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!
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!
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.
🌞 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!
🌈 Title : Out Now 🌈 Author : Saundra Mitchell 🌈 Publisher : Inkyard Press 🌈 PublishDate : 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.
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.
Thank you to Netgalley and Mortal Ink Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What would you do to save a sister?
As the last mortal kingdom of Kepler resists the Immortal Empire, its young queen faces a devastating attack. Queen Vivian is two minutes into her reign when an arrow pierces her heart and infects her with the Immortality Virus. But she has too much magic to become immortal and not enough to survive. She must find more magic fast, or she’ll die.
Meanwhile, another young mortal faces an uncertain future of her own. Carina is fleeing for her life, but her magic is a tracking beam for immortals. She must learn to harness and control it, or she’ll be captured and killed. Then she meets the queen of South Kepler.
Vivian needs Carina’s magic, and she can offer safe haven in exchange. But can Vivian trust this common girl? Carina isn’t on the kingdom’s registry of magicians. What if she’s a Northern rebel? A spy for the Immortal Empire? And will the truth be revealed in time to save them both?
– Goodreads
I just feel kind of meh about this book and I hate that. I haven’t read a lot of fantasy lately, but this month has kind of fell flat for me.
Humans have escaped to the planet Kepler to escape those with the Immortality Virus – which is a mixture of influenza and AIDs. (This I thought was super interesting). Immortals are here though – and they’re fighting to take over the planet. This isn’t a cute immortality virus like vampires normally have. This makes you go crazy and lose empathy.
Queen Vivian has just been crowned. And less than an hour later, someone tries to take her life. She is infected with the immortality virus, so she and her two brothers go off in search for a cure. Carina has been hidden at a convent for most of her life with her sister. She has magic, but isn’t allowed to practice. Someone figured out where she is, so they are trying to capture her to put her powers to their use. Paths cross. Stuff happens.
I don’t remember much of this book. I’m thinking back on reading it, and I can’t really remember anything? There was a romance, but it’s not jumping out at me. I think the last 15% or so picked up. It was enough to make me want to read book two, but not like RIGHT NOW.
I know this review has like, nothing really but a synopsis, but I swear to you guys. Nothing is sticking out about this book. I’m so sorry!
I would say give this a try if you like fantasy/sci-fi. It wasn’t bad by any means.
Have you read Sisters of the Perilous Heart? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
🏊♀️ Title : Breath Like Water 🏊♀️ Author : Anna Jarzab 🏊♀️ Publisher : Inkyard Press 🏊♀️ Publish Date : May 19, 2020 🏊♀️ Genre : YA, Contemporary, Romance 🏊♀️ BookForm : 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!
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!
💎 Title : The Stone of Sorrow 💎 Author : Brooke Carter 💎 Publisher : Orca Book Publishers 💎 Publish Date : April 7, 2020 💎 Genre : Fantasy, YA, LGBT 💎 Book Form : E-ARC 💎 Pages : 304 💎 Dates Read : May 2 – May 4 💎 Rating : 💎💎💎.5
Thank you to Netgalley and Orca Book Publishers for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
In a land of myth and ice, seventeen-year-old Runa Unnursdóttir is not the runecaster her clan has been hoping for. She spends her days daydreaming of sailing away and exploring the world instead of studying the runes and learning her spells. The villagers consider her odd, in looks and in manner. She’s nothing like her talented sister, Sýr, keeper of the sacred moonstone that ensures the village’s continued survival. But when a rival clan led by an evil witch raids the village and kidnaps her sister, Runa is forced to act. With a fallen Valkyrie by her side, and the help of a gorgeous half-elf Runa is not quite sure she can trust, the apprentice must travel to the site of an ancient runecasting competition to try to win back the magical gem. But the journey will not be easy; the three unlikely companions encounter malevolent and supernatural creatures at every turn. Somehow, Runa must summon the courage and strength to face her destiny, a destiny she never wanted. Or die trying.
– Goodreads
Okay, first. This cover! It is gorgeousssss. I love the pop of blue on her cloak and her white hair. I think I requested this off the cover alone.
This book had a lot of positives for me. It’s based on Icelandic mythology – which I know nothing about. It was so interesting to read a book based off this and I learned a lot! It made me want to research more Icelandic myths. Next was all the rep! There is a female-female relationship, along with an asexual character that uses they/them pronouns. I believe this is the first book I’ve read with an asexual character, too!
This was a pretty quick read for me. The story was fast paced and compelling. I did see some of the twists coming, but not all! I liked the magic system. It was well explained and thought out. The ending twist I didn’t see coming and I loved it!
There was a romance – a small one. I didn’t like the guy though. His personality reminded me of a wet noodle. I think she should have gone for the sexy Elf instead! There wasn’t much of the elf, but I’m hoping to see him again in future novels!
Runa, the MC, was interesting. She started out so unsure of herself and insecure, but grew along with the story. I really enjoyed her character arc and can’t wait to see what happens in the next novels!
The reason I gave 3.5 stars was because the story slowed down at points and it became hard to push through. Most of it was action-packed and interesting, though. The ending also kind of dragged to me.
I definitely recommend if you are a fan of fantasy, mythology, with a little bit of romance.
Have you read The Stone of Sorrow? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
💕 Title : What I Like About You 💕 Author : Marisa Kanter 💕 Publisher : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 💕 Publish Date : April 7, 2020 💕 Genre : Contemporary, Romance, YA 💕 Book Form : E-ARC 💕 Pages : 416 💕 Dates Read : Apr 26 – Apr 27 💕 Rating : 💕💕💕💕
💕 Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 💕
Can a love triangle have only two people in it? Online, it can… but in the real world, it’s more complicated. In this debut novel Marisa Kanter explores what happens when internet friends turn into IRL crushes.
There are a million things that Halle Levitt likes about her online best friend, Nash.
He’s an incredibly talented graphic novelist. He loves books almost as much as she does. And she never has to deal with the awkwardness of seeing him in real life. They can talk about anything…
Except who she really is.
Because online, Halle isn’t Halle—she’s Kels, the enigmatically cool creator of One True Pastry, a YA book blog that pairs epic custom cupcakes with covers and reviews. Kels has everything Halle doesn’t: friends, a growing platform, tons of confidence, and Nash.
That is, until Halle arrives to spend senior year in Gramps’s small town and finds herself face-to-face with real, human, not-behind-a-screen Nash. Nash, who is somehow everywhere she goes—in her classes, at the bakery, even at synagogue.
Nash who has no idea she’s actually Kels.
If Halle tells him who she is, it will ruin the non-awkward magic of their digital friendship. Not telling him though, means it can never be anything more. Because while she starts to fall for Nash as Halle…he’s in love with Kels.
– Goodreads
Oh, I love books that mesh online worlds and the real world. Halle has an altar ego – Kels. Kels is super cool on twitter and the blogging world. She has a great YA blog that pairs books with cupcakes. She’s quick, witty, and sure of herself.
Her best friend online is Nash. He is an artist. They share each other’s stuff, comment on everything, and talk in DMs. So what happens when Kels moves to middle of nowhere Connecticut and meets Nash? Please read the book and find out!
This was such a cute ya contemporary. I loved the fact that it was about a YA blogger. I also used to bake cupcakes obsessively and it really made me want to start back.
I had such a love/hate relationship with Halle. At times I just wanted to scream at her but at times I related to her so much.
The love between Halle and Nash was PERFECT. It reminded me of being young and in love. They had great times, and they fought. It seemed so real!
Another positive aspect of this book is Jewish rep! I have never read another YA with Jewish rep. I loved learning about Jewish church services and other holidays they celebrate!
The only issue I had with this book is that Halle made some comments about adults reading YA novels that were not positive. I am an adult – I’m 30. There’s no more denying. The majority of what I read is ya, so the comments honestly made me very sad.
Even with those comments, I would still recommend this book! It was so cute and fun and the romance was great!
Have you read What I Like About You? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
🏈 Title : Jane’s Team 🏈 Author : Janie Marie 🏈 Publisher : Kindle 🏈 Publish Date : April 2, 2020 🏈 Genre : YA, Romance, Sports 🏈 Book Form : E-ARC 🏈 Pages : 375 pages 🏈 Dates Read : Apr 25 – Apr 28 🏈 Rating : 🏈.5
🏈 Thank you to Netgalley for a free copyof this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own. 🏈
When you’re in love with your best friend, life is complicated. When he’s also your stepbrother, it’s a nightmare.
Jane’s apparently a magnet for chaos. Because now she’s agreed to tutor her stepbrother’s enemy, and that sexy bad boy might have a thing for her. She might also love that a tingle surrounds her soul whenever he’s close. Throw his two brothers into the mix, dangerous rivals looking to destroy every one of them, and parents controlling her love life. It’s safe to say she’s wandered into the apocalypse.
At least being torn between four hot guys isn’t the end of the world. Just kidding. It totally is. But they’ll all realize something.
Jane’s the ruler of her life. No one else. Long live the queen . . . and her kings.
– Goodreads
Okay, look. I can get down with some freaky, forbidden romances. Don’t bother me one little bit. However, there were some glowering issues with this book. The more I thought about it, the more mad I got. That’s why you see the rating changed from 3 stars on my April wrap up to 1.5 stars now.
This story follows Jane who has been in love with her step-brother, David, since before they were step siblings. She also has a crush on the jerk next door, Ryder. Jane is forced to tutor Ryder, star of the football team, and learns maybe he isn’t such a jerk after all. Then somehow his two brothers Luc and Tercero are factored in and she just.can’t.choose. Four super hot guys fawning over this girl who’s never even been kissed.
It starts with Ryder and David, and they decide to share and let her explore and make up her mind. Then comes the other two brothers, and they decide to be one big happy family.
All that? Good. Doesn’t bother me one bit. You know what DOES bother me? THE MEN IN THIS BOOK!
I felt every man was so misogynist and just, ugh. They didn’t treat Jane with respect at all. They all try to boss her around. It was the things that were said to her that really pissed me off. Jane, of course, was very insecure in their arrangement. She wanted all the guys, yes, but she was scared of how they would be perceived. Constantly wondered why she couldn’t just choose one. She would say things like, “I’m so dumb” or “I’m such a how” and the boys would smirk their sexy smirk, say “I know.” or “A little” and start kissing her. WHAT?! I thought about this for days after and just kept getting more and more angry. Who says that to someone they ‘love’?! It didn’t seem to be in a joking manner, either. They just.. almost seemed like they were saying it to shut her up? I don’t know. I’m getting angry thinking about it again.
The romance scenes weren’t bad. They were spicy and well done. Like I said, that wasn’t the issue.
This is also an alternate universe for the author’s Gods and Monsters series. You don’t have to read that to understand this book. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be picking it up.
Have you read Jane’s Team or Gods and Monsters? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!
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!
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!
May has some GREAT releases, guys! Even though a lot of books are getting pushed back, I still had to narrow down to the top 5 I am looking forward to. Let’s jump right in!
The Betrothed by Kiera Cass
Release Date: May 5, 2020
I LOVED the Selection series. I can’t wait to read her next romance!
I can’t wait for this. I think I may do a Hunger Games reread next month with this at the end. I don’t know why I didn’t fit it in my TBR this month. Just too much to read!
What are your most anticipated releases this month? Let me know in the comments below!
Mithah Reads 