This is the book series that reignited by love of reading. It also got me into YA – which is now my favorite genre!
I am SO HYPE for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes releasing on May 19, 2020. So I’ll probably read this series in April/May to then be able to read Ballad!
I started this series years ago. I think I got through book 4? But today by friend Jordan made a post in Words & Whimsy about how she finished and loved it. So now it’s back on top of the TBR!
Plus, I loved ACOTAR (because who didn’t?!) so I feel like I’ll like her other words too! I loved the first few books of ToG I read.
I unexpectedly got an ARC of book 2, Kingsbane, last year. And I won’t lie, that book it thiccccc. Like, it’s intimidating! But these books sound like something I love, so they are a priority this year! I already have Furyborn on Kindle, so no need to wait!
Plus, book 3 – Lightbringer – is expected to release October 13, 2020!
I love Marie Lu. I loved the Warcross series. That spoke to me as a female gamer. I loved Legend. I remember after a bad 3 day stretch on the floor nursing, I stayed in bed day 4 and devoured Legend. I didn’t get up to eat or anything.
Why have I waited so long to read The Young Elites?! I love Marie and everything she’s done, so I know this is a no brainer.
Have you read these series? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below! I’d love to discuss!
This is a Sci-Fi Peter Pan retelling. My friend Sarah raved about it! I had a little trouble getting into it, but sci-fi isn’t really my thing. It’s picking up though!
Finished the audio yesterday. I have become obsessed with the Golden State Killer, so I loved getting to see how the FBI profiled him and how they used genetics and ancestry to find him!
Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.
Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.
Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.
At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…
And she isn’t going down without a fight.
– Goodreads
Omg yall. This book. It’s my first 5 star read of the year and so deserving of every single star it gets. Don’t Read the Comments is a great look at the sexist nature of the video gaming community. That just because you are a female, you automatically aren’t as good as a male. Like, honestly. What do genitals have to do with gaming skill? NOTHING.
I’ve been gaming since I was 15. I started with Halo online, then went to World of Warcraft. I’ve tried various other MMO’s, FPS’s, everything. And no matter how good I am, if I speak, I’m either just trying to find a boyfriend or I’m a boy who hasn’t hit puberty yet. It’s so annoying, so I felt what D1V did. I knew how it was – people saying nasty things about you because they think you don’t belong. It was so nice to have that rep. To have a strong, GOOD female gamer, who didn’t let them see her break. She was so brave and so strong. Even when she got doxxed. If you don’t know about doxxing, check this out. It happened to a lot of females in the gaming/geek world and it it SO.SCARY.
Okay, now you see why the books means so much to me. I imagine it will mean a lot to the female gaming community who are also readers. Let’s get into this book review, shall we?
I first featured this book on my First Impressions Friday post. I read the first chapter and was immediately hooked. I was so interested in Divya, or D1V as she is known online. I immediately felt a kinship with her and her best friend, Rebekah. They were part of the streaming community, which is something I so desperately wanted to do back in the day.
In the next chapter you meet Aaron, a casual gamer who also plays Reclaim the Sun. The descriptions of the game make it sound like No Man’s Sky. Which I immediately had to play. I’ve logged three hours since finishing the book. Anyway…
A doxxing group attacks D1V and her armada of followers. She has to start over in game. She happens to meet Aaron when grinding to level back up. They end up playing together a lot, growing a friendship, then something more.
The romance was definitely in the background of this book. The main focus was D1V and Rebekah and how they have been attacked over and over. Both physically, verbally, and mentally. I think a lot of people don’t understand what it’s like to be in their position until they’ve been there. No, I’ve never been physically attacked, but I have been verbally and mentally.
There were so many great references in this book. All kinds of games, gamer news sites, and pop culture. I think I highlighted about 10 of them! It was so fun to read! The dual POV was so fun, too. I loved getting both sides of the friendship and romance.
I feel like I just rambled at the beginning of this, but this book is so important to me. I was so fortunate to get an ARC. I would recommend this to anyone in the gaming community or who loves geeky things!
There’s also an amazing pre-order incentive going on! Check it out here!
I cannot believe it is the last day of the year! What?! This year has flown by. I’m noticing the years are going faster since I joined book battle and since having Mylzs!
Here I am going to tell you my top reads of 2019. There were some great ones!
Ninth House was my top read of the year! Yes, Leigh is my most favorite, but man this book was good. It was dark, it was creepy, there was romance. Let me tell ya, I’m ready to go to Hell! In book 2, that is.
So Verity was my first CoHo book and honestly, I’m not sure I want to read her others! I know this wasn’t her normal genre, but it was SO.GOOD. I was thinking about the ending for weeks after.
Girl power seemed to be a theme with me this year. I think because I have found some amazing friends in Words & Whimsy! This was another powerful tale of what happens when girls stick together.
Last but certainly not least, is Over the Top. I love JVN. He’s a self care QUEEN. I loved learning from him and learning about him. Still hoping he’ll be my bff one day.
Well guys, there’s my top 5! What were your top 5 reads this year? Did you like any of these? Let me know in the comments below! I would love to discuss!
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.
A speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power. Optioned by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be a major motion picture!
SURVIVE THE YEAR.
No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.
In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.
Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.
With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.
– Goodreads
Oh man. This book. Top 5 reads of 2019 for sure. It blew me away with all the emotions and feels and I just loved it. I have recommended it to everyone.
The Grace Year was a beautiful, tragic and desperate tale of female empowerment and fighting back when you know the way you are living is wrong.
Each year when girls turn 16, they are released in the wild to let out their ‘magic’. They only have each other and have to find a way to live this long, long year. The girls’ magic makes men do terrible things – or so they say. Not all the girls will make it home alive, and those that do are forever changed.
This is a story about sticking together, building women up, and the knowledge that female friendships are the strongest bonds. The girls went through a lot during their Grace Year. They were tricked, manipulated, turned against one another. No one expected them to turn toward each other. Bit by bit they try to change the way of life and make it better for their future girls.
There was romance involved, but it was really the backdrop. The story had twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. The ending had twist after twist after twist. It was wrapped up in a beautifully tragic way.
There is no happy ending here, however, there is hope that there might one day be.
I recommend every girl and woman read this. It really rings true in times like these.
This book wasn’t what I thought it would be. I keep reading dark romance, hoping it’ll be like Verity. None of them have been yet. Have recs? Let me know!
This is one of our club reads over at Book Battle, and it got voted in as the discussion book of the month! I’ll be diving in and discussing starting today! Come join us here!
I’ve been wanting to read this for a while. It’s a club read this month over at Book Battle so it was the perfect chance! Not what I was expecting, but still good. Should finish tomorrow!
I’m also listening to the audio. I love books read by the celebrity authors!
Honestly, I looked at kindle unlimited’s Christmas selection and saw this was a dark romance. I was thinking Verity-esque, but it’s not really. I’m a little over halfway done and still unsure about how I feel.
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.
– Goodreads
Queen Leigh has done it again. She’s completely engrossed me in a world in which I wish I lived.
What I liked:
Only everything. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Leigh Bardugo is an exceptional storyteller. She pulls you into her stories so quickly and easily. You just become immersed in this world that you want to be a part of. Her characters are all so diverse, interesting, and morally gray – which makes them oh so real.
What if there was an underground world of secret societies at Yale that really does control, well, everything? They use magic to do it. And what happens when the balance gets out of wack? People die. And that’s where Lethe, the Ninth House, comes in. They investigate crimes the most powerful eight houses commit and try to right their wrongs.
Alex knew the girl was murdered. When she was written off, that only made her want to find the truth more. I loved the investigative parts of this story. I’m a huge crime junkie so this was mixing two of my favorite things into one.
I loved the magic. There were different ways to use the different types of magic, and no one mastered them all. It was distinctly different from Shadow and Bone, which I appreciated. And like all good magic stories, you can’t just use the magic. Something has to be taken to use it. I loved the ghost element of it as well. That only certain people could see ghosts, and even fewer could talk to them.
What I didn’t like:
I guess I’ll just put this here. There were a lot of trigger warnings for this book. In my opinion, they were blown way out of proportion. I know different people will see this differently, but it wasn’t too bad for me. Also – this is an ADULT book! Please do not confuse with her YA series. It’s adult and oh so good!
Would I recommend?
Is the world round? Is the sky blue? Yes, of COURSE I would recommend! I already have! Seriously, this is a perfect Halloween book and everyone needs to read it. Leigh did an amazing job with her adult debut. I can’t wait to go to Hell in book #2!
Who gave Jonathan Van Ness permission to be the radiant human he is today? No one, honey.
The truth is, it hasn’t always been gorgeous for this beacon of positivity and joy.
Before he stole our hearts as the grooming and self-care expert on Netflix’s hit show Queer Eye, Jonathan was growing up in a small Midwestern town that didn’t understand why he was so…over the top. From choreographed carpet figure skating routines to the unavoidable fact that he was Just. So. Gay., Jonathan was an easy target and endured years of judgement, ridicule and trauma—yet none of it crushed his uniquely effervescent spirit.
Over the Top uncovers the pain and passion it took to end up becoming the model of self-love and acceptance that Jonathan is today. In this revelatory, raw, and rambunctious memoir, Jonathan shares never-before-told secrets and reveals sides of himself that the public has never seen. JVN fans may think they know the man behind the stiletto heels, the crop tops, and the iconic sayings, but there’s much more to him than meets the Queer Eye.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll come away knowing that no matter how broken or lost you may be, you’re a Kelly Clarkson song, you’re strong, and you’ve got this.
– Goodreads
Yall. I cannot tell you how excited I was for this book.
O.M.G. JVN. He’s just everything. I love him with every ounce of my being.
But man, has he been through some struggles. I won’t divulge what’s in the book, but I just wanted to cry for him. He’s been thrown so many curveballs and faced so many challenges, but he pulled through and became such a beautiful soul who is helping so many other people.
I think Chapter 1 is what hit me the hardest. I know. I was crying at work. Jonathan talks about wondering if people would love all his parts after the book. Everyone sees the bubbly, happy, loving JVN. That’s who people want to see. But what about when he’s had a bad day, running late, not feeling well? People still expect to see the Jonathan they see on Queer Eye. He talks about loving all of his parts. That hit home. There are so many parts of me that I struggle with, so knowing I’m not alone in that really moved me. I mean, of course everyone has struggles, it’s just not pushed in your face. Everyone wants to show the perfect Instagram part of their lives, not what’s really under the surface. Over the Top made me want to come to terms with those not so pretty parts of me, learn to embrace them, and show them.
Jonathan was really thrown some shit in life. I can’t image how he got through it being the person he is today. I honestly don’t think I could have. This just makes me love him so much more.
Also, I totally recommend the audio because who doesn’t want to listen to Jonathan tell them his life story for 5 hours? It was so ah-ma-zing!
What I didn’t like:
Uhm, nothing! This novel made me laugh and cry. Perfection.
Would I recommend?
Oh 1000%. If you need a pick me up, read this. If you’ve faced struggles and want to know you aren’t alone, read this. If you need to learn how to get more involved with your self-care, read this. If you just love Queer Eye, read it!
Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this funny, action-packed novel about a coven of witchy babysitters who realize their calling to protect the innocent and save the world from an onslaught of evil.
Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it’s kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she’s good at it.
And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let’s just say she owes some people a new tree.
Enter Cassandra Heaven. She’s Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria food. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even take on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme’s babysitters club?
The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra’s mother left her: “Find the babysitters. Love, Mom.”
Turns out, Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they’re about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home.
– GOodreads
Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was so excited to get an arc of this book, and man. It did not disappoint!
This was such a fast, intriguing debut novel. Esme and her bff, Janis, are fashion queens. I loved the descriptions of their outfits and the names for them. They’re just trying to get through high school then make their way out of their small town. Then something crazy happens. Esme learns she has telekenesis and things.get.cray. I was a babysitter when I was younger, so I loved that so much of the book revolved around that. I loved the magic and spells. Cassandra was iffy at times, but in the end I really liked her! The friendship between Janis and Esme reminded me of me and my highschool friends. We still talk to this day, and I feel like that’s the relation ship they have!
What I didn’t like:
Like I said, Cassandra, a fellow witch, was annoying at times but in the end turned out great!
Would I recommend?
Yes, yes, yes! This is a perfect fall/Halloween book! Curl up with it, a PSL, and a nice blanket and you’re in for a good time! This was a super fast read that kept me intrigued the whole way through. I can’t wait to see what happens to our Sitters in book 2! (Coming fall 2020. SO FAR AWAY!)
Mithah Reads 