Month: August 2019

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen | In Which I Fall In Love With Dessen’s Summer Stories Again

Posted August 26, 2019 in Bookish Thoughts, California Here We Come, Reviews / 6 Comments

I think there are few adult readers in the YA communities that didn’t grow up with Sarah Dessen being a staple on their summer reading list. Whether it was set on the shores of the lake in Colby or in the quiet suburban streets of Lakeview, reading her novels are like coming home to one of the best summers of your teenage life. I was, however, a little scared that this magic was starting to wear off when I was terribly underwhelmed with Once and For All and then reread This Lullaby and could not fathom why it was a […]

A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers #1) by Brigid Kemmerer | ARC Review

Posted August 19, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 5 Comments

I love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling. In fact, most of my all time favorite fantasy novels are Beauty and the Beast retellings (ACOTAR, Cruel Beauty, etc), so I had pretty high hopes going into A Curse So Dark and Lonely. Coupled with the fact that it merges a fantasy world with the modern world, I knew I was going to enjoy my first reading experience with Brigid Kemmerer’s work. As with any Beauty and the Beast retelling, the story follows an intelligent and young protagonist, Harper, who is taken against her will from her home of Washington […]

The Undoing of Thistle Tate by Katelyn Detweiler | ARC Review

Posted August 11, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments

*Thank you so much to Holiday House Publicity and the Publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!* I’ve been a fan of Katelyn Detweiler’s since I read her debut novel, Immaculate, which explored themes of faith, religion, and miracles in modern society. I found it incredibly well written and thoughtful in its approach to question the inexpiable. So when I was offered the opportunity to read her newest novel that provided an inside look into the publishing world, I quickly accepted. The Undoing of Thistle Tate follows Thistle, a prolific teen author who has penned […]

The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

Posted August 5, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments

I can’t quite remember how The Exact Opposite of Okay made it onto my TBR, but I found myself downloading it to my Kindle in preparation for my honeymoon as I wanted to be stocked with YA contemporary reads for the long plane rides ahead of me. I went into the story with little to no expectations and was surprised to find that it had a journal format (something that’s not as common in YA these days, though it was hugely popular in the early 2000s). I settled in for a story that honestly reminded me of a more crass […]