Sadie by Courtney Summers | ARC Review

Posted August 20, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

I literally just finished Sadie about ten minutes before writing this review, and all I can say is…damn. What did I just read? My mind is reeling from the ending and the unsettling nature of the story and the desperation that pervaded the lives of all of the characters…It’s hard to find a book that not only offers something new in terms of plot but also in terms of format, and Sadie does both. Unafraid to tackle terrible, disturbing circumstances, the narrative is brought to life not only by chapters in Sadie’s point of view, but by a mixed media […]

The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood | ARC Review

Posted August 13, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 4 Comments

The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls is pretty much exactly what it looks like from the cover- a cute, summery coming of age novel in the vein of sisterhood of the traveling pants or a Sarah Dessen novel. Split across 4 narratives for the 4 Garret sisters, each protagonist is dealing with some major life changes as they navigate the last summer that they’re all together before one of them leaves home for college. Though a bit predictable and not especially memorable among the many, many YA novels with similar concepts, I did appreciate the feminist narrative voice that […]

Monthly TBR Plan: August 2018

Posted August 8, 2018 in Features, TBR / 10 Comments

I’ve made a lot of reading resolutions, and one of them is to be better about cultivating a monthly TBR. I know so many bloggers do beginning of the month TBR posts and I always LOVE reading them, so I’ve decided to post my own as well! I will include my physical, e-book, and ARC TBRs as well as a status update of where I am prior to starting my upcoming month’s TBR. Reading Progress Prior To This Month: 55/80 Books Read Ok, I’m sorry but how is it August? AUGUST?! We are approaching the last quarter of the year […]

Katie Cotugno Mini Reviews | 99 Days and 9 Days & 9 Nights

Posted August 6, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments

So I’m getting more and more into audio books this summer thanks to Scribd, and when I saw 99 Days I thought I’d give it (another) shot. I had originally tried a trail of Scribd like two years ago but quickly quit because they had moved to a points system I disliked, and never got a chance to try more than on chapter of 99 Days. I had remembered the book causing quite a bit of controversy based on the content, so I decided it was exactly the type of drama I needed to accompany me through my boring commute. […]

June & July 2018 Month in Review

Posted August 1, 2018 in Features, Month In Review / 2 Comments

Can someone pinch me, because I cannot BELIEVE we are heading into the last “official” month of summer. June and July FLEW by and were a whirlwind blur of travel, work, and wedding planning for the most part, so I decided to just combine my monthly wrap ups for both months! Honestly, I probably spent more time on the road the past two months that at home, so I feel like I didn’t do a TON of exciting things. In between work trips I squeezed in a mini Disneyland trip, wedding dress shopping, and the 4th of July (which lets […]

The Good Luck Charm by Helena Hunting | ARC Review

Posted July 30, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 3 Comments

You know when you never knew you needed something in your life, and then once you’ve experienced it you don’t know how you managed to live without it? Well that’s pretty much where I’m at with hockey player centered romances, thanks to The Good Luck Charm by Helena Hunting. Two days after finishing and I still can’t stop thinking about it, despite not knowing a single thing about hockey or having ever really read this genre of romance novel before. The Good Luck Charm has a second chance romance at its center, following Lilah, a nurse in her mid twenties […]

Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert | ARC Review

Posted July 23, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

This year at YallWest I was lucky enough to have a chance to meet Brandy Colbert and receive a signed ARC of her newest novel, Finding Yvonne. I’ve been wanting to read a Brandy Colbert novel for a long time, since I’ve heard amazing things about her ballet book, Pointe. I was excited to pick up this quick contemporary novel that drops some major themes in its synopsis and seemed like it wasn’t afraid to confront controversial topics head on. Finding Yvonne is on the shorter side for a contemporary novel (under 300 pages) but in its pages its able […]

First Half of 2018 Releases I Haven’t Read Yet

Posted July 18, 2018 in Features / 15 Comments

After reading Lauren’s post on January-June 2018 releases she’s surprised she hasn’t read yet, I knew I had to do my own! I specifically have a “2018 Releases” shelf on Goodreads that I use to keep track of my most anticipated new releases, and I was just scrolling through it to other day to see which ones I’ve missed so far. I’m including below the reads I was most excited for that I haven’t gotten around to yet…ideally they will make it onto some upcoming TBR posts! January-February Releases Reign of the Fallen // Honestly I feel like I don’t […]

Dear Martin by Nic Stone | Review

Posted July 16, 2018 in Reviews / 4 Comments

I decided to try Dear Martin on audio because I had heard that it’s a short book that packs an emotional punch, and still being one to ease myself into listening to audiobooks regularly, I was eager to see how a vivid tale could be told in just four short hours. However, Dear Martin doesn’t disappoint and is by far the best contemporary audio book I’ve read so far, as the varied format kept me on my toes and the narrator does a phenomenal job telling the tragic yet extremely important tale of Justyce McAllister. More and more YA books […]

Disneyland Summer 2018 | Blogging Besties Unite

Posted July 11, 2018 in Features, Travel / 3 Comments

If you’ve been around my blog for a while, you’ll know that Max and I make every effort to visit a Disney park at least once per year. Generally we go around Halloweentime (we love the decorations!) but when I heard that Lauren was going to be in SoCal this summer I could not pass up the opportunity to finally meet her in person, and I suggested that her and Chris meet us at the happiest place on earth since they’d never been! What ensued was basically one of the best days EVER. Day 0 Max and I drove down […]