I saw this tag on the blog Hundreds & Thousands of Books so check out her blog for more amazing book content! I wanted to do this tag since my daughter has been playing Animal Crossing New Horizons all week, so I thought this would be fun. 🥰 All credit goes to Bookish Things and Tea for the super cute graphics!
Answer the following Animal Crossing themed book questions.
Feel free to use graphics, but be sure to credit Bookish Things and Tea.
Tag some friends to spread the love!
So this was on my Kindle Unlimited for the past month and I still haven’t read it. I will eventually read it lol…sometime this year?
The first book was such a struggle to push through but I did and had no regrets because the rest of the series is amazing. So The Heart Forger had only room to go up after the slow first book, Bone Witch.
I’d say Crescent City is a pretty large fantastical city that SJM has built in her series. I kinda wish it was a real place I could visit! But nope, only in my mind will it exist lol.
I feel like I don’t read a lot of new releases, I guess I can count arcs that become new releases but as far as books I didn’t read arcs for and was released in 2022 – this book would be it.
I’m gonna go old school with this one and my first copy of this book was so tattered by the time I became an adult lol – I read this in 1991! I was barely a teenager and this book/series had me in a chokehold through all my teen years. I even read it in my 20’s, but yeah…it’s what made me love all things vampires, supernatural, paranormal – whatever that was different. I’ll always have a space in my heart for it, even with the new copies that I just don’t touch lol.
Patrick in The Guncle is a Character with emphasis on that capital C! lol He is the moment – he is the book – he is a mess sometimes, but he is really something. Add in his niece and nephew and this book is filled with so much character.
This is a book that I read last year and thought it was a unique account of the Jews that fled into the forest to evade capture from the Nazis. It’s a harrowing tale, but interwoven with mystical elements but an inspiring tale about survival.
I mean…just because it was a total miss for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you, but this was such a struggle for me to get through. I DNF’ed at 20% in but read the ending lol…
This was such a cute tag to do and I won’t tag anyone but feel free to do it if you want!
Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Beauty and the Beast Re-telling, Twins
The first daughter is for the Throne. The second daughter is for the Wolf.
As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.
Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.
But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.
Content Warning: self-harm
I got this book and the sequel on my online library so I read it right away before my borrowing period ended. I’ve seen good and bad reviews for this book, so let’s so what did and didn’t work for me:
+ This is story is a romantasy and those were the parts that I loved in the book. Redarys (Red) is the second the daughter, and if the first daughter is for the throne then the second daughter is for the Wolf. She gets sent as the sacrificial second daughter to the Wolf in the Wilderwood. No one knows much about him except from legend and lore being told from generation to generation. When Red meets Eammon, the wolf, she learns that his power is feeding the Wilderwood but he needs help and this is where she comes in to the picture.
+ I did like the world building and story about five Kings, magic, and the Wilderwood. I think I had a good grasp of the world this is set it. I think we got a pretty good idea of
+ This being a romantasy means I was invested in Red and Eammon falling for one another. It has very Beauty and the Beast vibes except I was thinking it was gonna be Red Riding Hood vibes because of the cover? And Eammon is called the Wolf? So yeah…maybe a blending of the two stories? So yes, I did love their moments together – they have physical chemistry…as for the emotional chemistry? I think Eammon is just the type who doesn’t talk about his feelings much. I do feel at times this could be more New Adult than Young Adult (I’m reading book 2 right now and it is definitely NA).
~ This story is actually told between two perspectives and I was more into Red’s story because it starts with her. But her twin Neve is on the other side of the Wilderwood, she misses Red, she wants to rescue Red without knowing Red doesn’t want to be rescued. Neve does some things that has dire consequences to the Wilderwood, Red and Eammon and I believe book two is her story. I wasn’t as invested in Neve because of the romance taking place with Red and Eammon.
~ The pacing was off, I was into the story and then there was a lull because Red doesn’t know how to use her power, doesn’t understand it and no one is explaining it to her (looking at you, Eammon). Eammon eventually trains her to use her power but he won’t let her help him take care of the Wildwood so he is self-harming himself like crazy because he doesn’t want help. I wanted to shake him a few times. Like what is Red’s purpose then if not to help him? The both of them were hopeless and stubborn at times 🤦🏻♀️ but at least they had good kissing scenes!
~ There are side characters like Fife and Lyra but I didn’t feel like they contributed much to the story. It would be nice to get to know them a bit more. I do have to mention that Lyra is a ACE rep, at least from how Fife described her. Like I said, would be nice to get to know them more.
~ I said I think I got a good grasp of the world-building but I can also say I couldn’t really pin it down. It felt like a blur sometimes even though she went into detail describing it…does that make sense? 😅
Tropes: single bed, marriage/sacrifice, forced proximity, sentient forest, fairytale mash-up, monster boyfriend, girl with magic who doesn’t know how to use it, brooding male, slow-burn
Why you should read it:
Beauty and the Beast, Red Riding Hood vibes – seems like a bunch of fairy tales actually because the ending hints at Sleeping Beauty also
it’s a romantasy (romance fantasy)
twin sisters who care about one another a lot – but needing to learn how to let go of one another and be on their separate paths
Why you might not want to read it:
I should call it a romangstasy lol…because yes Red and Eammon = angsty – I was getting irritated when she wanted to help and he said no or when he asked her to use her power instead of blood and she said no. Like…come on….😂.
a slower read at some parts – mostly because of the repetition
My Thoughts:
I feel like I’m still processing this one but also I already started book two since it’s fresh in my head and this is definitely not a Young Adult series…I’m saying it’s New Adult because Red and Eammon have some sexy times right away. For the Wolf, was entertaining enough for me to stick it through. I do like fairytale mash-ups when they make sense. I was expecting Red Riding Hood but got more Beauty and the Beast instead. Red and Eammon have that angsty, non-communicative relationship which can be so frustrating but I liked when they stopped talking and kissed instead. So I have mixed feelings about this one to say the least. I also was more into Red’s story than Neve but now that I’m reading book two…Neve’s story seems already better than Red’s, maybe because Solmir is more talkative. So we shall see how everything turns out for both sisters.
📚 ~ Yolanda
Quotes From the Book:
People with power resent losing it, and too much power for too long a time can make a villain of anyone.”
From bestselling author Rachel Vincent comes a gripping and heartfelt story about a girl faced with a shocking revelation when her mom dies and she’s forced to move in with her father’s “real” family.
Michaela is a junior in high school, close with her single mom. Her dad lives a few towns away and pops in and out of her life only on holidays and birthdays. They barely know each other beyond surface obligations.
That is, until her mom dies. Suddenly on her own, Michaela has to move in with her Dad . . . and learns he’s been married with kids all this time, and she was the product of an affair. Before she can even grieve her mother, Michaela is thrust into a strange house with a stepmom and three half-siblings, including new sister Emery, who is in the same grade and less than thrilled at the prospect of sharing her room and school life. Will Michaela be able to let go of everything she’s ever known-and find herself anew-with a family who didn’t ask for her in the first place?
As men fall to the mist, the age of womankind begins to rise.
The world as we know it ends when an attack on the U.S. unleashes bombs that deliver fire and biological destruction. Along with sonic detonations and devastating earthquakes, the bombs have also brought the green mist. If breathed in, it is deadly to all men—but alters the body chemistry of many women, imbuing them with superhuman abilities.
A group of high school teachers heading home from a conference experiences firsthand the strength of these new powers. Mercury Rhodes is the Warrior, possessing heightened physical powers. Stella Carver is the Seer, with a sixth sense about the future. Imani Andrews is the Watcher, with a rare connection to the earth. Karen Gay is the Priestess, demonstrating a special connection with Spirits. And Gemma Jenkins is the Healer, a sixteen-year-old student who joins the group after losing her parents.
As they cross the Pacific Northwest, trying to find a safe place to ride out the apocalypse, the women soon learn they can’t trust anyone, and with fresh danger around every corner, it will take all their powers to save themselves—and possibly the world.
The first time Aja Owens encounters the man of her dreams, she’s having a panic attack in the frozen foods section of the Piggly Wiggly. The second time, he’s being introduced to her as her favorite bingo buddy’s semi-estranged grandson. From there, all it takes is one game for her to realize that he’s definitely going to be a problem. And if there’s anything she already has a surplus of, it’s problems.
In Walker Abbott’s mind, there are only two worthwhile things in Greenbelt, South Carolina. The peach cobbler at his old favorite diner and his ailing grandmother. Dragging himself back after more than a decade away, he’s counting down the days until Gram heals and he can get back to his real life. Far away from the trauma inside of those city limits. Just when he thinks his plan is solid, enter Aja to shake everything up.
A hastily made bingo-based sex pact is supposed to keep this…thing between them from getting out of hand. Especially when submitting to their feelings means disrupting their carefully balanced lives. But emotions are just like bingo callers—they refuse to be ignored.
Jodie Slaughter’s Bet on It is a heart-stoppingly fun, emotional romance that will have readers falling in love until long after the last page is turned.
Julie Tieu, an exciting new and diverse voice in contemporary romance, returns with a hilarious and sexy new novel about colleagues who decide to take their relationship outside the office.
Cadence Lim has transformed from behind-the-scenes number cruncher to an integral part of the sales team at Prism Realty. But despite moving up the corporate ladder, her complicated relationship with her estranged elderly father weighs heavily and she can’t seem to shake the desire for a new beginning.
At least Cadence can always lean on her favorite co-worker and co-conspirator, Matt Escanilla. A top broker with an unsuccessful love life, the forever single Matt is constantly being nagged by his loving Filipino family to settle down.
Their relationship takes a turn when a business trip lands them both in their hometown and Matt enlists Cadence as a pretend girlfriend for a family gathering. The new after-hours setting forces the two friends to see each other in a new light, and their previously buried feelings rise quickly to the surface. When competing promotions threaten to separate Cadence and Matt, these office besties must work together to round up their ambitions and families to pursue their overdue romance.
From internationally bestselling author K.A. Tucker comes the second novel in her Fate and Flame series, an adult fantasy story that should be read in series order.
“I do not know how to love you and be a good king to my people.”
From jewelry thief to interloper to queen-in-waiting, Romeria flees Cirilea a traitor to all. But the yawning distance between her and Zander troubles her more than any king’s bounty on her head. While Zander may have escaped by her side, he seeks to regain his throne, and no immortal will ever welcome her as Islor’s queen. She fears it won’t be long before Zander abandons her as everyone else she’s ever loved has.
Zander sacrificed his crown to save Romeria’s life, yet he dreads what her existence means for the future of his realm. As Ybaris’s plan to destroy Islor unfurls, a more insidious threat, orchestrated by rival fates, lurks beneath the surface. He can offer his allies no honest explanation for why he protects the Ybarisan princess and takes counsel from Queen Neilina’s caster, leading those closest to doubt his wisdom—and his allegiance.
As their company aims for the Venhorn Mountains, steered by prophecy, Romeria is desperate to wield her newfound abilities to undo Princess Romeria’s treachery before the kingdom tears itself apart. But with the mortal rebellion swelling, bolstered by the gift of Ybaris’s poison, it may already be too late.
Pretty Woman meets the Bridgertons in this witty, vivacious historical take on 90s romcoms by USA Today bestselling author Amalie Howard:
“Refreshing, steamy, and stocked with characters you don’t normally get to see in the genre—Her books are a must-read for me” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Lord Lysander Blackstone, the stern Duke of Montcroix, has only one interest: increasing his considerable fortune. After a series of betrayals, he keeps his emotions buried deep. Money, after all, can’t break a man’s heart—or make promises it can’t keep. But when his reputation for being heartless jeopardizes a new business deal, he finds himself seeking a most unusual—and alluring—solution…
Once an up-and-coming ballerina, Miss Geneviève Valery is now hopelessly out of work. After refusing to become a wealthy patron’s mistress, Nève was promptly shown the door to the streets. When she accidentally saves the life of a handsome duke, she doubts the encounter will go any better than her last brush with nobility. But instead of propositioning her, Montcroix makes Nève an offer she would be a fool to refuse: act as his fake fiancée in exchange for fortune enough to start over.
Only neither is prepared when very real feelings begin to grow between them. They both stand to win… but only if they’re willing to risk their hearts.
Are you getting any new books this week? Happy Reading! ~ Yolanda
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!
While I was making some metal hand-stamped keychains for my Etsy shop I looked for a movie to watch and ended up watching Our Chemical Hearts. I recognized the actor who plays Henry (Austin Abrams) as the guy who plays Dash in Dash & Lily on Netflix and of course he plays Ethan from Euphoria .
I didn’t read the book that is the basis for the movie but I remember seeing the title around years ago. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:
Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can’t-eat-can’t-sleep kind of love that he’s been hoping for just hasn’t been in the cards for him-at least not yet. Instead, he’s been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything’s about to change.
Grace isn’t who Henry pictured as his dream girl-she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys’ clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It’s obvious there’s something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. And yet, this isn’t your average story of boy meets girl. Krystal Sutherland’s brilliant debut is equal parts wit and heartbreak, a potent reminder of the bittersweet bliss that is first love.
Here’s the trailer for the movie which you can find on Amazon Prime Video
The movie is sad ☹️. Grace is going through some major stuff and Henry is falling in love with her. It was not going to be an easy happy ending for these two. But do they learn about themselves in the journey of their relationship? Definitely. I think it was a good movie, but like I said – it’s a sad one. I liked Henry’s friends though, they were a cute, and quirky bunch.
We didn’t celebrate much for the 4th of July. With all that’s going on in the country it felt somber for us. So instead my family and I went to the Beyond Monet exhibit because my husband loves Monet. Then we went to the mall to visit the newly opened Oreo Cafe which is part of the It’s Sugar candy store.
Here are some pics from the Beyond Monet event:
It was way smaller than the Beyond Van Gogh event I think. My daughter concluded her favorite was the Van Gogh one because of Starry Night. But now she has two shirts from both events that she can wear obsessively lol. She is my little artist.
Here are some pics from the Oreo Cafe and It’s Sugar!
Sugar rush! My sister met us there so she bought my kiddos some candy. Not too much – thank goodness my kids aren’t big on hard candies. Chocolate though? They love.
Tetris 99 – my son was playing on his switch and I wanted to play one round lol
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Teen, Summer, Coming of Age
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.
Content Warning: cancer
I read this back in 2009 and gave it 4 stars on Goodreads! That was 13 years ago…wow, I was single or just about to date my hubby. Crazy how long ago it was and my headspace was super different. Now I’m in my early 40’s with 2 kids, one who’s about to turn 10 years old. 😅 I don’t usually review re-reads but I will definitely do them if I never did a review for them on this blog. And I only did a re-read of this because the series on Amazon came out and I think they did such a good job. But so many people said lots of things were changed and I wanted to see what they were since I didn’t really remember the book except for being annoyed with Belly and being in love with Conrad. 😂
Here’s what I thought:
+ This is a such a quick read, it’s only 276 pages! Now young adult books can be like 500 pages long, so this was quick. It gave all the summer vibes as expected. I did forget all the time jumping it did from past summers to the present. The show didn’t do as many flashbacks as the book.
+ Jeremiah and Belly have more time together in the book than in the show. I can feel their bestie vibes.
+ Conrad is still that guy! I can see why I fell for Conrad because he’s the hurting, handsome guy and I was reminded that Belly was always in love with this guy. It’s always Conrad for her.
~ Because I’m so much more older – this actually bored me a bit. Belly is whiny and understandable because she is young! It’s jumping timelines from when she’s 11 to 14 to 15, etc…so we see her as a whiny girl. And I can’t see that much changes from 11 to 16. I can see why Conrad pushes her away and I’m glad he does.
~ There are SO many changes from the book to the show, I can see why hardcore fans didn’t love the show! There is no debutant ball in the book, Steven doesn’t stay for that summer when she turns 16 – he is in flashbacks though. I get why they made the changes….how do you stretch out this 276 book into 7 episodes? I felt like they did have all the parts from the book in the show though – like all those late night talks with Conrad. I don’t mind the extra stuff I thought it made it entertaining. But yes so many different changes from the book.
Why you should read it:
perfect for teen readers, it’s short, has summer vibes and summer crushes
Why you might not want to read it:
Way different from the Amazon series!
Belly is still annoying me after all these years 😂 but she doesn’t annoy me that much on the show
My Thoughts:
I’m glad I did my first read in 2009 and loved it as a story about a young girl who has these amazing summers with 2 boys and their lovely mom. It’s about friendship at its core and love. At my age now, I do prefer the show because there is many more things happening to keep me entertained but I can see why that didn’t make fans of the series happy also because a whole lot of things were added! But I will say this – them using “This Love” from Taylor Swift for the trailer was genius because this song is ALLLLLLL Belly and Conrad forever feels lol. So here’s a video:
📚 ~ Yolanda
Quotes From the Book:
“I love Conrad and I probably always would. I would spend my whole life loving him one way or another. Maybe I would get married, maybe I would have a family, but it wouldn’t matter, because a piece of my heart, the piece where summer lived, would always be Conrad’s”
My Book Outlet order came in! So exciting! I got a bunch of books that became available to me on my Overdrive online library app which is kind of frustrating lol. I cannot read all of those book sin 3 weeks even though I am trying. Realistically I can’t though. Anyway let’s see what I got:
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.
In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.
Content Warning: abuse, violence, parental neglect, racism, N word, sexual assault, bullying
The movie adaptation for this book is coming to screens on July 15, 2022. It even has a song by Taylor Swift in the movie called “Carolina”. I remember there was so much hype for this book when it published but I didn’t pick it up because I wasn’t in the mood until now. Here’s what I thought:
+ My favorite part of this book has to be the setting. The author captures the marshlands and small town vibe in lots of detail. It is set in a time when racism and segregation was prevalent in the 1950’s-1960’s in the USA. This story takes place in North Carolina and it’s definitely eye opening – especially how the people on the marsh were considered and how they lived. It’s uncomfortable – especially when seeing the N word used in the book, yet in reality that is how people in these places talked.
+ Kya has a very hard upbringing – she is sorely neglected. Her mother leaves, her dad is an abusive alcoholic who is there some days, her siblings (most who’s name she didn’t know) left until it was just her. I can’t fathom and have never experienced loneliness like that. Abandonment like that. So in a way this took a good look at a girl who lives and grows up in isolation and how she turns out. I applauded how Kya took care of herself, learned to fend for herself in the marsh even as lonely as she was. She made something of herself!
+ Of course my favorite characters are Jumpin’ and Mabel, the two black characters who actually did all they could for Kya. They helped her when no one would. Of course Tate, her first love, was there to teach her how to read and such – but Jumpin’ and Mabel were the only ones Kya could really count on.
~ It’s a slower read for me because it is a mystery. I thought the details about Kya’s past, her family, and the marsh were very detailed but I did want to get more into the murder mystery. There isn’t a lot about it – there is a dead body, someone accuses Kya because of a missing necklace, and the story examines Kya’s life…then the last few chapters is the trial. The story lagged a little bit for me in the middle. The timeline wasn’t smooth because it jumped around.
~ I did guess who the murderer was only because there seemed to be no one else to suspect. Also this isn’t a romance book but it has two relationships Kya falls into almost one after the other. It shows how Kya was inept in human relationships even though she was an expert of nature and how mating works in that sphere. It’s due to her isolated upbringing and people abandoning her.
~ This is a heavy read – there is physical abuse, there is parental neglect, major abandonment, the racism Jumpin’ experiences and the N word, classism and there is sexual assault. Kya doesn’t have an easy life, she’s a white girl but illiterate (for a time), she’s poor “white trash”, she’s from the marsh…lots of people in her town looked down on her because of it.
Why you should read it:
you like a murder mystery with a lush setting in the marsh in North Carolina
Kya is a girl who grows up abandoned and in isolation – her story is incredible
filled with poems, the story is poetic in a melancholy and lonely way – but the twist in the end was nice
Why you might not want to read it:
murder mystery comes mostly in the end with the trial
I skipped over some of the poetry – because the story was moving slow already with all the nature descriptions, it was losing me before the trial came in – but I didn’t skip the last one.
My Thoughts:
I’m glad I finally read this book and I can see why there was so much hype. The marsh is described in such detail and Kya is an interesting character who overcomes such dire odds as a child. She’s a survivor. I did find it a little bit slow in the middle and wish there was more about the murder investigation but I understand this was mostly about Kya. It will be interesting to see how they make the movie but that Taylor Swift song already sets the mood for the movie. Here’s the video:
📚 ~ Yolanda
Quotes From the Book:
“lot of times love doesn’t work out. Yet even when it fails, it connects you to others and, in the end, that is all you have, the connections.”
“She knew the years of isolation had altered her behavior until she was different from others, but it wasn’t her fault she’d been alone. Most of what she knew, she’d learned from the wild. Nature had nurtured, tutored, and protected her when no one else would.”
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 