A Dark and Starless Forest by. Sarah Hollowell | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: A Dark and Starless Forest

Author: Sarah Hollowell

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 9/14/21

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy, Diversity, Magic, Paranormal

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to HMH Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

When her siblings start to go missing, a girl must confront the dark thing that lives in the forest—and the growing darkness in herself—in this debut YA contemporary fantasy for fans of Wilder Girls.

Derry and her eight siblings live in an isolated house by the lake, separated from the rest of the world by an eerie and menacing forest. Frank, the man who raised them after their families abandoned them, says it’s for their own good. After all, the world isn’t safe for people with magic. And Derry feels safe—most of the time.

Until the night her eldest sister disappears. Jane and Derry swore to each other that they’d never go into the forest, not after their last trip ended in blood, but Derry is sure she saw Jane walk into the trees. When another sibling goes missing and Frank’s true colors start to show, feeling safe is no longer an option. Derry will risk anything to protect the family she has left. Even if that means returning to the forest that has started calling to Derry in her missing siblings’ voices.

As Derry spends more time amidst the trees, her magic grows more powerful . . . and so does the darkness inside her, the viciousness she wants to pretend doesn’t exist. But saving her siblings from the forest and from Frank might mean embracing the darkness. And that just might be the most dangerous thing of all. 

I really didn’t know what to expect going into this book. I love the cover and also the premise for the story sounded intriguing. I got approved for the arc last minute, but the book is a quick read so I’m glad I got to finish even though it just published!

I love the mysterious and dark atmosphere of this story. We meet Derry and she has eight siblings (not by blood). They live in what seeps like am isolated house bordered by a forest and their caretaker is a man named Frank. Everything about that just made me suspicious about Frank from the start! Apparently these girls have magic or powers, Derry’s magic is related to nature, things bloom on her body.

Derry is our main character and she is a plus sized girl compared to her sisters, she loves her sisters and is very afraid of Frank. She doesn’t have the best control of her magic. When something happens to the sister she is the closest to, Jane, this pushes Derry to break Frank’s rules, no matter the consequences and she meets something in the woods that makes her question Frank and his methods. I like when Derry finds out the truth and we see her become stronger.

The sisterly bond is great since they are all isolated together. You can feel the love between them and it’s their chosen family bond that helps defeat Frank. Also they are diverse, which was nice.

Triggers: abuse, manipulation, death, violence

Frank is straight up evil and I was so happy when Derry stood up to him! It honestly gave me satisfaction with how Derry dealt with him. But who are Franks “friends” that he kept going to see when a girl went missing? I’m very curious about that.

I think the magic system confused me in the beginning though it makes sense in the end when more of the mystery about Frank is solved. When they called themselves “alchemists”, I was waiting for them to do alchemy but their powers didn’t work that way. It really was magic within them, magic they were born with.

There are nine of them, Derry and eight siblings, but I swear I kept forgetting who was left when a few went missing. I felt like the only ones I really knew were Derry, Jane and Elle – they seemed the more fleshed out of the girls.

Why you should read it:

  • it’s a story about girls taking back their power and magic, mostly Derry’s journey
  • diverse cast
  • suspenseful, creepy vibes

Why you might not want to read it:

  • dark story with themes of abuse and manipulation
  • not a happy story, ending is bittersweet

My Thoughts:

It took some patience to get my bearings in the story when I started the book, but my curiosity kept me reading. I wanted to know who Frank was and what was in these creepy woods. Though it is a dark story, I was glad to see Derry rise up against the man who was hurting her and her sisters. I can definitely relate to that! This was a quick read filled with diversity, a strong sisterly bond, magic and empowerment.

📚 ~ Yolanda

BLOG TOUR} This is Why We Lie by. Gabriella Lepore | ARC Review

Welcome to the blog tour for This is Why We Lie by. Gabriella Lepore!

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: This is Why We Lie

Author: Gabriella Lepore

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 9/21/21

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Buy HERE: Bookshop.org | B & N | Powells | Amazon | Target | Google Play | Apple Books | Kobo

Categories: Murder Mystery, Young Adult, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Inkyard Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Riverdale meets One of Us Is Lying in This Is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore, a standalone thriller following two teens who discover a body off the coast of their seaside town. As they search for the killer, they will learn the students of both the local prep school and the nearby reform school will do anything to protect their secrets.

Everyone in Gardiners Bay has a secret.

When Jenna Dallas and Adam Cole find Colleen O’Dell’s body floating off the shore of their coastal town, the community of Gardiners Bay is shaken. But even more shocking is the fact that her drowning was no accident.

Once Jenna’s best friend becomes a key suspect, Jenna starts to look for answers on her own. As she uncovers scandals inside Preston Prep School leading back to Rookwood reform school, she knows she needs Adam on her side.

As a student at Rookwood, Adam is used to getting judgmental looks, but now his friends are being investigated by the police. Adam will do whatever he can to keep them safe, even if that means trusting Jenna.

As lies unravel, the truth starts to blur. Only one thing is certain: somebody must take the fall.

This one starts off right away with a dead body and throughout the rest of the book we try to figure out how Colleen died – was it suicide? Was it murder? We uncover secrets with Jenna and Adam who are the narrators of this story. Jenna went to school with Colleen and hung out in the same circle. Adam is from Rookwood reform school where the Preston Prep girls liked to party. Both Jenna and Adam are trying to protect someone they care about, but what really happened the night Colleen died?

The story is told in the present but with past flashbacks, in that way we get to know how these girls meet this Rook boys and how much time Colleen was spending with them.

Jenna is the girl who stayed out of the drama between the girls and not much of a partier. Her best friend Hollie is implicated in the murder of Colleen but she knows her friend couldn’t have done something like that so she tries to find out what happened the night of the murder. Jenna is also friends with Serena, who is the queen bee of Preston Prep School, but they aren’t as close as before so Jenna wasn’t always at these Rook parties. Jenna tries to piece together information and gathers things she’s missing so she can help Hollie.

Adam’s friend Max, who seems to be the leader of their little clique is dating Serena. But at the parties, Max seems a little flirty with Colleen. Adam doesn’t know what really happened to Colleen that night she died but he is going to do his best to protect himself and his friends – he is already on his “second” chance by attending this reform school and he can’t afford to get into deeper trouble.

The other players in this story all have a roll to play and I did figure out who the murderer was halfway through the story, but I did enjoy trying to piece things together.

Triggers: drinking, drug use, death

This is a quick read and I did sort of get confused when the story jumped to the past and showed how Adam and Jenna met before but when they meet again it doesn’t seem like she knows him at all. I guess in a way it adds more suspicion to the story but it made me pause a bit.

I kind of wished there was more to the ending, it was a little rushed.

Why you should read it:

  • prep school girl/reform school boy trope
  • quick read
  • entertaining trying to figure out what really happened

Why you might not want to read it:

  • lacking character development
  • rushed ending
  • past/present timeline

My Thoughts:

This was a very quick read and I enjoyed trying to find out what was going on. I do wish there was more character development and the ending wasn’t so rushed but I think if you just take this story as is, it’s quick, entertaining and if you like the rich girl/bad boy tropes you will enjoy this one.

📚~Yolanda


About the Author:

Gabriella Lepore is a YA author from South Wales in the United Kingdom. She lives in the countryside with her husband James and daughter Sophia. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can usually be found exploring the coastline. She enjoys cups of tea, bookstore coffee shops, stormy beaches, and autumn days.

Twitter: @GabriellaBooks

Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

WWW Wednesday | 9/15/21

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?


What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?


I have so much to read but the a/c broke in our house last week and the repair people can’t see it until THIS Friday. I love on one of the hottest parts of the island so yeah…I’ve had to buy more fans to keep all of us cool but I am in no mood to read at all. I’m over the heat, thank god for days we have trade winds, but still…

Also I have a big order on my Etsy shop that I have to finish up by next week. So I’ve been hand stamping metal and sweating. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Not fun but in a way this living without a/c reminded me of my childhood – I actually lived without a/c until I moved to this side of the island with my hubby. My condition to moving on this side was that we have central air in the house we buy lol…the town I grew up in is near a valley with lots of trade wind flow, so I didn’t live with air conditioning until like twelve years ago. My body is so used to it now, I’m so miserable in this heat haha. Oh well…it is what it is! I just hope they fix it soon.

Anyway, I hope all of you have a better reading week than I am having!

😘~ Yolanda

Happy Book Birthday | New Releases | 9/14/21

Happy book birthday to these new releases! I have so many books to catch up on this week that some of these new ones will have to wait awhile! What are you getting?

From New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer comes a blockbuster fantasy series about a kingdom divided by corruption, the prince desperately holding it together, and the girl who will risk everything to bring it crashing down.

The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster. Rifts between sectors have only worsened since a sickness began ravaging the land, and within the Royal Palace, the king holds a tenuous peace with a ruthless hand.

King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents’ shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King’s Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion–it’s the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate Moonflower petals, is severely limited.

Out in the Wilds, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her neighbors die, their suffering ignored by the unyielding royals. Every night, she and her best friend Wes risk their lives to steal Moonflower petals and distribute the elixir to those who need it most–but it’s still not enough.

As rumors spread that the cure no longer works and sparks of rebellion begin to flare, a particularly cruel act from the King’s Justice makes Tessa desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds upon her arrival makes her wonder if it’s even possible to fix Kandala without destroying it first.

Set in a richly imaginative world with striking similarities to our own, Brigid Kemmerer’s captivating new series is about those with power and those without . . . and what happens when someone is brave enough to imagine a new future.


The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson!

Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.

The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.

But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right?

As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.


Intrigue, romance, and magic abound in the heart-stopping conclusion to Marie Rutkoski’s Forgotten Gods duology.

At the end of The Midnight Lie, Nirrim offered up her heart to the God of Thieves in order to restore her people’s memories of their city’s history. The Half Kith who once lived imprisoned behind the city’s wall now realize that many among them are powerful. Meanwhile, the person Nirrim once loved most, Sid, has returned to her home country of Herran, where she must navigate the politics of being a rogue princess who has finally agreed to do her duty.

In the Herrani court, rumors begin to grow of a new threat rising across the sea, of magic unleashed on the world, and of a cruel, black-haired queen who can push false memories into your mind, so that you believe your dearest friends to be your enemies.

Sid doesn’t know that this queen is Nirrim, who seeks her revenge against a world that has wronged her. Can Sid save Nirrim from herself? Does Nirrim even want to be saved? As blood is shed and war begins, Sid and Nirrim find that it might not matter what they want…for the gods have their own plans.


From #1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty comes a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest

The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.


As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding…six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope. 


In this dark and twisty feminist historical thriller, a teenage girl starts a new life as a grave robber but quickly becomes entangled in a murderer’s plans.

Soon after her best friend Kitty mysteriously dies, orphaned seventeen-year-old Molly Green is sent away to live with her “aunt.” With no relations that she knows of, Molly assumes she has been sold as free domestic labor for the price of an extra donation in the church orphanage’s coffers. Such a thing is not unheard of. There are only so many options for an unmarried girl in 1850s Philadelphia. Only, when Molly arrives, she discovers her aunt is very much real, exceedingly wealthy, and with secrets of her own. Secrets and wealth she intends to share–for a price.

Molly’s estranged aunt Ava, has built her empire by robbing graves and selling the corpses to medical students who need bodies to practice surgical procedures. And she wants Molly to help her procure the corpses. As Molly learns her aunt’s trade in the dead of night and explores the mansion by day, she is both horrified and deeply intrigued by the anatomy lessons held at the old church on her aunt’s property. Enigmatic Doctor LaSalle’s lessons are a heady mixture of knowledge and power and Molly has never wanted anything more than to join his male-only group of students. But the cost of inclusion is steep and with a murderer loose in the city, the pursuit of power and opportunity becomes a deadly dance. 


From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hand sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order could not stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.

Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope: 

The Holy Grail.

From New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff comes Empire of the Vampire, the first illustrated volume of an astonishing new dark fantasy saga.


Books With Numbers In the Title | Top Ten Tuesday | 9/14/21

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!

This week’s topic is:

Books With Numbers In the Title

What’s on your TTT this week? ~ Yolanda

You’d Be Home Now by. Kathleen Gasglow | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: You’d Be Home Now

Author: Kathleen Glasgow

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: 9/28/21

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Categories: Coming of Age, Addiction, Drugs, Family, Friendship, Contemporary, Young Adult

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Delacorte Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Piecescomes a breathtaking story about a town, its tragedies, and the quiet beauty of everyday life.

For all of Emory’s life she’s been told who she is. In town she’s the rich one–the great-great-granddaughter of the mill’s founder. At school she’s hot Maddie Ward’s younger sister. And at home, she’s the good one, her stoner older brother Joey’s babysitter. Everything was turned on its head, though, when she and Joey were in the car accident that killed Candy MontClaire. The car accident that revealed just how bad Joey’s drug habit was.

Four months later, Emmy’s junior year is starting, Joey is home from rehab, and the entire town of Mill Haven is still reeling from the accident. Everyone’s telling Emmy who she is, but so much has changed, how can she be the same person? Or was she ever that person at all?

Mill Haven wants everyone to live one story, but Emmy’s beginning to see that people are more than they appear. Her brother, who might not be cured, the popular guy who lives next door, and most of all, many ghostie addicts who haunt the edges of the town. People spend so much time telling her who she is–it might be time to decide for herself.

Inspired by the American classic Our Town, You’d Be Home Now is Kathleen Glasgow’s glorious modern story of a town and the secret lives people live there. And the story of a girl, figuring out life in all its pain and beauty and struggle and joy.

Emory was in an accident that killed a girl from high school. She wasn’t driving but she was in the car as a passenger, along with her brother, Joey, who was high on drugs when the accident happens. How does she go on from that? Do people really care how she feels? She gets blamed at school for the death. But in her own family she always feels invisible – her brother is a druggie so he gets plenty of negative attention, her older sister was popular and hot, so she got a lot of the positive attention which means Emory is the invisible one. Emory may not turn to drugs but she finds her own ways to cope with her dysfunctional family and she’s just trying to survive high school.

This story tackles drug addiction in young people straight on. It mentions the small town and how other people and their families may be affected by the drug problem. I liked how Joey is sent to rehab, we don’t have scenes from rehab but we get to see what recovery in the beginning stages would like – especially in a family like Emory’s. Her dad is an ER doctor, her mom is a lawyer – they are the richest family in town, but their life is hardly perfect. Their mom is stern, and their dad hardly there – it leaves these kids floundering.

Another great thing about this story is how it brings up how adults were once kids too dealing with their own stuff but generations are so different. I used to be like Emory – kind of lost and unsure and quiet, but I was brought up in the “deal with it” generation – and that’s what I did. As an adult and parent now, I definitely try not to be how my parents were with me and this book definitely gets it on these issues between parents and children or just adults and children.

I love Emory’s love for her brother. It’s heartbreaking and frustrating for any family to deal with addiction. I can’t say I have been in that situation but friends have been, or I’ve known people with drug problems and it’s tough to want to help and yet waiting for the person to want the help. Emory doesn’t give up on Joey and you know Emory is always being told what to do, how to be – people tell her to grow a spine even, she gets bullied, she feels like she doesn’t have a voice – but that girl is so brave to love and fight for her brother. She even weathered all that bullying with a shrug almost, the only thing to her that really mattered was her brother. And that’s what made me cry. The ending of this book is so emotional, but her love was there.

Triggers: drug use, cyber bullying, car accident, addiction

Even though this story deals with some heavy topics, it felt like a light read – I didn’t feel dragged down by all the strong emotions the characters felt and yet it wasn’t light-hearted. The way it’s written was easy to read, easy to digest, even in the emotional parts in the end. I still felt hopeful for this family. Hopeful for Emory.

Why you should read it:

  • a raw look at addiction, whether it’s to drugs, or to getting affection from a stranger
  • it gives us adults a good reminder at what kids go through, and gives kids a reminder that they aren’t alone
  • it’s emotional, especially when it comes to how addiction can fracture a family
  • an important read because addiction is a problem in our country (USA)

Why you might not want to read it:

  • heavy topics
  • triggers

My Thoughts:

This is an important story about a family dealing with a loved one with addiction, and a whole town trying to deal with a problem that is growing. This story is raw, heartbreaking, sad, and yet there was still a thread of hope for Joey’s recovery, for the Ward family to stay strong, for Emory to be seen and find her voice and even for the town to help their own community. This one should be a must read for teens, young adults and adults.

📚 ~ Yolanda

Characters You’d Like to Swap Lives With | #SixforSunday | 9/12/21

#SixforSunday is… it’s really just that. You choose 6 books (normally) that you’d choose to fit whatever the prompt is that week. This meme is hosted by A Little but a Lot and you can follow the link to find the prompts for July to September.

This week’s topic:

characters you’d like to swap lives with

Honestly, I don’t want Moon’s mom and sister. I want nothing of the trauma of her life, I just want to be like Moon and have her outlook on life despite all the bad things going on in it. I love her love of photography and nature, she’s a beautiful soul.


Lara Jean has a good life with amazing sisters, such a cool dad and a sweet and cute fake boyfriend.


Yes, give me the inheritance!! Avery is smart, got this mysterious inheritance, and has to deal with three hot brothers? I don’t mind.


Jess has the coolest best friend, Fizzy, and I’d swap lives just to have some fun with her!


As a human it would be pretty scary to go here but if I was a vampire – this is where I’d want to be!


I’d definitely go to the school in this book just for the cooking classes!


What do you have on your list? ~ Yolanda

Luck of the Titanic by. Stacey Lee | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Luck of the Titanic

Author: Stacey Lee

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 5/4/21

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Categories: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Family

Valora Luck has two things: a ticket for the biggest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world, and a dream of leaving England behind and making a life for herself as a circus performer in New York. Much to her surprise, though, she’s turned away at the gangway; apparently, Chinese people aren’t allowed into America.

But Val has to get on that ship. Her twin brother, Jamie, who has spent two long years at sea, is on board, as is an influential circus owner. Thankfully, there’s not much a trained acrobat like Val can’t overcome when she puts her mind to it.

As a stowaway, Val should keep her head down and stay out of sight. But the clock is ticking and she has just seven days as the ship makes its way across the Atlantic to find Jamie, audition for the circus owner, and convince him to help get them both into America.

Then one night, the unthinkable happens, and suddenly Val’s dreams of a new life are crushed under the weight of the only thing that matters: survival.

Stacey Lee knows how to write young adult historical fiction where we care about the characters. I especially love that she writes about Asian characters because I am always learning something new! I was a sophomore in college when Titanic, the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio came out and I watched it three times in the theater and countless times after on tv. It is ingrained in me. But Luck of the Titanic tells the tale loosely based on the fact that there were Chinese men and women on board the Titanic. That was news to me so I went into this book very interested.

Valora is half English/half Chinese and is looking for her twin brother. She hitches a plan to get onto the Titanic and does find her brother. The reunion between them is great and this is how we meet the other Chinese men on board and what a cast of characters they are. They grew on me as we learned some of their back stories. The story also mentions The Chinese Exclusion Act which I knew nothing about or if I did learn that in history class decades ago, I have forgotten. But this law didn’t allow Chinese immigrants into the USA for a long time, even though they found other ways to go around it. We get a taste of the discrimination and racism directed towards the Chinese from both the upper class and lower class passengers.

Valora and Jamie’s relationship is the main focus of the story as she tries to persuade him to go to America with him. They have been apart for a long time and with their parents both gone, they only have one another. Valora gets to know Jamie’s friends and they become their own chosen family. Of course they are on the Titanic though…and we know the Titanic means tragedy. So if you are looking for a happy ending, this book is not it.

The whole cast of characters were great and it’s the Titanic so there were all kinds of people on this huge ship. I think we got a glimpse of it in this book.

This was a very fast read, even as it starts slow, you know it’s building to a tragic end with the Titanic about to sink. In the span of time Valora, Jamie and their friends spend on the Titanic they become a family, Valora even experiences the beginnings of what could be love, the twins are united and even perform acrobats like they did as kids – they have a time on the Titanic before tragedy strikes.

Triggers: racism, death

The Titanic movie is ingrained in me so there were times, it reminded me of the movie! Valora getting on the ship by any means like Jack did, Jamie falling for an upper class passenger like how Jack and Rose fell for one another.

It’s a slow beginning with Valora finding Jamie and then Valora trying to convince Jamie to join the circus and move to America with her. I was waiting for the Titanic to hit ice halfway through the book because that is the exciting and tragic parts of any Titanic story but it comes more towards the end. So the ending felt rushed.

It’s a sad ending, bittersweet – there were some happy endings so that’s a good thing, but overall the whole tragedy of the Titanic is sad.

Why you should read it:

  • The story honoring the 8 Chinese onboard the Titanic is important
  • you learn a lot
  • it’s a lovely yet tragic story about family

Why you might not want to read it:

  • slow beginning, Titanic doesn’t hit ice until way late in the book
  • sad ending – the whole Titanic tragedy is sad

My Thoughts:

I ended up reading this book very quickly despite the slow beginning. I think because I know the Titanic story through the movie, I was waiting for the action and the moment the ship started to sink. In the book it doesn’t come until later so I was racing through just to get to it. Though slow, the story about Valora and Jamie is a beautifully sad one about family. When Valora befriends his crew, then the story also becomes one about chosen family. This one is tragic, but beautifully written and we learn more about what the Chinese went through in the past. Stacey Lee is a great storyteller and I look forward to her next book.

📚~ Yolanda

The Hawthorne Legacy by. Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games, #2)

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Format: eBook (own)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 9/7/21

Publisher: Penguin

Categories: Young Adult, Inheritance, Puzzles, Riddles, Mystery, Romance, Contemporary

Intrigue, riches, and romance abound in this thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Inheritance Games perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.

The Inheritance Games ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her questions – including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or grandsons.

Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows that she’s not a Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to the family than she had ever imagined. As the mystery grows and the plot thickens, Grayson and Jameson, the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne grandsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions. And there are threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture – by any means necessary.

With nonstop action, aspirational jet-setting, family intrigue, swoonworthy romance, and billions of dollars hanging in the balance, The Hawthorne Legacy will thrill Jennifer Lynn Barnes fans and new readers alike.

Well, well, well…the twists keep on keeping in this series, doesn’t it? Avery, the Hawthornes and friends are on the move to break the case of Toby Hawthorne and how Avery fits into the inheritance Tobias Hawthorne left her. So did they figure it out?

I love the puzzles and riddles of course and it’s what made me love the series in the first place. We get more of it here, but more like a scavenger hunt because they have to travel places to find things. This book is fast pace – by the end of it, I was like wait…is it over? Book three can’t come soon enough.

I love Max! Max is Avery’s best friend and honestly I’m so glad she was here for book two. I love her humor and penchant for substituting her curse words. Speaking of friends – Libby who is Avery’s sister doesn’t have a huge role here but I still love that she is Avery’s only family really.

We do get to know more about Toby’s past which is great! There is a whole backstory there and this is the sequel to tell it.

My team Grayson standing did not go well for me in this book! 😔 But that’s okay – I felt like Avery was busy finding clues than concentrating on romance which is understandable. Jameson is fine, but yeah I was over the love triangle between Avery and the brothers in this one. I don’t mind love triangles but when there is two brothers involved? It sucks! Also I didn’t feel like Avery had much a connection to either them, almost like either them will do – until the end, of course.

There was too much going on. I felt like there were too many characters to keep up with and plot points! I think in book one, we were being introduced to them so I could keep it straight but add Toby’s back story and I need a white board and pen to make some diagrams on who is connected to who! There were so many twists ad turns, I got a bit dizzy.

How many times are they going to talk about invisible ink? Haha…that was super repetitive.

Why you should read it:

  • if you read the first book, read this one to learn more about Toby Hawthorne
  • To find out who will win Avery’s heart
  • To get more time with Max because she’s fun

Why you might not want to read it:

  • love triangle with brothers
  • too much filler, too much going on

My Thoughts:

Even though I had my little issues with the book, it’s a second book in the series and I’ll let it slide because I was still entertained. I still flew through the book quickly and I’m looking forward to book three!

📚~ Yolanda

Luminous by. Mara Rutherford | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Luminous

Author: Mara Rutherford

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 10/5/21

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Inkyard Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

From the author of Crown of Coral and Pearl comes an immersive new fantasy about a witch who must learn to harness her power–or risk losing her loved ones forever.

Liora has spent her life in hiding, knowing discovery could mean falling prey to the king’s warlock, Darius, who uses mages’ magic to grow his own power. But when her worst nightmare comes to pass, Darius doesn’t take her. Instead, he demands that her younger sister return to the capital with him. To make matters worse, Evran, Liora’s childhood friend and the only one who knows her secret, goes missing following Darius’s visit, leaving her without anyone to turn to.

To find Evran and to save her sister, Liora must embrace the power she has always feared. But the greatest danger she’ll face is yet to come, for Darius has plans in motion that will cause the world to fall into chaos–and Liora and Evran may be the only ones who can stop him.

I definitely requested this from NetGalley because of the cover. It’s not colorful, but I love the aesthetic of it. Also the premise of the story sounded so unique!

Liora has a very interesting and unique power, she is as bright as a star but she doesn’t know much about her powers at all. Her family has kept her hidden to keep her out of danger though so she is very sheltered. The warlock Darius though recognizes her for who she is and interestingly enough, he is the one who can give her clues about her power and it’s origin.

I think the most fascinating thing about this story was Margana, the weaver. She created the Queen and Prince with her powers. That’s pretty amazing and unique. I could see why Darius kept her under his thumb.

I did like the theme of family. Liora did everything to help save her family from Darius’ threats. Evran, Liora’s love interest and Margana’s son, did his best to try and save his mother. So the theme of family is strong in this story.

The romance is sweet, Liora and Evran were friends that turned into lovers.

Triggers: violence

I did not connect to Liora. The most fascinating character for me was Margana because her powers were so unique. Liora is very sheltered and doesn’t know much about the world outside her town – she does grow a bit because she has to save Evran and deal with Darius but I felt like I needed more from her.

Why did Darius remind me of the Darkling from Shadow and Bone? Maybe because he’s lived for a long time, and Liora’s power is light and he wants her for that? Anyway, it kept giving me images of the Darkling.

I wanted more world-building and explanation of the magic system. Evran doesn’t know much about his power, Liora doesn’t either so I just felt like it was vague at times. The ending felt like it was making room for a sequel, but I think this is a standalone.

Why you should read it:

  • Shadow and Bone fan – this has similar themes and villain/Darkling traits
  • easy, quick read – perfect for teens
  • cool magic (my favorite is the weaving)

Why you might not want to read it:

  • it’s a standalone and I think the ending felt like it was left open
  • it’s too similar to Shadow and Bone
  • needs more world building and explanation of magic system

My Thoughts:

I thought this was a fairly enjoyable fantasy despite the issues I had with it. I wish I had connected more to the characters but I thought Margana’s magic was very cool. I think it’s a fantasy that young adults and younger can enjoy because the romance is sweet and the themes center around family.

📚 ~ Yolanda