“And what’s more beautiful and precious than gold? Love, my son. The only treasure that cannot be buried in a pot.” – 2.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: rainbows, leprechauns, the plague, wars, cloud girls and famous scientists.

As the plague rages through England, Hayden Springworth is busy trying to find hidden treasure at the end of a rainbow. But an encounter with Isaac Newton will shatter the young lord’s antiquated beliefs. Sent to the southwest of France as a spy, Hayden continues his research on rainbows in secret. That is until he meets a strange young girl who seemingly has the power to bring rain with her wherever she goes…

I’ve gotten a copy of this short graphic novel through NetGalley and Europe Comics. I would describe this story as a fantasy book, but more on the magical realism side.
In essence, it’s a story about science and curiosity. The main character Hayden is a curious boy living in England (during the plague and war), who tries to understand the phenomenon behind rainbows.
I feel like there’s a lot going on in this book, and if the story was simplified a little it would benefit the book as a whole. The story was inconsistent and fragmented into bits that didn’t connect well in my opinion. Also, I just couldn’t connect or care too much about the story and characters. Just as a side note, I thought it was fun that Isaac Newton was a character here! Unexpected, but a fun addiction.
For me, the artwork was the star here! This book was beautifully illustrated and colored. I loved how each chapter had a monochromatic color palette and a different color title – this was definitely my favorite part of this book. It was very unique and detailed.
In conclusion: the artwork is worth it, but the story was a little too all over the place for my own taste.

A big thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“A small smile touched Rhys’s lips. “I always knew you would make a great queen.”
“I’m not queen yet.”
“You don’t need a crown to be queen, princess.” – 3.75/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: forbidden romances, animal shelters, surprise trips to Costa Rica, royal duties, tough bodyguards and sweet princesses.

She can never be his…but he’s taking her anyway.

Stoic, broody, and arrogant, elite bodyguard Rhys Larsen has two rules: 1) Protect his clients at all costs 2) Do not become emotionally involved. Ever.

He has never once been tempted to break those rules…until her.

Bridget von Ascheberg. A princess with a stubborn streak that matches his own and a hidden fire that reduces his rules to ash. She’s nothing he expected and everything he never knew he needed.

Day by day, inch by inch, she breaks down his defenses until he’s faced with a truth he can no longer deny: he swore an oath to protect her, but all he wants is to ruin her. Take her.

Because she’s his.

His princess.
His forbidden fruit.
His every depraved fantasy.

***

Regal, strong-willed, and bound by the chains of duty, Princess Bridget dreams of the freedom to live and love as she chooses.

But when her brother abdicates, she’s suddenly faced with the prospect of a loveless, politically expedient marriage and a throne she never wanted.

And as she navigates the intricacies—and treacheries—of her new role, she must also hide her desire for a man she can’t have.

Her bodyguard.
Her protector.
Her ultimate ruin.

Unexpected and forbidden, theirs is a love that could destroy a kingdom…and doom them both.

Twisted Games is a slow to medium burn contemporary royal bodyguard romance. It’s book two of the Twisted series but can be read as a standalone.

Warning: This book contains a possessive alpha hero, explicit sexual content, and profanity.

I had really high hopes for this book. When I first saw that this book was about Bridget and Rhys, I immediately thought this would be my favorite book from the series. A romance between a modern princess and her bodyguard? Sign me up!

Well, the truth is that I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the characters and the forbidden romance between them, but the second half of the book was focused on Bridget and her new role as a royal. Most people like this aspect since it gives the book more depth and purpose, but the pace slows down a little during this part. The book is good, but as a romance junkie I wished this was focused on the romance – a slow-burn would be the cherry on top!

Keep in mind this is only a personal preference, so don’t let that influence your view of the book, because I still think it’s a good one – I just really like romance books!

It was a fun and entertaining read, but not quite what I was expecting. Definitely recommend it if you like royal romances. Off to the next book I go!

“If you wanted, I would burn down the world for you.” – 4.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: icy hearts, nightmares, red velvet cookies, emotions, forced cohabitation, vengeance and carpool rides.

He has a heart of ice…but for her, he’d burn the world.

Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can’t escape.

Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart.

But when he’s forced to look after his best friend’s sister, he starts to feel something in his chest:

A crack.
A melt.
A fire that could end his world as he knew it.

***

Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can’t remember.

But despite her broken past, she’s never stopped seeing the beauty in the world…including the heart beneath the icy exterior of a man she shouldn’t want.

Her brother’s best friend.
Her neighbor.
Her savior and her downfall.

Theirs is a love that was never supposed to happen—but when it does, it unleashes secrets that could destroy them both…and everything they hold dear.

Twisted Love is a brother’s best friend/opposites attract romance with a hint of suspense. It’s book one in the Twisted series but can be read as a standalone.

WARNING: This book contains a possessive, morally gray alphahole; explicit sexual content, and profanity. No cheating or menage, but if you’re looking for a traditionally sweet, loveable hero, this is not the book for you. Recommended for 18+.

So I finally jumped on the hype and I started the “Twisted” series! 

The only reason why I didn’t read this book in one sitting is because I started it at night and I really needed some sleep – I devoured this book!

The characters were good, I just thought the girl was a little bland but it was bearable – and the guy is a true demon (can be a little extreme at times), but it works well here to be honest. The characters had chemistry and their grumpy/sunshine dynamics were perfect! I’m a huge fan of the enemies to lovers trope, and this was a great one! There’s also the brother’s best friend trope in this book, so you’re in for a treat if you like that one.

There’s a big plot behind this book and there’s a lot of drama and mystery, so this is not exactly just focused on the romance between the main characters. I personally liked the mystery behind the story and I was entertained the entire time. There’s also a plot twist here, but I thought it was a little predictable in my opinion… still entertaining though!

I personally really liked this book, and now I’m very excited to read Bridget’s story next! A love story between a princess and a bodyguard? Sign me up!

“The most important part of becoming better people, I’ll say yet again, is that we care about whether what we do is good or bad, and therefore try to do the right thing. If we love a problematic person or thing too much to part with it altogether, I think that means we have to keep two ideas in our head at the same time: I love this thing. The person who made it is troubling.” – 4.25/5 stars!

From the creator of The Good Place and the cocreator of Parks and Recreation, a hilarious, thought-provoking guide to living an ethical life, drawing on 2,500 years of deep thinking from around the world.

Most people think of themselves as “good,” but it’s not always easy to determine what’s “good” or “bad”—especially in a world filled with complicated choices and pitfalls and booby traps and bad advice. Fortunately, many smart philosophers have been pondering this conundrum for millennia and they have guidance for us. With bright wit and deep insight, How to Be Perfect explains concepts like deontology, utilitarianism, existentialism, ubuntu, and more so we can sound cool at parties and become better people.

Schur starts off with easy ethical questions like “Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?” (No.) and works his way up to the most complex moral issues we all face. Such as: Can I still enjoy great art if it was created by terrible people? How much money should I give to charity? Why bother being good at all when there are no consequences for being bad? And much more. By the time the book is done, we’ll know exactly how to act in every conceivable situation, so as to produce a verifiably maximal amount of moral good. We will be perfect, and all our friends will be jealous. OK, not quite. Instead, we’ll gain fresh, funny, inspiring wisdom on the toughest issues we face every day.

There’s something so funny about thinking of Mose from “The Office” as an aspiring philosopher. If you’re wondering why the comparison, it’s because I recently found out through Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsley’s book “The Office BFFs” that Michael Schur plays the part of Dwight’s cousin Mose! I already knew he was one of the producers or writers, but I had no idea he was part of the cast so that was very surprising!

Anyways, I digress. This book was amazing! It turns out… being a good person is quite difficult. Fortunately for us, Michael Schur did a lot of research on philosophy from 2500 years ago to today’s age, and he’s now feeding us what he learned starting from simple questions such as “should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?” to more complex issues. He proceeds by adding his own commentary, a lot of examples and funny anecdotes to make the reading experience more pleasant. In the end, we conclude that every philosophy is far from perfect and impossible to fully implement – which means that it’s impossible to be a perfect person and it’s a bad idea to even attempt it.

Also, I love how in the end he mentions he wrote this book for his children, by telling them they should embrace their failures and try to be kinder. This was a touching moment that I’m sure they will appreciate when they read this book when they’re older.

I took a lot of ideas from this book and I kind of feel like I want to reread this book in the future. I really want to watch Parks and Recreation now, and maybe give The Good Place a try too!

“Food was how my mother expressed her love. No matter how critical or cruel she could seem—constantly pushing me to meet her intractable expectations—I could always feel her affection radiating from the lunches she packed and the meals she prepared for me just the way I liked them.” – 4.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: bands, teenage years, comfort food, memories, healing, terminal cancer, identity and grief.

A memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity.

Michelle Zauner tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.

As she grew up, moving to the East Coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, and performing gigs with her fledgling band—and meeting the man who would become her husband—her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Wow, I loved this book! It was an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end – and yes, I cried multiple times while reading this!

This book deserves all the hype. I personally had no idea who Michelle Zauner was, but her band “Japanese Breakfast” definitely sounded familiar! I’m glad she got out of her comfort zone and decided to write this book to share her story.

In essence this is mostly a memoir book, but the focus is the relationship between her and her mother. They had a very hard time connecting especially when she was a teenager, and she had a lot of resentment towards her mother. But when her mother got sick with terminal cancer, they became close and she was determined to heal their relationship. What Michelle realized later is that her mother showed her love through tough love, and she now appreciates what her mother did for her, the moments they shared and the lessons she taught her.

But this is not a book just about her and her mother. She also talks about her struggles with identity growing up. She felt like she didn’t fit in in America for being half-Korean, but also didn’t fit in South Korea because she is half-American. In this book, she shows us how she came to terms with her identity and got close to her Korean heritage and culture.

It’s a very honest and personal book, and I feel like it is a love letter to her mother. It made me emotional, but I’m very glad I read it. Definitely recommend this one!

“This is a moment I will remember for the entire rest of my life. No matter what happens after this, I will file tonight under Happiness.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: tough personal assistants, investigations, hotel rooms, flights, journalists, models, old friendships.

A one-night stand between two old childhood friends turns into something more, but when a scandal threatens to tear them apart, they must decide how hard to fight for love—a steamy romance written under the pseudonym Ivy Owens by Christina Lauren coauthor Lauren Billings.

Exhausted and on deadline with a story that could make or break her career, investigative journalist Georgia Ross is on the verge of a meltdown when a cancelled flight leaves her stuck in the airport overnight. But when a familiar face appears—the older brother of her childhood friend—and offers help, Gigi seems to have caught a break.

Alec Kim is handsome, humble, and kind—exactly the sort of man that Gigi has forgotten existed after her own painful heartbreaks. An evening of reconnection followed by a night of no-strings-attached passion with Alec feels like a gift—that is, until Gigi finally realizes that their childhood connection isn’t the only reason he seems so familiar to her.

Alec is determined to prove to Gigi that he is truly the man she thinks he is, even if it means coming clean about his fame—and his family’s connection to the story Gigi’s been working so hard to break. But as their feelings for each other grow deeper, Gigi and Alec must navigate a new reality…one where both of their hard-won careers are put directly in the path of an international scandal.

This book was really good! I admit I didn’t think too much about it before picking it up, but it ended up being a really nice surprise!

The first thing that I really need to advise you about this book is that the cover has nothing to do with the story. Oh you thought this was a cutesy YA romance? I know I did, but oh boy I was surprised because it was not. To clarify, I would describe this more of an adult/new adult (very) steamy romance.

The romance and the story were really good. Even though this is super steamy, it’s also incredibly sweet – also, if you’re a fan of the best friend’s brother trope, you are in for a treat! The romance is swoony and contrasts perfectly with the harshness of the investigation the main character Gigi is doing. This was a really nice addition to the story and gave it more depth and purpose.

Now let me hit you with a bomb! Ivy Owens is a pseudonym for Lauren… oh you know, the Lauren FROM CHRISTINA LAUREN! I was shocked when I found out… but not really, because this book was amazing.

To me this was kind of… a perfect romance? The characters had a lot of chemistry and I couldn’t put the book down! I’m planning on holding on to my physical copy to read it again in the future. Definitely try this one if you like steamy romances.

“I am someone who is completely unique in this world, someone I need to take care of for the rest of my life, and therefore someone I need to help take each step forwards, warmly and patiently, to allow to rest on some days and to encourage on others – I believe that the more I look into this strange being, myself, the more routes I will find to happiness.” – 4/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: therapy sessions, recordings, transcripts, judgment, anxiety, and of course, a deep love for tteokbokki.

Baek Se-Hee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her–what to call it?–depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgemental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends, adept at performing the calmness, even ease, her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting and overwhelming and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can’t be normal. But if she’s so hopeless, why can she always summon a yen for her favourite street food, the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like? Recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a 12-week period, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions, and harmful behaviours that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse.

“I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki” is a very interesting book. I would describe this as a memoir (kind of?), but also as a self-development book because I believe you can take something from this book and apply it to your life.

So in case you don’t know, in this book the author Baek Sehee talks about her struggle with mental health issues. She is constantly anxious, is obsessed with her looks, doubts herself a lot, and she ruthlessly judges other people – in a nutshell, she feels miserable on a daily basis. Although she can hide it well from others, she finds herself overwhelmed and exhausted most of the time. She starts attending therapy with a psychiatrist and she records the sessions – which later become transcripts, and this book is born -, and together they analyze her behavior and thoughts. With professional help, she starts to unveil the root of the problem.

It’s a very intimate and raw book, and very different from everything I have ever read. Like I mentioned, it consists mostly of transcripts of the author’s recorded therapy sessions, but it also includes a few personal thoughts in short chapters – and for this reason, it’s a very easy book to digest. Personally, I wished this wasn’t mostly transcripts and had more original written content.

I liked a lot of things about this book, but what stood out to me was her raw honesty and vulnerability (even when it made her look really bad) and their conversations during the therapy sessions. It was very weird to see someone put in a book every honest thought they had about other people and be very judgemental so openly, but I respect her a lot for doing that. The truth is that a lot of people think and feel the same way (me included), but would never admit to that. The fact that she exposed herself that way to criticism was a very brave thing to do, and I applaud her for it! 

One thing that I was very curious about was to see how mental illness and therapy is dealt with in South Korea. Even though it was cool to see their conversations and how the author started to shift her perspective, I want to address something that may be a little controversial: I think the therapist wasn’t very helpful and was unprofessional at times. I’m obviously not an expert on the subject, but their advice felt very odd at times and there wasn’t any guidance – there were only quick fixes instead of trying to fix the problem from the root. And not only that, but it seemed to me that the therapist couldn’t be completely unbiased due to their culture. There were a lot of comments about looks and drinking that made me realize that she was judging the author during the therapy sessions. Fortunately, the psychiatrist writes a note in the end of the book and she comments on how after they read the entire book they saw how unprofessional they were at times – so it was nice they acknowledged some of it. I can’t imagine this is an easy topic to discuss there, so it was nice to get a better insight with this book.

I also really liked how it kind of feels you’re having your own therapy session. I can understand some of her struggles, so it was nice to see that other people feel the same way. I felt both validated and comforted while reading this book.

Also, as a side note, Namjoon read this book and talked greatly about it. Like Namjoon, I would also recommend this book! I definitely want to read this again in the future, so I’m planning on keeping my physical copy.

“Whether Cam is a man or a woman, does that really change your feelings?” – 3.75/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: faux fur, fake sideburns, grilled cheese sandwiches, invitations, fashion and a ton of cheese puns!

A funny, heartfelt YA romance about finding love—and lots of grilled cheese sandwiches—in the place you least expect it, from rising talent Deya Muniz.

Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert.

But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she able to keep her secret?

A romantic comedy about mistaken identity, true love, and lots of grilled cheese.

Awnnn that was such a cheesy love story – yup, pun completely intended.

This is a really cute book! I picked it up randomly because the premise seemed cute, and I ended up having a great time reading it.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: this book is full of cheese puns. This was probably one of my favorite things about this book. Not only do the characters have cheese names (Brie, Camembert, Ricotta), but the cities and brands also have cheese names. Cheese is obviously a big part of this story – I’ll talk about this in a second!

The romance between Cam and Brie was sweet, but I have to say the story doesn’t have a lot of substance. It didn’t bother me, but if you’re coming for a good solid story, this is probably not for you. I would describe this as more of a fun, light read just to pass time.

One thing that was a little unexpected was how there were moments that talked about relevant topics such as the use of faux fur to substitute the use of animal fur, and women being powerful by owning their own businesses. Unexpected, but an interesting addiction.

The ending was cute, but it ended up a little abruptly in my opinion. It was a “happy ever after” moment still, but Ricotta’s reaction deserved a conclusion in my humble opinion.

Now I have to tell you about the most surprising aspect about this book: it is biographic (kind of)! The author based this book on her relationship with her wife. Not only their looks, but some of the scenes were based on real moments. Also the grilled cheese sandwiches her wife made were a big inspiration to create this book! I just loved reading about this, because it made the book way more special and interesting.

Just as a side note, I thought it was funny that even though this was a regency kind of story, you still have modern elements that appear here and there like Cam’s Nintendo Switch, fridges, etc.

Was the story super solid? Probably not, but it was still a cute queer love story that made me smile!

“I love my Mother Country, and I love my family, and I always will. I just wish, at the second-darkest moment of my life, they’d been there for me too. And I believe they’ll look back one day and wish they had too.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: true love, the Afghanistan war, tabloids, wild elephants, Africa trips, loss trauma, the British monarchy, sibling fights, security, paparazzi, addiction, car crashes, new nicknames, grief, spotlights, secret dates, tiaras, funerals, charity events, an heir and a spare.

It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on.

For Harry, this is that story at last.

Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight.

At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love.

Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .

For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.

I had to wait before I wrote my thoughts about this book because I had a lot of mixed feelings. Now that some time has passed, I’m more comfortable giving you my opinion, so here we go!
Let me start by saying that I was never obsessed with the British Royal family, but I always looked at them with curiosity. Especially when I heard Harry was “turning his back” to his family and moved with Meghan to the U.S. I wasn’t sure about his true position and what happened for him to move to another continent. Now that I’ve listened to the audiobook version narrated by Prince Harry himself, I understand a little better what happened.
I appreciate Prince Harry being vulnerable and open about his life and relationships. It’s a very open and emotional memoir where he shared some of his most personal experiences and struggles. He mentions his mother a lot and it’s obvious he is still struggling with her passing. He went through a lot since he was a kid, and he had to do it in the public eye, which I can only imagine how hard it must have been.
This memoir has a lot. He not only talks about his family (brother, mother, dad, grandparents) and being part of the Royal Family, but he also talks about the time he spent in Africa, in the North Pole, and fighting in Afghanistan, as well as how it was to meet Meghan and his experience as a father… and of course, the press.
In this book I’ve learned that the British press is ruthless. It’s scary how he was constantly harassed and even had his life threatened because of the press.
Sometimes he overshared a little – I’m sure you know or at least heard about this -, so I think some things should’ve been kept private.
Now the reason why I had mixed feelings was because of his relationship with his brother and father. I think it’s important to keep in mind that we are only reading about his side of the story, so we don’t actually know if this is the truth or not. They obviously have a very difficult and tricky relationship, but I’m still amazed with the way he talked about his father. I think most of us were surprised that he talked about king Charles so dearly and with so much love. Or maybe that’s just me, but I truly wasn’t expecting that. It’s also clear he loves them – not Camilla though lol.
This was probably one of the saddest memoirs I have ever read for different reasons. The trauma, their relationships, how repressed they all are, how disconnected they are – the list is endless. It was useful to me because I learned a lot about the British Royal Family and it gave me a glimpse into their world. It’s a very interesting read, and I definitely recommend it. Just keep an open mind!