but the focus is the character development of Ebenezer. He was an ambitious man to begin with, but that ambition soon became toxic – especially after partnering with Jacob Marley. It was clear for Belle that his priorities were elsewhere when he wasn’t beside her while her dad passed away – which broke my heart!
One thing I really found interesting was the Red Button itself. In some parts of the narrative, we get to read some scenes told from the perspective of this object. I never thought in a million years I would read a book with the perspective of a button… but here we are. I think it was tastefully done and it added something special to the story. Unexpected, but a good surprise!
My favorite thing from this book was definitely the writing style. I loved how joyful it was and it has that Christmas tale feel to it! I think I would probably enjoy this more if I read “A Christmas Tale” beforehand, but I still think it was a very good story. The plot was very good and I learned some things about the button industry!
I would recommend it to the fans of the classic novel and overall Christmas lovers!

***A big thank you to the author for the free copy in exchange for an honest review***

xoxo,

“When I looked at her the first time, it was like… everything made sense.” – 2.75/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: sign language, cherry coke, big green eyes, body guards, library books, racism, long distance relationships, home cinema and a girl with attitude.



Ryker Lee is finally enjoying his senior year—he has great friends, hangs out with hot girls, and is on track to get a football scholarship that will set him up for college. Despite this, a small part of him wonders if there’s more to life than parties and meaningless hookups—and if football even means as much to him as it does to his fellow teammates. And when he meets the new girl at school, his world totally changes…

Aurora McClay is new to Lawton. She’s grateful that her twin brother, Hunter, is star of the football team and can help her adjust to her new school, but she’s not grateful at how overprotective he is over every person she meets. Just because she is deaf does not mean people have to treat her differently. When she meets Ryker Lee, the two of them spark an instant and intense chemistry, one that proves to be controversial not only because of Ryker’s reputation as a player, but also because of Aurora and Hunter’s father’s bigoted views about who Aurora can and can’t date.

Aurora and Ryker know in their hearts that they are meant for each other. But can their relationship endure the turmoil of rumors and prejudice?



Another quick romance book from the one and only, Abbi Glines! Making a Play, the fifth book in The Field Party series, follows Ryker Lee (Nash Lee’s cousin) and his love interest, Aurora.

For me the coolest aspect of this book was how the author decided to make our main character Aurora deaf. It’s not very common to find deaf characters in books, let alone giving the spotlight to them, so I applaud the author for that. I still think all that lip reading was a bit far-fetched, but… I digress.

The romance was mediocre and way far from being one of my favorites from the series. It blows my mind that the entire book takes place in a single week, so as you would expect it’s an instalove romance. I still prefer the original three romances over the last two ones. The story needed work and the characters lacked depth.

Racism was also part of this book, but I personally think it wasn’t very well accomplished. I think the book would be better if the author chose a single aspect to focus on: either the race issue or the fact our main character was deaf. It was a lot for the storyline considering how small the book is and the duration of the story.

To be completely honest I’m losing interest in this series. The good thing about these books it’s that they’re entertaining for what they are – short, quick reads -, but they lack quality. Not sure if the next book will be the last one, but I think the series already reached its peak… with the first book.

Anyways, I think the next book in the series will be about Asa and his love interest, so I’m curious to see how it will turn out.

xoxo,

“We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.” – 3.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: private islands, boats, fancy houses, scars, golden retrievers, starry nights, books, beach roses, troll hunting, peonies, medication, ginger ale, beaches, words on hands and the liars.

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
 
We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

This book… was depressing. But in a good way? I think I’m a bit conflicted because part of me feels like the story could have a bit more substance. It’s not a huge book whatsoever, but since there’s not a lot going on – just mostly confusion from the main character – it feels like the book has a slow pace. But at the same time, I really appreciate what the author did in this story. I was shocked when I understood what the truth was at the end… That hit me like a ton of bricks.

I think this was supposed to have some sort of romance, but I didn’t love that part of the book. It reminds of teen love, yes, but it’s insta-love extremely romanticized. But take what I say with a grain of salt, because maybe that’s just me. I probably forgot what it feels like to be in love as a teenager and how intense everything feels. Part of me gets it, the other part doesn’t love the romance bit here.

I wonder how I would feel if I read this when I was younger. I think this is one of those books you read when you’re really young that makes you fall in love with reading.It’s a heartbreaking, emotional – and pretty much depressing – book with a very unexpected twist. Some people love it (which I get) and some people hate it (which I also get). Still, if you haven’t read it yet, I really think you should try reading it with an open mind. You may find a new favorite, who knows?

xoxo,