Category: Books

Blog Tour: American Panda by Gloria Chao | Review

Posted February 2, 2018 in Blog Tours, Reviews / 10 Comments
Blog Tour: American Panda by Gloria Chao | Review

I’m so excited to be participating in the blog tour for American Panda! It’s one of my FAVORITE 2018 reads and gets extra points from me because it’s YA set in college (which I love)! I’m thrilled to share all of the things I loved about this debut with you today! A huge thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing an ARC via NetGalley! Don’t let the adorable cover fool you- American Panda was the first 2018 novel I’ve read, and it’s also one of the most honest, interesting, and evocative books I’ve ever read regarding struggling to find […]


Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin | Review

Posted January 29, 2018 in Reviews / 10 Comments
Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin | Review

Aftercare Instructions is the book we need in YA. It’s an honest, vulnerable, frank, and succinct story about family, relationships, and yes, abortion. But it’s not an issue book about abortion. It’s a book about the aftermath, or aftercare, about the thousands of decisions that happen in a family, in a friendship, in a relationship that lead to a single moment or pivotal point. It’s about a person being made of so much more than one action that defines them. It’s a true coming of age novel that’s somehow extremely quick yet tells an extremely in depth story. The story […]


Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart | Review

Posted January 24, 2018 in Reviews / 8 Comments
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart | Review

I think everyone in the book blogging community knows that We Were Liars was an extremely divisive book- bloggers either LOVED it or HATED it. It was my first foray into E. Lockhart’s writing, and I fell firmly into the camp of those who adored it- it was eerie and haunting and the writing was almost otherworldly. So I knew without a doubt that I would be reading Genuine Fraud once I learned of its release. While lacking the mysterious prose style of We Were Liars, it delivered on E. Lockhart’s talent to create a fleshed out mystery in under […]


North of Happy by Adi Alsaid | Review

Posted January 21, 2018 in Reviews / 2 Comments
North of Happy by Adi Alsaid | Review

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! As a reader, I’d been curious about North of Happy for quite a while. I hadn’t read any of Alsaid’s previous work, but I had heard a lot of buzz surrounding both Let’s Get Lost and Never Always Sometimes, so I was surprised that this one had seemed to fly under my radar. I’m also a HUGE fan of FoodNetwork, Chef’s Table, food blogs, etc. so seeing a YA book explore a protagonist with similar interests (and a great deal more talent than […]


Warcross by Marie Lu | Review of Possibly the Most Hyped Book of 2017

Posted January 17, 2018 in Reviews / 5 Comments
Warcross by Marie Lu | Review of Possibly the Most Hyped Book of 2017

In some ways I don’t even know how to begin reviewing Warcross, because there is SO MUCH going on in this book, and it was quite possibly the most hyped book of 2017. It was EVERYWHERE, at every bookish event, conference, or festival people were going crazy trying to get their hands on an ARC. I’ll admit I was wary because I’m not the biggest gamer (I enjoy the Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Nancy Drew, etc. but not really games in the vein of WOW, LOL, etc.) so I didn’t know how much would go over my head. Luckily, Max […]


Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed | ARC Review

Posted January 11, 2018 in Reviews / 1 Comment
Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed | ARC Review

*Thanks so much to NetGalley and Soho Teen for providing an ARC copy for review! What a better way to start 2018 off than to receive one of those coveted emails from NetGalley that one of my “wishes” had been granted? I was jumping up and down with glee when I saw the email come through only a few days into the new year, as Love, Hate & Other Filters is no doubt one of the most coveted YA releases of 2018. I eagerly downloaded the title to my Kindle and read Maya’s story about love, family, fear and hope […]


Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin | Review

Posted January 3, 2018 in Reviews / 7 Comments
Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin | Review

“I refused to be shamed.”- Kindle Edition, Location 3718 Young Jane Young was my first read of 2018, and I couldn’t have asked for a better book to kick off the year with. Funny, feminist, and surprisingly poignant, Young Jane Young is a story about defining oneself, reinventing oneself, and embracing oneself at different points in a woman’s life. Borrowing heavily from the Monica Lewinsky scandal of the 1990s, Young Jane Young focuses on a political scandal with a young 20 year old Jewish intern, Aviva Grossman, who is caught having an affair with the Congressman she interns for (who […]


Far From the Tree by Robin Benway | Review

Posted December 22, 2017 in Reviews / 10 Comments
Far From the Tree by Robin Benway | Review

There’s a reason Robin Benway seems to be winning ALL THE AWARDS this fall for Far From the Tree– it’s a brilliant, emotional, evocative novel that takes a simple yet vast question from its dust jacket- “What does it mean to be a family,” and builds such a beautiful and layered world around exploring the answer, or many different answers between siblings Maya, Joaquin, and Grace. The novel begins with a brilliant parallel foundation of protagonist Grace following the fate of her family pattern and giving birth to her daughter as a teenager. As Grace struggles with the cascade of […]


Book Buddies Review: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Posted December 18, 2017 in Book Buddies Reviews, Reviews / 4 Comments
Book Buddies Review: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Book Buddies is a fun, collaborative review feature that I participate in once a season with my friend Lauren who runs the blog Bookmarklit. We choose a themed book for the season, read it, and then answer fun questions that pertain to the book’s themes and each feature the book in our own way! Check out the second part of our feature on Lauren’s blog! Check out Lauren’s post here! Mini Review While I enjoy Sarah Ockler’s writing, I once again seem unable to truly find my groove with them. I was enticed by Bittersweet from the gorgeous cover, the […]


I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez | Review

Posted December 11, 2017 in Reviews / 3 Comments
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez | Review

*Warning- this review will contain some mild spoilers.* I will be 100% honest and say that this book was not what I was expecting. With the Jane the Virgin reference in the synopsis and the “laugh out loud” funny claim, I was expecting something heavy but with moments of levity and a strong thread of self aware humor throughout, much like the 2018 release American Panda, which also focuses on a protagonist who is a child of immigrants navigating two cultures. However, I found I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter to actually be quite heavy, and at times hard […]