ReReading Sarah Dessen | Once and For All Tour Event Recap + Giveaway!

Posted June 22, 2017 in Book and Author Events, Features / 1 Comment

Most readers and bloggers can agree that Sarah Dessen is the Queen of Contemporary. Her books have been around long before YA was a well-known genre and I remember her books being some of the first I ventured into in middle and high school summers when the YA section at my local library was lacking and I didn’t even really know what a contemporary novel was. Over the past 12+ years I’ve read and loved almost all of her books, and with Once and for All out this Sarah has surely been on everyone’s mind! Lauren from Bookmark Lit and […]

Event Recap | Royal Bastards Launch

Posted June 21, 2017 in Book and Author Events, Features / 0 Comments

This month I had the opportunity to return to my favorite independent bookstore, Kepler’s, to celebrate the launch of the new fantasy debut by Andrew Shvarts, Royal Bastards. Pitched as “Game of Thrones meets the Breakfast Club,” it focuses on a teenage group of -you guessed it- royal bastards. Since I consider myself a second-hand Game of Thrones fan (Max is an expert on all things A Song of Ice and Fire) I’m excited to dive into this seemingly accessible YA high fantasy novel! Andrew was in conversation with Tara Sim, author of Timekeeper, and she was a fantastic moderator! […]

Missing by Kelley Armstrong | ARC Review

Posted June 19, 2017 in Reviews / 2 Comments

*Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Books for Young Readers for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!* I’ve been a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong ever since I read The Darkest Powers series back in high school, and loved her YA thrilled The Masked Truth (seriously, if you want an INTENSE YA thriller I implore you to go read it immediately). When I saw Missing on NetGalley, I had to snatch it up because I know that if anyone can write a thrilled that’s going to keep my on the edge of my seat and actually raise […]

(Re)Reading Sarah Dessen | Dessen Recommendations and Similar Stories

Posted June 15, 2017 in Features / 3 Comments

May 2017 | Month in Review

Posted June 14, 2017 in Features, Month In Review / 5 Comments

So it’s been a few months since I did a month in review post (since February, actually) however things have been such a whirlwind that it never really felt like the right time to sit down and recap my monthly happenings. With May signaling the end of the spring months and the start of summer, I decided it was the perfect time to jump back on the month in review bandwagon- and boy was this spring a RIDE. May pretty much immediately started with Max and I driving back from YallWest and then the following day my MOST ANTICIPATED […]

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid | ARC Review

Posted June 12, 2017 in Reviews / 4 Comments

*A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review* I fell in love with Taylor Jenkins Reid about a year or so ago, after reading Maybe in Another Life. I loved her ability to write adult fiction that felt relevant to me in my twenties, to developed extremely nuanced relationships and to write protagonists who all felt distinct and yet familiar at the same time. I’ve read almost all of her published works, so when I heard about The Seven Husbands on Evelyn Hugo, I have to […]

(Re)Reading Sarah Dessen | Introduction and Someone Like You Discussion

Posted June 8, 2017 in Features / 3 Comments

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen | (Re-Read) Review

Posted June 5, 2017 in Reviews / 8 Comments

Technically when I picked up Someone Like You this summer, it was a reread since I had read the book previously, probably 10-12+ years ago, back when Dessen’s books were some of the only true YA contemporaries out there. I only vaguely remembered the premise (best friends, teen pregnancy, made into a mediocre movie starring Mandy Moore, etc.) but I’m on a Dessen rereading kick and I’m trying to reread the ones I haven’t recently in chronological order to gear up for a fun Dessen related summer feature with Lauren from Bookmark Lit! Perhaps my strongest experiences while reading Someone […]

Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy | ARC Review

Posted May 31, 2017 in Reviews / 7 Comments

Ramona Blue was the first ARC I picked up at YallWest this year, and also the first one I read. It’s cover, unique title, and the fact that I adored Dumplin’ made me eager to dive into another novel by Julie Murphy. I personally have always been attracted to water more than any other element, so I gravitated toward this book where the protagonist hears the siren song of water in so many ways: in her coastal hometown, in the swimming pool where she works away her stress and fears, and even in the destructive storm and flooding that changed […]

California, Here We Come | YA Books Set in the Golden State

Posted May 29, 2017 in California Here We Come, Features / 19 Comments

It’s probably no secret by now that I am a beloved West Coast native and I LIVE for books set in California. I’m thrilled to see that a golden state setting is becoming more and more common, and will 100% prioritize books set in California on my TBR. I’ve decided to start compiling lists of the top YA books set in California and chronicling them on my blog. Today’s post features all books set in Northern California, and it’s completely coincidental that they are all beautiful shades of sunset orange. Have you read any of the above books? Do you […]