Author: Cristina (Girl in the Pages)

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

Posted August 19, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

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 […]

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay | ARC Review

Posted July 29, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments

Patron Saints of Nothing was brought to my attention by the lovely Mel to the Any, so when I attended ALA midwinter this year I couldn’t resist picking up a copy, especially after seeing the striking cover. Though I myself am not Filipino, my husband’s family is and I am making an effort to read more diversely and learn more about his Filipino heritage, so I was excited to read this title that not only explored the experience of a Filipino-American protagonist, but actually explored the current state of the Philippines as well when the protagonist visits his birth country […]

Hope and Other Punch Lines by Julie Buxbaum | Review

Posted July 22, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

How often do we think or speak about 9/11? For an event that was so traumatic and formative, it honestly baffles me how little it came up in my US public school education. Yet I can tell you exactly where I was when I found out about 9/11, even though it was 18 years ago: I was in elementary school, eating breakfast and waiting for my ride to school when my parents frantically called our house landline asking if me, my brother and our babysitter were OK. I remember being confused, I was so young I didn’t know what the […]

YA Fantasy Mini Reviews | The Everlasting Rose and We Set the Dark on Fire

Posted July 15, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

It pains me to rate The Everlasting Rose this way. If you’ve been around my blog the past couple of years, you’ve likely heard me shout about my love for The Belles, and my proclamations that it’s one of my favorite fantasy novels at all time. So it’s heartbreaking for me to report that the sequel fell so flat for me, especially as one of my most anticipated 2019 titles. Max pre-ordered it for me as a birthday gift, and right away I was surprised to see that it looked significantly shorter than its predecessor. Picking up after the conclusion […]

New Release Awareness | Discussion

Posted July 10, 2019 in Discussions / 4 Comments

I’m certainly not the first person in the YA book blogging world to lament the lack of attention many YA titles get when it comes to marketing and release hype, but it really stood out to me recently while reading an ARC I quite enjoyed. I picked up the ARC at ALA Midwinter this year on a total whim- I just saw it sitting in a stack on the publisher’s booth, but there was no signage or advertising for it and no one pitching it or even grabbing it. So I decided to pick it up because I liked the […]

Daisy Jones & The Six | Mini Audio Book Review

Posted July 8, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 3 Comments

I will be the first person to admit that I did NOT think that this book was going to work for me. Though I adored The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I still miss the days when TJR wrote adult contemporary romance and 60s-70s rock isn’t really an era I’m too familiar with (though I do love a good Fleetwood Mac song). I had heard from several reviewers that listening to this book was the way to go (which makes sense considering it’s a book about music) but I was surprised to find that the format was literally in interviews […]

Why Are 4 Star Ratings So Common? (For Me, at Least!)

Posted July 3, 2019 in Discussions / 6 Comments

After returning from my honeymoon, I had a lot of catching up to do in all of my bookish spreadsheets where I track my reading data. As I went through and entered about 2 months worth of reading history, I realized that I was rating SO many books 4 stars. Star ratings have always been a controversial topic in the book blogging world, with some bloggers forgoing them all together and others having completely different criteria for the numeric value they give a book. I decided to take a look at my prior year’s star rating history to see if […]

Past Perfect Life by Elizabeth Eulberg | ARC Review

Posted July 1, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

I didn’t know much about Past Perfect Life when I saw it sitting inconspicuously at a booth at ALA this winter. The cover was interesting and I heard it compared to Far From the Tree by Robin Benway (a phenomenal book) so I decided to pick it up and try it out. I’m so glad I did, because I flew through Past Perfect Life in less than 24 hours and was fully immersed in the tale of Allison Smith and how her life is completely destroyed and rebuilt by the simple action of submitting her college applications. Things I Enjoyed: […]