“The stars in his eyes aren’t only crafted by adventure. They’ve been formed by years of loneliness. Of looking up into a sky full of dreams and never being quite able to reach it.” – 3.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: soldiers, islands, mead, fugitives, magic, barracudas, dolphins, mermaids, fights, Soul magic and rum. 

Set in a kingdom where danger lurks beneath the sea, mermaids seek vengeance with song, and magic is a choice.

She will reign.

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer — the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.

When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.

But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder — and more peril — than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.

I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.

I thought I would like this more, but it didn’t impress me. The story was okay, but I didn’t care a lot about it. It’s not the most memorable book of all time, but it was entertaining.

The characters were a little bland for me, and to me as a reader, characters are what make great stories come to life. The world building and plot was good, but it didn’t grab me. I guess I wish the story gave me stronger emotions, because I felt almost nothing. No excitement, no rush, no wow moments. I’m neither disappointed nor blown away.

One thing I really disliked was the narrator of the audiobook version. I don’t think I have ever disliked a single audiobook narrator, but it finally happened. I just feel like the person who narrated it didn’t capture the essence of the book and almost made the book kind of goofy. The voices and tone of the two male characters sounded childish and goofy and unfortunately that reflected poorly on the tone of the book and on my experience as a reader.

Maybe I’ll try the physical or ebook version of the book in the future. I’m currently listening to the second book and I’m glad to say the narrator is different. Hope reading the second book will be better.

Attention! This book contains: werewolves, witchcraft, spells, hometowns, demon horses and mooncakes.

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

This book was recommended by a friend on Instagram – thank you Maria! -, and even though I was excited to read this, it didn’t work for me.

To be completely fair, I think this had great potential. The artwork was beautiful and I liked the magic and witchcraft theme of the book, but what really went wrong for me was the plot. The story was mostly focused on their romance, so the plot felt secondary and unnecessary. It was very weak and rushed, and the timing of the images felt weird. The thing is: if you’re making a strongly themed book with a defined plot, the focus should be on that. It feels weird to make a story so specific… and then not develop it.

I also had a hard time connecting to the characters, because they were extremely bland and boring – I liked Nova’s Nanas way more! The insta-love romance was weak and lacked chemistry, so I didn’t care for it either. There was a lot of pre-established information that took the interest out of the story.

The only thing I really liked about this book was the art, but… why on Earth is the art different in the last chapters?? It looks like the work was left unfinished…

I’m disappointed. Like I said, I think the story had potential, but a lot of things felt off. I was hoping this would be at least entertaining, but it was a miss for me.

“It’s a very strange reality when you can’t trust yourself. There’s no foundation for anything. The faith I might have had in normal things like gravity or logic or love is gone because my mind might not be reading them correctly. You can’t possibly know what it means to doubt everything. To walk into a room full of people and pretend that it’s empty because you’re not actually sure if it is or not. To never feel completely alone even when you are.” – 3.75/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: school uniforms, diary entries, experimental drugs, hallucinations, homemade sweets, bullying, uniforms, tennis matches, newborns, high school proms, psychiatrists, real friendships and a lot of praying.

Adam is a pretty regular teen, except he’s navigating high school life while living with paranoid schizophrenia. His hallucinations include a cast of characters that range from the good (beautiful Rebecca) to the bad (angry Mob Boss) to the just plain weird (polite naked guy). An experimental drug promises to help him hide his illness from the world. When Adam meets Maya, a fiercely intelligent girl, he desperately wants to be the normal, great guy that she thinks he is. But as the miracle drug begins to fail, how long can he keep this secret from the girl of his dreams?

For a young adult contemporary book with a mental illness theme… I was very impressed! Nowadays it’s difficult to find unique books within this genre, and this was a good example of what a good, different book is.

So if you don’t know, this story follows a teenager named Adam. He has schizophrenia and is trying a new experimental drug to control his symptoms. We get to follow his daily life in high school, the challenges he usually faces with the disease, and also the regular teenager struggles of going through puberty, finding his own path and having his first ever romantic relationship. So there was a lot going on for Adam!

The book is easy to read and the characters are easy to love. Adam is a teenager with a very realistic personality, in my opinion. It didn’t feel like just another boy in young adult contemporary fiction with a fabricated personality. He and his struggles felt very realistic, but he had a great personality. He stood up to bullies and he fought for what he believed… he wasn’t a crowd pleaser, and I loved that about him. Also, I liked his humour.

The writing style was also a positive point for me: the story is told in very personal diary entries. It was easy to follow the story and it gave a good glimpse of the way Adam thinks.

Another thing I really liked was the focus of the book: schizophrenia. I think this was the first ever fictional book I have read on the subject and I loved. I have a family member that suffers from the same disease, and this book helped me realise some things that I never completely understood. I can’t imagine what it is like to question if what is around us is real or or just a product of an hallucination. I learned a lot, and I’m happy I took so much from a single book.

The only question I have surrounding this book was the accuracy of the representation. Is this a realistic representation of schizophrenia? According to the author, she wrote this book based on reports of schizophrenic patients. So supposedly this should be realistic, but since this is written from an external source, we don’t know for sure.

Either way, I really liked this book and it was incredibly informative and interesting. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on this author!

xoxo,

“And, just as it only takes a moment to die, it only takes a moment to live. You just close your eyes and let every futile fear slip away. And then, in this new state, free from fear, you ask yourself: who am I? If I could live without doubt what would I do? If I could be kind without the fear of being fucked over? If I could love without fear of being hurt? If I could taste the sweetness of today without thinking of how I will miss that taste tomorrow? If I could not fear the passing of time and the people it will steal? Yes. What would I do? Who would I care for? What battle would I fight? Which paths would I step down? What joys would I allow myself? What internal mysteries would I solve? How, in short, would I live?” – 3.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: lost daughters, true love, books, dogs, secret societies, French, “witches”, plagues, history and time. 

“She smiled a soft, troubled smile and I felt the whole world slipping away, and I wanted to slip with it, to go wherever she was going… I had existed whole years without her, but that was all it had been. An existence. A book with no words.”

Tom Hazard has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a high school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at his school who seems fascinated by him. But Tom has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history–performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.

Unfortunately for Tom, the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society’s watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can’t have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.

How to Stop Time tells a love story across the ages–and for the ages–about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. It is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.

Matt Haig really knows how to write books that make you reflect. It wasn’t a perfect book for me, but I really liked the message behind it.

So let’s start with the plot! To be honest, I can’t tell you what the plot is about, because I honestly don’t know because it feels like this book doesn’t have a plot. The story is about Tom – who is several centuries old for some unknown reason -, and his memories. Throughout the book he constantly remembers his past moments and his first love romance, while dealing with his present. There is a lot of back and forth in Tom’s timeline, so it can be confusing for some readers.

The characters were okay but not the most engaging. Tom was an okay main character, but I didn’t connect to him too strongly because he was always whining about being old. The romance with Camille felt a bit forced. They didn’t develop a proper friendship, so everything felt rushed when he started feeling deeply connected to her. It was too unrealistic, so I had a hard time believing the romance. One character I did love was Rose! She was a very solid character with a good background and development, but I wish we got to know her better.

One thing I really liked is how Fitzgerald and Shakespeare appeared in the book! I really liked how they made an appearance, and I liked how they were portrayed.

What I really liked about this story was the reflections about time. There is a strong message here on how we should live and appreciate the present moment and accept that time doesn’t wait for us. I think the story could be developed a bit better, but it did its job of delivering the message and making the reader reflect.

I liked this, but if I were to recommend a book from this author to anyone, I would still recommend “The Midnight Library”, because it’s an amazing book!

“The lady had a rapier for a tongue. She jabbed with nouns, riposted with verbs.” – 3.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: word battles, sharp tongues, schemes, promises, marriage proposals, funny banter, war trauma, letters, injuries, balconies and dances.

Is there any greater surprise than falling deeply, madly in love?

In This Battle of Wits

Lady Lucy Upton’s tongue may be too sharp to attract suitors but her heart is good, and when her painfully shy friend Cassandra needs help she devises a brilliant scheme to help her discourage an unwanted suitor, the Duke of Claringdon. Lucy will hide behind the hedgerow and tell Cass just what to say to discourage the duke…but it turns out that he’s made of sterner stuff than either of them anticipated. And Lucy is shocked to discover that tangling with the tenacious man is the most fun she’s had in ages.

Kisses Are the Best Weapon

Lord Derek Hunt made a promise to his dying friend to marry the demure Cassandra, and for a man who wants nothing more than peace and quiet after the horrors of war, she’ll make the perfect bride. If only the impudent Miss Upton will let him court the girl! Doing battle is the last thing on his mind, but bantering with Lucy behind the bushes is too tempting to resist. And the spoils of this war just may be true love…

I don’t know why but I have never picked up an actual historical romance – which is weird because I love romance books! I wanted to change that and I found out the three first books of this series were translated and published in Portuguese… so I bought them. Needless to say I was very excited to dive into this new genre, but unfortunately I was left a bit underwhelmed with the start of this series. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this book is terrible – I certainly have read way worse -, but I genuinely think it had the potential to be an amazing romance.

If you’re a fan of the “enemies-to-lovers” trope like I am, the premise of this book may seem captivating and exciting, but the romance was a bit two superficial for my own taste. There was something about the main characters that didn’t work well for me. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, but I think it’s related to them being superficial and immature – Lucy lacked depth and maturity and Derek was irrational and shallow. And not only the characters and romance were superficial, but the story was too. The entire thing is mostly empty dialogs, a lot of flirting and the MC keeping Derek away from her best friend… and that’s about it. I understand that Derek’s war story was meant to give depth to the plot, but the execution was not the best so it ended out working the opposite way. As a whole, the combination of dialog choices, scenarios and situations the characters were put in felt unrealistic and it made it difficult for me to take them “seriously”.

On a positive side, I loved how this book is full of lovely female friendships. We love women supporting women! That I don’t mind having more of, and I’m hoping we’ll have more of it in the next books!

I’m continuing the series because I’m still hoping I will find a gemstone in this series – and also because I already bought some of the next books *nervous laughter*So would I recommend this book? Since I don’t have a lot of experience with historical romances, I can’t recommend you other books. But I will say that you can probably find a better historical romance with a stronger plot – I’ve heard great things about Tessa Dare’s books, and that’s where I’m heading next when it comes to historical romance!

xoxo,

“Our stuff isn’t going missing – someone is stealing it. And there are exactly four people who could be responsible. I take a sharp breath and look at my fellow travelers with new wariness. Someone in this car is lying.”– 2/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: missing items, snow storms, cancelled layovers, college kids, creepy letters, yellow baseball caps and disaster after disaster.

A hitched ride home in a snow storm turns sinister when one of the passengers is plotting for the ride to end in disaster.

When Mira flies home to spend Christmas with her mother in Pittsburgh, a record-breaking blizzard results in a cancelled layover. Desperate to get to her grief-ridden mother in the wake of a family death, Mira hitches a ride with a group of friendly college kids who were on her initial flight.

As the drive progresses and weather conditions become more treacherous, Mira realizes that the four other passengers she’s stuck in the car with don’t actually know one another.

Soon, they’re not just dealing with heavy snowfall and ice-slick roads, but the fact that somebody will stop at nothing to ensure their trip ends in a deadly disaster.

My thoughts on this book are pretty simple: this was just plain boring and uninteresting. I already dislike books with road trips as it is, but even looking over that, there wasn’t much I liked about this book. The mystery was boring and underwhelming, the characters were bland – Mira was an incredibly weak and unmemorable main character -, and the story was very slow paced and it felt like nothing interesting happened.

The truth is that I felt like a lot of things were lacking: a plot, character depth and development, and engagement. Not only that, but there were also a lot of loose ends that I wish were explained in the book, like for example the yellow baseball guy situation, or how the responsible person could even possibly plan what happened – if you read it, you know what I’m talking about… there’s a lot of coincidences that make zero sense.

I will say I liked the atmosphere of the book. I liked the images the author tried to create throughout the book of the blizzard and snow. The book is placed around Christmas, but it’s not a strongly themed holiday book. Still, if you’re interested in the book, I would recommend you to pick up the book in the wintertime! Grab a blanket and a hot beverage and you’ll have the perfect set.

I have to be completely honest: I think you should find yourself a better thriller to spend your time on… but that’s just my opinion. Proceed at your own risk!

xoxo,

“What my mind needed to know was that someone was there to make it all better. That summer, through gritted teeth, I’d decided that person was me, not a man or a family, and it would only ever be me. I had to stop hoping for someone to come along and love me. I had to do it myself, ducking my head and barreling through anything life brought.” – 2/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: cabbage patch kids, Ariel dolls, car accidents, food stamps, landscapes, cleaning supplies, dirty toilets and a lot of complaining.

At 28, Stephanie Land’s plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer, were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephanie worked days and took classes online to earn a college degree, and began to write relentlessly.

Maid explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it’s like to be in service to them. “I’d become a nameless ghost,” Stephanie writes about her relationship with her clients, many of whom do not know her from any other cleaner, but who she learns plenty about. As she begins to discover more about her clients’ lives-their sadness and love, too-she begins to find hope in her own path.

Her writing as a journalist gives voice to the “servant” worker, and those pursuing the American Dream from below the poverty line. Maid is Stephanie’s story, but it’s not her alone…

Wow… I never thought in a million years I would give this book a negative review. I wanted to read this for the longest time because I knew in my heart I would find here an inspiring story from a strong woman who beat the odds. Yeah, well, my heart was wrong.

When I was younger, we had a neighbor that was constantly talking about her own life (even when no one asked), and she was constantly complaining of how miserable her life was compared to others. Stephanie reminded me a lot of her.

I think the biggest turn off for me was her attitude towards life. I just couldn’t feel sorry for her (and trust me, I REALLY tried). I don’t want to come across as insensitive, but the truth is: this was a sob story. There was a lot of “poor me” and “I don’t have nice things”, and I wasn’t having it. She was constantly talking about all the things she didn’t have and all the things her employers had – makeup, clothes, forniture, meals, hobbies, homes… you name it and she would want it. She was extremely unlikeable, but still I tried to give her a chance and I tried to put myself in her shoes… but I couldn’t connect to her. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen my own mother’s struggle while growing up or maybe it’s because I know a lot of single mothers who went through hell to raise their children and never complained. Either way, the book felt very entitled and privileged – which is even weirder, considering that’s exactly the opposite of what she wanted the book to be about.

Not only that, but I was bored the entire time and I considered DNFing this five times. It was a cycle of cleaning scenes, self-pity, more cleaning, jealousy for the employer’s possessions and more cleaning.

I’m sorry for writing such a negative review, but I was disappointed with this book. I find people fascinating and I love to learn from their experiences and perspectives, but this story didn’t feel inspirational at all. There are so many inspirational women out there with great books, and this one is just about a woman complaining non-stop. I would skip it.

xoxo,

“Keep in mind that people change, but the past doesn’t.” – 4.25/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: biology assignments, pool tables, part-time jobs, baseball games, roller coasters, tacos, ripped wings, nephilims, snow globes and assault.

A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey’s plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can’t decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

I love these gems from the late 00s. For me this pub time has been very iconic in terms of young adult books! I know I’m super late for the party, but Hush, Hush has been on my to-be-read list for a very long time and now I finally read the first book! So what did I think? I liked it a lot!

The romance is very intriguing. I don’t know how the author was able to create a romance that felt both tamed and at the same time very in-your-face. It seems very direct because there’s a lot of tension between the main characters when they’re together, but at the same time the romance itself felt almost non-existent. This was not a bad thing for me because there are three books left in the series, and I know the romance is probably going to develop very soon.

I really liked both of the main characters, but I especially loved Patch. Well, he’s not exactly a human being, but I really liked his energy and overall personality. I can tell this series is going to be a wild ride just from the characters!

The plot itself seems a bit confusing, but maybe it’s because I don’t usually read books with angels and nephilims… I think I’ll get the hang of it soon though (I hope).I’m curious to see where the story is headed next. I’ll be reading Crescendo in the near future!

xoxo,

“Only the man who has known freedom
Can define his prison.” – 3.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: wedding dresses, intricate keys, mysterious tattoos, baby foxes, keys, eagles, illusions, lost princes and brotherhood.

Incarceron — a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology — a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber — chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison — a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device — a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn’s escape is born…

I have a special place in my heart for dystopian young adult books of the early 2000’s and 2010’s! It was such a magical era for dystopian books, and I don’t want to lose that magic so I added a lot of series to my TBR… including this one.

My thoughts on Incarceron are not very easy to explain but I’ll try my best! The execution of this book was not my favorite for two reasons: it’s difficult to visualize what the author is trying to transmit and the story is a bit slow paced. But with that said, I think the plot and concept behind this book is very original and different.

There were some moments in here that I had to reread a few times because I couldn’t visualize what was happening. And sometimes I just accepted I wasn’t going to understand and I moved on… so that was a down point for me.

The characters were a bit flat, but I still liked them, and there’s a small romance going on, but nothing too intense as well. The cool thing about this book is definitely the world building!I’m always a bit picky when it comes to science fiction books, but I’m glad I picked this up. It may be a little difficult to understand some parts, but I think the story is worth trying. To be completely honest, I got more interested in the story in the last third of the book, and now I’m very curious about the next book of the duology: Sapphique. I hope it’s even better than this one!

xoxo,

“I scooped the cat up and snuggled him against my chest for comfort. He was warm and soft, a smooth fluffy ball of fur in my arms. I’d cuddled up with the little guy countless times over the years without thinking much about it, but now, for the first time ever, it occurred to me that maybe this little act of comfort was what life was all about.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: chocolate, talking cats, hawaiian clothes, clocks, soft fur, photo albums, choices, walks and the devil.

The international phenomenon that has sold over a million copies in Japan, If Cats Disappeared from the World is a funny, heartwarming, and profound meditation on the meaning of life.

The postman’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat Cabbage to keep him company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can tackle his bucket list, the Devil appears to make him an offer: In exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, our narrator will get one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week…

With each object that disappears the postman reflects on the life he’s lived, his joys and regrets, and the people he’s loved and lost.

Genki Kawamura’s timeless tale is a moving story of loss and reconciliation, of one man’s journey to discover what really matters most in life.

This was my first time ever reading a book by a Japanese author (besides manga), and I absolutely loved it. This was exactly what I needed right now, a breath of fresh air.

If you don’t know what the book is about, it is a story about a man who just found out he has a tumor and has only a few months to live. Out of nowhere and dressed with vacation clothes, the Devil appears and tells the man that he can make him live a day longer for each thing he agrees to take from the world. Sounds interesting? I thought so too.

And yes, the title and premise may seem sad, but have no fear! What’s so great about this book is that it’s perfectly balanced: there are moments of deep reflection and heartbreak, but there is also a great dose of humour and lightness. Not only did I shed some tears, but I also laughed out loud in some of the chapters.

“If Cats Disappeared From the World” is about all the things we take for granted in our daily lives and what makes us human. Have you ever thought about how the concept of time (created by us humans) impacted our lives? What about cell phones? What if these things suddenly disappeared? But the thing is that not only big things like this impact our lives. What about a world without the taste of chocolate or the comfort we get from petting a cat?

The main character soon realizes what really makes life worth living and what connects us as humans. Life is too short! I loved this book and I highly recommend it. It’s a fairly short book, it’s wholesome and I’m sure it will leave an impact on you.

Side note: It was so funny how the first thing the devil wanted to take away from the world was chocolate, but then he tasted it and changed his mind. Can you blame him, honestly?

xoxo,