Genre: Family

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: […]

Blog Tour | Save the Date by Morgan Matson

Posted June 6, 2018 in Blog Tours, Reviews / 10 Comments

I could not have been more thrilled to have been selected to participate in the Save the Date Tour, especially as this date holds special meaning to me- today is exactly one year from my wedding date! Thank you so much to Fantastic Flying Book Club for this opportunity! Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo | IndieBound | iBooks For me, books about weddings are right up there with books about royalty or food- they’re indulgent, fun, and never get old no matter how many times I read about them. After recently reading and […]

The Astonishing Color of After | Review

Posted May 7, 2018 in Reviews / 4 Comments

The Astonishing Color of After caught my eye as it’s a mix of a lot of wonderful elements that I hadn’t quite seen put altogether before: magical realism, death & grief, mental illness, and an Asian protagonist. Excited by the synopsis and by the prospect of a setting in Taiwan, I dove into the novel curious to see how all of the elements meshed together. What I encountered was a beautifully written story with vivid settings and prose that was literary without being too weighed down or pompous. A longer contemporary (clocking in at almost 500 pages), there are quite […]

Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch | ARC Review

Posted May 3, 2018 in Reviews / 7 Comments

*A huge thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!* When I saw the corresponding cover of Love & Luck that matched Welch’s charming debut novel, Love & Gelato, I knew I wanted to read it. When I found it out was a spin off of Love & Gelato featuring the protagonist’s best friend, I knew I HAD to read it. I devoured Love & Luck quickly in one short weekend, and have officially decided that Jenna Evans Welch would be my ideal YA European tour guide, and I sincerely hope […]

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover | Review

Posted March 12, 2018 in Reviews / 6 Comments

My first and only experience with a Colleen Hoover book so far has been It Ends With Us which was a solid five star, highly emotional read, so I went into Without Merit equal parts excited + anxious, because I had such high expectations. However, Without Merit bore little to no resemblance to IEWU…in fact, it was pretty much unlike anything I’ve ever read before, and I’m not completely sure if that’s a positive or a negative thing. While reading Without Merit, I sort of felt like I was reading a satire or absurdist novel. The novel focuses on a […]

Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index by Julie Israel | Review

Posted February 19, 2018 in Reviews / 2 Comments

I’ll admit, even if it hadn’t been for my blogging bestie Lauren adoring this book, I was immediately drawn to Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index last year when I first heard about it because I fell in love with the cover. I’m generally not a fan of real people on book covers, but I loved loved loved the juxtaposition of the pink and festive confetti with Juniper’s facial expression- almost like she’s bracing herself for something. This juxtaposition of brightness with anxiety, surprise with resignation, is actually extremely relevant to the themes in the novel, which while functions as a coming […]

Blog Tour: American Panda by Gloria Chao | Review

Posted February 2, 2018 in Blog Tours, Reviews / 10 Comments

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 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 […]

North of Happy by Adi Alsaid | Review

Posted January 21, 2018 in Reviews / 2 Comments

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 […]

Book Buddies Review: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Posted December 18, 2017 in Book Buddies Reviews, Reviews / 4 Comments

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 […]