Tag: contemporary fiction

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto | Review

Posted July 5, 2021 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve recently discovered the cozy/humorous mystery genre, and have been consistently delighted with the genre’s irreverent, laugh out loud antics and outlandish premises. Dial A for Aunties fits the bill perfectly, and despite a slow start once they mystery got going I was so amused I could not put it down! The story centers on protagonist Meddy who has stayed in her Southern California town with her mother and aunties despite her aspirations for a bigger and better life outside of her tight knit family structure. While she at times resents staying home and working in the family wedding business, […]

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord | Review

Posted May 18, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 5 Comments

It seems like Tweet Cute has been everywhere so far this year- popping up on my Twitter feed (how appropriate), mentioned on Instagram, and gushed about across multiple blogs I follow, praising the cute romance and plethora of grilled cheese. I anxiously awaited my library to have it available via Libby and eagerly devoured it (no pun intended) as soon as my hold came in! While I have felt in recent years that I’m become burnt out on high school contemporary YA romances, Tweet Cute was refreshing, fun, and overall adorable. Reasons to Read Tweet Cute Rivalry: The entire premise […]

Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas | Review

Posted April 20, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 3 Comments

Never have I read a book that has made me so hungry. I love YA books centered on food and am quite the foodie despite not really cooking much myself (I blame an obsession with Food Network shows) so I adore books about aspiring chefs. I’ve read quite a few over the years and have never found one with such vivid food descriptions as Salty, Bitter Sweet. In addition to the mouthwatering food descriptions, I genuinely enjoyed the story, which follows a half Latinx protagonist spending the summer in Europe…this book really had almost all of my favorite things! The […]

Little White Lies (Debutantes #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Review

Posted January 27, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 4 Comments

Debutantes, high Southern society, and a mystery are all right up my alley when it comes to premises for YA novels, so I was so looking forward to Little White Lies which gave me major Pretty Little Liars vibes. Jennifer Lynn Barnes did not disappoint, with a YA novel that focused on strong female characters, high society scandals and some serious twists at the end! Plot Like any good YA mystery book, Little White Lies has a somewhat absurd (in the best way) premise. Sawyer, independent daughter of a flaky single mom living above a bar and working as an […]

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 […]

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay | ARC Review

Posted July 29, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

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 […]

In Dog We Trust by Beth Kendrick | Black Dog Bay #5 ARC Review

Posted December 17, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments

So in typical fashion, I found out that the Black Dog Bay series which I love dearly had a new installment thanks to Lauren @ Bookmark Lit who is probably responsible for a solid 25% of the books on my TBR shelf at any given moment. I hit that NetGalley request button SO FAST you don’t even know. So over Thanksgiving break I was spending yet another summer in my beloved East Coast seaside town of Black Dog Bay on another truly puppy filled adventure. The newest series installment follows Jocelyn, a local Black Dog Bay resident, who runs a […]

Sarah Dessen Mini Reviews: Keeping the Moon & This Lullaby

Posted December 3, 2018 in Books, Reviews / 4 Comments

I can’t believe that Keeping the Moon is almost 20 years old! Every summer I set out to reread a Sarah Dessen book or two (the goal being that I’ve reread all in recent memory) and it always blows me away that Sarah’s been writing for so long, and how her stories do feel so timeless despite their age. Keeping the Moon is no exception, and I was curious to see how I would like it as I barely remembered anything since the last time I read it was probably back in 2004 and I remembered it not being my […]

The Royal Runaway by Lindsay Emory | ARC Review

Posted October 29, 2018 in Reviews / 8 Comments

*Huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an review copy free of charge!* If you know my reading tastes at all, you know that word “royals” in a contemporary novel hooks me every.single.time. That’s why I’ve had my eye on The Royal Runaway for a while now, and it’s comp titles are The Princess Diaries and The Royal We (two of my favorite contemporary reads EVER) so I screamed when I was approved for it on NetGalley and immediately dove in once I knew I had some good, solid uninterrupted reading time. The Royal Runaway features a […]

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 […]