adult, ARC, blog tour, thriller

👭 Sister Dear BLOG TOUR 👭

👭 Title : Sister Dear
👭 Author : Hannah Mary McKinnon
👭 Publisher : MIRA
👭 Publish Date : May 26, 2020
👭 Genre : Mystery, Thriller
👭 Pages : 400

Thank you to MIRA for an invite to the blog tour!

In Hannah Mary McKinnon’s psychological thriller, SISTER DEAR (MIRA Trade; May 26, 2020; $17.99), the obsession of Single White Female meets the insidiousness of You, in a twisted fable about the ease of letting in those who wish us harm, and that mistake’s dire consequences.

The day he dies, Eleanor Hardwicke discovers her father – the only person who has ever loved her – is not her father. Instead, her biological father is a wealthy Portland businessman who wants nothing to do with her and to continue his life as if she doesn’t exist. That isn’t going to work for Eleanor.

Eleanor decides to settle the score. So, she befriends his daughter Victoria, her perfect, beautiful, carefree half-sister who has gotten all of life’s advantages while Eleanor has gotten none.

As she grows closer to Victoria, Eleanor’s obsession begins to deepen. Maybe she can have the life she wants, Victoria’s life, if only she can get close enough.

– MIRA

The premise of this book sounds SO GOOD! It starts off with secrets and they seem to get deeper and deeper! Can’t wait to dive into Sister Dear? Here’s an excerpt!

Chapter 1

The police didn’t believe me.

A jury wouldn’t have, either, if I’d gone on trial, and most definitely not the judge. My attorney had more than a few reservations about my story. Ms. Allerton hadn’t said as much. She didn’t need to. I saw it in her eyes, could tell by the way she shuffled and reshuffled her papers, as if doing so might shake my lies clean off the pages, leaving only the truth behind in her inky, royal blue swirls.

After our first meeting I’d concluded she must’ve known early on—before she shook my hand with her icy fingers—that I was a liar. Before she’d walked into the room in shiny, four-inch heels, she’d no doubt decided she’d heard my excuses, or a variation thereof, from countless clients already. I was yet another person claiming to be innocent. Another criminal who’d remained adamant they’d done nothing wrong, it wasn’t their fault, honest, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary, a wall of impending doom surrounding me.

And still, at the time I’d believed the only reason Ms. Allerton had taken on my case pro-bono was because of the amount of publicity it gave her firm. Reducing my sentence—for there would be one—would amplify her legacy as a hot-shot lawyer. I’d accepted her help. There was no other option. I needed her knowledge, her expertise, saw her as my final hope. I now know her motivations were something else I’d miscalculated. All hope extinguished. Game over.

If I’m being fair, the judgements Ms. Allerton and other people had made about me weren’t completely wrong. I had told lies, some, anyway. While that stripped away part of my claim to innocence, it didn’t mean I was entirely guilty. Not of the things everybody said I’d done. Things I’d had no choice but to confess to, despite that being my biggest lie of all.

But I’ll tell you the truth. The whole truth and nothing but. I’ll start at the beginning, and share everything that happened. Every last detail leading up to one fateful night. The night someone died because of me. The night I lost you, too.

I won’t expect your forgiveness. Our relationship—or lack thereof—will have gone way beyond that point. No. All I can hope for, is that my side of the story will one day help you understand why I did the things I did.

And why I have to do the things I’ve not yet done.


Excerpted from Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon, Copyright © 2020 by Hannah McKinnon. 
Published by MIRA Books

Do you need more Sister Dear right away? Click below to buy!
Harlequin | Barnes & Noble | Amazon
Books-A-Million | Powell’s

Hannah Mary McKinnon was born in the UK, grew up in Switzerland and moved to Canada in 2010. After a successful career in recruitment, she quit the corporate world in favor of writing, and is now the author of The Neighbors and Her Secret Son. She lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her husband and three sons, and is delighted by her twenty-second commute.

Have you read Sister Dear? Is it on your TBR? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

ARC, blog tour, contemporary, Erotica, fantasy, ya

⛱️ June TBR ⛱️

I could not bring myself to set up a tbr this month. I mean, I kind of have one? I have 21 books I want to read. I mean, I know I’ve been reading 12 a month, so that’s a little over half, but dang. I just can’t decide! Too many good things!

First let’s take a look at this month’s Words & Whimsy Reading Challenge!

I am so excited to be on the Autumn Court! We had a twist this month – it’s actually Seelie vs Unseelie! Unseelie FTW! Now, let’s get into these books I can’t wait to read.

There you have it. My super huge tbr. What do you think? Do we share any of the same books? What is your first book for June? Let me know in the comments below!
I’m starting with Seven Endless Forests!

Until next time…

adult, ARC, blog tour, contemporary, fantasy, mystery, New Adult, Romance, Sci-Fi, thriller, ya

🌞 May Wrap Up 🌞

Guys I am so proud of myself this month! For the first time ever, I finished all my arcs releasing this month! This is giving me a huge boost of motivation to keep it up!

I competed in both Words & Whimsy Reading Challenge and the Bookemon Readathon. I finished criteria in WWRC, which I’m always excited about. I ended up reading 12 books again this month! I also read a few books over 600 pages, which is kind of unheard of from me!

My favorite read this month was From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout. I couldn’t put it down. My least favorite was probably The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea. I just had a lot of trouble with the pacing and found myself getting bored.

Here’s what I ended up reading this month!

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞
Great conclusion to the series! It made me sob in the shower.

The Stone of Sorrow by Brook Carter
🌞🌞🌞
I still can’t get over this cover.

Sisters of the Perilous Heart by Sandra L Vasher
🌞🌞🌞
The virus in this book was SO interesting!

Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin
🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞
This was a second close to being my favorite read of the month!

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
🌞🌞.5
I wish I liked this one more than I did. I really wanted to.

This is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf
🌞🌞🌞🌞
My fave thriller of the month! It got CRAY!

Breath like Water by Anna Jarzab
🌞🌞🌞🌞
This book was so beautifully written. The descriptions were swoon-worthy.

Out Now by Saundra Mitchell
🌞🌞🌞🌞
Such a fun grouping of LGBT short stories!

The Dark In-Between by Elizabeth Hrib
🌞🌞🌞🌞.5
This is an AMAZING debut! I loved it!

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout
🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞
The only way to describe my fave read this month : 🔥🔥🔥

Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon
🌞🌞🌞
Blog tour excerpt coming June 2!

Four Days of You and Me by Miranda Kenneally
🌞🌞🌞🌞
Super cute, quick contemporary!

🌞 Stats 🌞

🌞 Goodreads Goal : 53/120. I am FOUR books AHEAD of schedule! WHAT?!
🌞 I read 12 books again, same as last month, but I read 5025 pages! Almost 1k more than last month. I had some chunkers! My average rating was also up from last month – 3.88!
🌞 Genre wise, I read six fantasies, two contemporaries, and two thrillers, and one each of scifi and anthology!
🌞 This was a very YA fantasy heavy month – 5 of them! In total I read 9 YAs, two adult and one new adult book.
🌞 And my ARCs! I am so proud to say I finished all eight May arcs! I have 10 next month. I think I can do it!

🌞 Yearly Goal Check In 🌞

🌞 Goal of 10 books a month : I passed this again with 12! I hope to keep up the momentum!
🌞 TBR Posts : I missed last Sunday! I’m still trying to figure out a system for blogging and working out and cooking all with a three year old. My husband helps, but let’s face it. My kid is a momma’s boy! I’ll get there eventually!
🌞 Words & Whimsy : I got to chat with a great MG author this month, Sarah Mlynowski! It was so much fun and she was so knowledgeable!
🌞 Words & Whimsy Reading Challenge : Team Gaia won the Broken Worlds edition! Next month is a theme everyone is sure to love – be sure to check it out!
🌞 Mithah Reads : This poor little blog. I have so much to catch up on! I’m going to make more of an effort this month, I pinky promise!

What did your May reading month look like? What was your favorite read? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

Anthology, ARC, blog tour, Four Star Book, LGBT, ya

🌈 Out Now Blog Tour 🌈

🌈 Title : Out Now
🌈 Author : Saundra Mitchell
🌈 Publisher : Inkyard Press
🌈 Publish Date : May 26, 2020
🌈 Genre : LGBT, Anthology
🌈 Book Form : E-ARC
🌈 Pages : 416
🌈 Dates Read : May 17 – May 19
🌈 Rating : 🌈🌈🌈🌈

Thank you to Inkyard Press for an invite to this blog tour and a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

A follow-up to the critically acclaimed All Out anthology, Out Now features seventeen new short stories from amazing queer YA authors. Vampires crash prom…aliens run from the government…a president’s daughter comes into her own…a true romantic tries to soften the heart of a cynical social media influencer…a selkie and the sea call out to a lost soul. Teapots and barbershops…skateboards and VW vans…Street Fighter and Ares’s sword: Out Now has a story for every reader and surprises with each turn of the page!

This essential and beautifully written modern-day collection features an intersectional and inclusive slate of authors and stories.

– Inkyard Press

Before I get into these stories, I just want to say you do not need to read All Out in order to enjoy this! These are all short stories spotlighting various LGBT characters and are all amazing in their own right! There were 16 short stories in this anthology. They explored so many sexualities.

My favorite story was a tie between What Happens in the Closet and The Coronation. What Happens in the Closet is about vampires who crash a homecoming dance. Austin gets locked in a closet with his arch-nemesis while hiding from them. They are not the sexy vampires we know and love. Of course, while in the closet, they find love.
The Coronation is about a trans boy and girl who are being given to the Gods but they decide to fight back. This read very much like a fantasy that picked up right when the action started. Once it ended I was yearning for a whole book!

There weren’t any bad stories in this book. There were some that featured gods and goddesses, some that read like ya contemporary love stories, and fantasies. There is something for everyone in this book! It was 416 pages long, but didn’t feel like it. I flew through it!

I recommend this to anyone who is LGBT, loves their stories, is an ally, or who wants to learn more about different sexualities. You will be sure to find a story you love.

Can’t wait to get your hands on Out Now? Order it here!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indie Bound
Books-A-Million | Apple Books | Google Play

Saundra Mitchell has been a phone psychic, a car salesperson, a denture deliverer and a layout waxer. She’s dodged trains, endured basic training and hitchhiked from Montana to California. She teaches herself languages, raises children and makes paper for fun. She is the author of Shadowed Summer and The Vespertine series, the upcoming novelization of The Prom musical, and the editor of Defy the Dark. She always picks truth; dare is too easy. Visit her online at www.saundramitchell.com.

Until next time…

ARC, blog tour, contemporary, Four Star Book, Romance, ya

🏊‍♀️ Breath Like Water BLOG TOUR 🏊‍♀️

🏊‍♀️ Title : Breath Like Water
🏊‍♀️ Author : Anna Jarzab
🏊‍♀️ Publisher : Inkyard Press
🏊‍♀️ Publish Date : May 19, 2020
🏊‍♀️ Genre : YA, Contemporary, Romance
🏊‍♀️ Book Form : E-ARC
🏊‍♀️ Pages : 416
🏊‍♀️ Dates Read : May 16 –
🏊‍♀️ Rating : 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♀️🏊‍♀️🏊‍♀️.5

Thank you to Inkyard Press for an invite to the blog tour and a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This beautifully lyrical contemporary novel features an elite teen swimmer with Olympic dreams, plagued by injury and startled by unexpected romance, who struggles to balance training with family and having a life. For fans of Sarah Dessen, Julie Murphy and Miranda Kenneally.

Susannah Ramos has always loved the water. A swimmer whose early talent made her a world champion, Susannah was poised for greatness in a sport that demands so much of its young. But an inexplicable slowdown has put her Olympic dream in jeopardy, and Susannah is fighting to keep her career afloat when two important people enter her life: a new coach with a revolutionary training strategy, and a charming fellow swimmer named Harry Matthews.

As Susannah begins her long and painful climb back to the top, her friendship with Harry blossoms into passionate and supportive love. But Harry is facing challenges of his own, and even as their bond draws them closer together, other forces work to tear them apart. As she struggles to balance her needs with those of the people who matter most to her, Susannah will learn the cost–and the beauty–of trying to achieve something extraordinary.

This book so was so beautiful. It was lyrical, it was descriptive, it was heartbreaking and joyous. And it was so so real.

First let me get out these trigger warnings. I don’t do them often, and nothing is super graphic, but I do want to mention the book contains struggling with mental health and self harm.

Okay, so. Susannah is a world champion swimmer. The summer after she won, she hit a growth spurt, and hasn’t been the same since. Dave has always been her coach. He’s an Olympian, so he knows what it takes to get there. This year, he hires a new coach, Beth. Susannah swears she won’t swim for her, but after finally having enough of Dave’s abusive behavior, she swims for Beth and gets better. But does she have what it takes to make the Olympics?

Along with swimming, this book mainly features Susannah’s relationship with Harry, another boy on the swim team. It is her first love. I love books about first love. The feelings are all new and exciting, and you’re just fumbling around, and it’s just great. Their relationship turned out to be so much deeper than I expected. It’s nice to see a deep, meaningful relationship between high schoolers.

Breath Like Water also showed some strong family bonds. The relationship with Susannah’s parents and sister was a huge part of the book and I loved it. I feel like I don’t get a lot of that in ya contemporaries, so it’s always a nice surprise when I do.

If you love ya contemporaries, with strong familial bonds and a backdrop of sports, this book is for you!

Want to read Breath Like Water right now? Buy it here!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indie Bound
Google Play | Apple Books

Anna Jarzab is a Midwesterner turned New Yorker. She lives and works in New York City and is the author of such books as Red Dirt, All Unquiet Things, The Opposite of Hallelujah, and the Many-Worlds series. Visit her online at annajarzab.com and on Twitter, @ajarzab.

Are you planning on reading Breath Like Water? Have you already read it? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

adult, ARC, blog tour, Four Star Book, mystery, review, thriller

🤐 This Is How I Lied BLOG TOUR 🤐

🤐 Title : This Is How I Lied
🤐 Author : Heather Gudenkauf
🤐 Publisher : Park Row Books
🤐 Publish Date : May 12, 2020
🤐 Genre : Mystery/Thriller
🤐 Book Form : E-ARC
🤐 Pages : 336
🤐 Dates Read : May 14 – May 16
🤐 Rating : 🤐🤐🤐🤐

Thank you to Park Row books for an invite to this blog tour and a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

With the eccentricity of Fargo and the intensity of Sadie, THIS IS HOW I LIED by Heather Gudenkauf (Park Row Books; May 12, 2020; $17.99) is a timely and gripping thriller about careless violence we can inflict on those we love, and the lengths we will go to make it right, even 25 years later.

Tough as nails and seven months pregnant, Detective Maggie Kennedy-O’Keefe of Grotto PD, is dreading going on desk duty before having the baby her and her husband so badly want. But when new evidence is found in the 25-year-old cold case of her best friend’s murder that requires the work of a desk jockey, Maggie jumps at the opportunity to be the one who finally puts Eve Knox’s case to rest.

Maggie has her work cut out for her. Everyone close to Eve is a suspect. There’s Nola, Eve’s little sister who’s always been a little… off; Nick, Eve’s ex-boyfriend with a vicious temper; a Schwinn riding drifter who blew in and out of Grotto; even Maggie’s husband Sean, who may have known more about Eve’s last day than he’s letting on. As Maggie continues to investigate, the case comes closer and closer to home, forcing her to confront her own demons before she can find justice for Eve.

Guys. I could NOT put this book down! This is one of the ones I was trying to sneakily read at work. It was so twisty. I had to know what was happening next! This was a Grade A thriller!

Maggie is a detective following in her dad’s footsteps. She’s 7 months pregnant and about to tell her boss she wants desk duty until the baby comes. She goes in for a meeting and is surprised to find out they are opening up a cold case from 25 years ago – the murder of her BEST FRIEND!

This story is told in a dual timeline – what is happening now and what happened that fateful day 25 years ago. I loved reading Eve’s POV. It was so interesting to know what happened to the victim and what evens lead to her murder.

Literally everyone in this book is suspect. Maggie, her husband, Eve’s sister, Eve’s boyfriend, the neighbors. I even suspected Maggie’s dad at one point! You can trust no one in this story.

I flew through this book. I had to know who really killed Eve. I remember texting my friend saying “I’m at 89% and I cannot believe anything that is happening!” I was so surprised at the whole ending. The last 10% had me on the edge of my seat!

I fully, 100% recommend this book to any thriller lover. You will not be disappointed!

Heather Gudenkauf is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many books, including The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden. Heather graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education, has spent her career working with students of all ages. She lives in Iowa with her husband, three children, and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Lolo. In her free time, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and running.

Can’t wait to get your hands on This Is How I Lied? Buy it here!
Harlequin | Barnes & Noble | Amazon
Books-A-Million | Powell’s

Is This Is How I Lied on your tbr? Have you read it? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

ARC, blog tour, book meme, book tag, contemporary, LGBT, ya

#5OnMyTBR

So excited to take part in another week of #5OnMyTBR! Here’s how it works:

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @Local Bee Hunter’s Nook  and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.

This week is one of my favorite genres – contemporary!

Four Days of You and Me by Miranda Kenneally
Release Date: May 5, 2020

This is on my TBR this month and I’m so excited to get to it! This follows a couple on the same day over 4 years time. I can’t wait to see how they grow together during their highschool years!

Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab
Release Date: May 19, 2020

This is another on my TBR this month. I was fortunate to be invited to this novel’s blog tour!

The Mall by Megan McCafferty
Release Date: July 28, 2020

When I saw the cover, I knew I had to have this book! Plus it’s set in the 1990’s, which honestly, was an amazing time.

Yes No Maybe So by Becy Albertalli and Aisha Saeed
Release Date: February 4, 2020

Ugh, I really need to fit this book in my TBR! It’s so timely with election year this year.

Meet Cute Club by Jack Harbon
Release Date: May 5, 2020

This sounds adorable and I need it now!

What contemporaries are on your TBR? Do we have any of the same ones? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

ARC, blog tour, contemporary, dystopian, fantasy, ya

🌞 May TBR 🌞

Okay, I went REALLY ambitious with this months TBR! I am participating in Words & Whimsy Reading Challenge again, along with Bookemon! I just learned about Bookemon Readathon and I am so excited. I love Pokemon and reading, so putting them together is heaven for me!

First let’s start off with Words & Whimsy. Our theme is space – Broken Worlds! Here’s our criteria, Instagram challenge, and mini game!

Now, let’s get into this TBR.

Now for Bookemon! The bookemon I choose as my sidekick is Paperchu! Since he is electric, I get 100 combat points for every hour I read electronically. Since I read exclusively on kindle, I thought he was perfect for me!

All of my books can fit somewhere into the bookemon criteria, but there are a few I have added to complete additional challenges.

So as you can see, I have 16 books on my TBR. That’s a lot for me, but I’m hoping to get through as many as I can!

What’s on your TBR for May? Do we share any books? Are you participating in Bookemon or Words & Whimsy Reading Challenge? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

ARC, blog tour, contemporary, fantasy, Five Star Book, ya

🌦️ April Wrap Up 🌦️

Well, now that I’ve adjusted to the new normal, I’ll be going back to work full time next week! I’m sure this will put a damper on my reading, and I have a HUGE TBR for May. I just could not decide!

April has been my best reading month with 12 books. I’m hoping to keep up and may up the count next month! I’m shooting for 10 a month, and anything over is great!

My favorite book this month was probably Girls with Razor Hearts by Suzanne Young. Crave by Tracy Wolff was a very close second! My least favorite book was Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend by Alan Cumyn. I mean, I knew it was bad going into it, but I had to see what all of the fuss was about. Believe me. I saw.

I had a much better reading month in April. My ratings were a lot higher than March, which I was happy about. I read a lot of great books this month!

  1. Girls with Razor Hearts by Suzanne Young 🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️
  2. We Didn’t Ask for This by Adi Alsaid 🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️
  3. Ghosted in LA by Sina Grace 🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️
  4. Crave by Tracy Wolff 🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️
  5. Open Fire by Amber Lough 🌦️🌦️🌦️
  6. Deny Me by Karen Cole 🌦️🌦️🌦️
  7. Red Hood by Elana K Arnold 🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️.5
  8. The Burning by Laura Bates 🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️
  9. Shredded by Tracy Wolff 🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️
  10. Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend by Alan Cumyn 🌦️
  11. What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter 🌦️🌦️🌦️🌦️
  12. Jane’s Team by Janie Marie 🌦️🌦️🌦️

🌦️ Stats 🌦️

  • Goodreads Goal: 41/120. I am two books AHEAD OF SCHEDULE! WHAT?! This is the first time all year I’ve been ahead of schedule and I am so excited!
  • I read 4427 pages, which is the most all year! I feel really great about this month. I am so proud of myself! My average rating was 3.71, which is also better than last month!
  • For genres, I read three contemporary and fantasy, two romance, one sci fi, thriller, and historical fiction and graphic novel.
  • This was a YA heavy month, with 10 YA books, one new adult and adult.
  • I read 9 ARCs this month – two more than last month! My tbr for May is very ARC heavy, so I’m hoping to keep making a dent in this pile I have! I am so very grateful and honored to have such an ARC heavy TBR pile!

🌦️ Yearly Goals Check In 🌦️

  • Goal of 10 books a month : I exceeded this goal with 12! It feels so good! Hoping to exceed it next month too.
  • TBR Posts : Still doing a post every Sunday, still only read 4 from it, haha. I am doing good slimming it down though! Under 1800!
  • Words & Whimsy : I had the pleasure of talking to Tracy Wolff this month! It was a blast! She is so sweet and down to earth. We have 7 chats (I think?) scheduled for May. I can’t wait to see who I’ll get to talk to! We have some big names this month – Christopher Paolini and then a joint chat with Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman! You don’t want to miss it! Join us here!
  • Words & Whimsy Reading Challenge : Our first month was a hit! May’s theme is Broken Worlds – aka space! We have open, interpretive criteria and fun group chats! Join here!
  • Mithah Reads : This month was hard blog wise. I’ve been working part time basically, but my three year old is NOT wanting to let me blog! And honestly, he wears me out so I’m going to bed a lot earlier! Hopefully once I’m back working full time in May I can get back into my blogging routine! I’ve got three blog tours next month and reviews from April to catch up on!
  • I’m still keeping up with my three blogging spreadsheets which I am very excited about. I love seeing all the data they track!

How many books did you read in April? What was your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

ARC, blog tour, contemporary, Four Star Book, LGBT, ya

We Didn’t Ask for This BLOG TOUR

HUGE THANKS to Harlequin for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour!

🗝️ Title: We Didn’t Ask for This
🗝️ Author: Adi Alsaid
🗝️ Publisher: Inkyard Press
🗝️ Publish Date: April 7, 2020
🗝️ Book Form: E-ARC
🗝️ Pages: 352
🗝️ Genre: YA, Contemporary, LGBT
🗝️ Dates Read: Mar 30 – Apr 4
🗝️ Rating: 🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️

Thank you to Inkyard Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From Adi Alsaid, the acclaimed author of Let’s Get LostNever Sometimes Always, and North of Happy

Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world.

Central International School’s annual lock-in is legendary — and for six students, this year’s lock-in is the answer to their dreams. The chance to finally win the contest. Kiss the guy. Make a friend. Become the star of a story that will be passed down from student to student for years to come.

But then a group of students, led by Marisa Cuevas, stage an eco-protest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met. While some students rally to the cause, others are devastated as they watch their plans fall apart. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide just how far she’ll go to attain them.

– Inkyard Press

FIRST OFF! I want to share this awesome preorder incentive that goes along with the book’s theme of being environmentally friendly!

Preorder ends tonight at 11:59pm so be sure to preorder now!! Here are the links:

| Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound |

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into We Didn’t Ask for This. I was very pleasantly surprised. I read my first Adi book last month. After reading this, I know I need to read all of his works!

This story is told from one all-knowing POV, but has a huge cast of characters. Thankfully, they are all introduced slowly and with a great background, so I had no trouble keeping up with who was who. I loved the one POV. It gave you little hints or glimpses of what was to come after all of this was over. That really elevated the story for me.

These students go to a private school who has a lock in for high schoolers once a year. This year, Marisa decides to stage a protest during the lock in. She is an avid snorkler and diver, and hates seeing the coral reefs slowly dying off. The kids are stuck in the school for a whole week. Four of them are chained to doors.

Marisa has a list of 30 demands she wants met before she lets everyone out. All the kids have connections – parents are celebrities or ambassadors or huge sports stars. She is banking on one of them being linked to the Lokoloko resort – the main place she wants shut down.

We Didn’t Ask for This isn’t just about Marisa though. Like I said, there is a huge cast of characters – 10 or more. You see them form bonds, friendships, and relationships during tough times. That gives you hope these relationships will last well beyond when this is over. All of the characters had very distinctive voices and actions. This helped to tell them apart. I want to applaud Adi because I think it’s very hard to one, have that many characters in a novel, and two, have them all have distinct voices! He did it so well!

This was a quick read. I know my dates read doesn’t reflect that, but yall, my kid refused to let me read this week. The 30 mintues to an hour a day I got to read I read about 10%-20%. The pace was great and it kept me hooked! I had to see how they were going to get out and what demands ended up being met!

I highly recommend if you are a fan of YA contemporary or Adi. I’m definitely going back to read the rest of his works!

Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City. He attended college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He’s now back in Mexico City, where he writes, coaches basketball, and makes every dish he eats as spicy as possible. In addition to Mexico, he’s lived in Tel Aviv, Las Vegas and Monterey, California. His books include Let’s Get Lost, Never Always Sometimes, and North of Happy. Visit Adi online at http://www.SomewhereOverTheSun.com, or on Twitter: @AdiAlsaid.

Is We Didn’t Ask for This on your tbr? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…