Thank you to the publishers & TJ for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Terry does it again in another thrilling installment to the Alex Wise sThank you to the publishers & TJ for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Terry does it again in another thrilling installment to the Alex Wise series. Alex is back with his friends still continuing the mission to stop the Horsemen from completing their plans for the Apocalypse. Fresh off of a major betrayal and still very much insecure about being the child savior of the universe, we see Alex doubting himself more than ever. His relationships seem fragile. He’s not sure where he belongs in this grand plan for the universe and he doesn’t feel like the “superhero” everyone makes him out to be. He’s just a kid with huge responsibilities on his shoulders.
I’ll say it a million times but I always get inspired reading these books. Inspired to see people in different ways as well as inspired to believe in myself and others. Alex is a hero every child can look up to. He is flawed in a way we all are but he’s eager to learn and grow. We get lessons of listening to others and allowing yourself time and grace to heal. We also have to remember that everyone here is a child and needs even more time for these things.
The major plot twist at the end had me shook yet again like the last book. I’m over here eager for book 3 before 2 is even released. The TJ Verse has no limits and I’m here for every single thing that is created. Love you TJ and thank you again!!...more
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
I was sucked in by this cover and the summary and I was extremThank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
I was sucked in by this cover and the summary and I was extremely happy I got an ARC.
This was a sad and beautiful story about abuse and love. Madelyn and Riley both had abusive mothers in different ways. I felt so bad for Riley and Sam the more we learn about their mother. Uncle Toby was badass and awesome. He stepped into the role of a parent so quickly and he left college just to help his sister. That is amazing. The love he had for his sister and the love Riley had for Sam was a huge part of the plot. Riley never saw Sam as a burden and did all she could to protect her. The relationship they had was the opposite of Lillian and Camille.
Madelyn is a strong person and she was so cool in fighting her mother and her mother’s abuse. I love a story where the main character fights against their abusers. Also, there’s barely any romantic interaction between Madelyn and Riley so if you were looking for a magical sapphic story this probably won’t be it. This is mostly about taking back your freedom and learning to hardness the power inside you. And hurting those who have hurt you....more
My favorite Justine Pucella Winans book so far! Full of Justine’s signature heart and humor, I found myself invested with Gigi and the gang from the bMy favorite Justine Pucella Winans book so far! Full of Justine’s signature heart and humor, I found myself invested with Gigi and the gang from the beginning.
From Bianca to River and now Gigi, Justine knows how to write awkward and lovable MCs. I couldn’t help but laugh and cringe with Gigi. She knows when to laugh at herself and can be a bully to those she loves, much like me. I enjoyed her family dynamic and the openness of her parents was so refreshing to see.
I understand Gigi wanted to gravitate towards people who don’t see her as the bad guy, like Mr. Ford. Him being murdered would have crushed my spirit as well. I clocked she murderer early on, but was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t all what it seemed. Kudos to throwing a bit of a twist in there.
I also could tell who had a crush on Gigi from a mile away. It was actually painful to see how oblivious she was being. But I also very much appreciate the aroace rep the book had!
If you enjoy cats, bad puns, and queers solving crime, this is the book for you!!
Merged review:
My favorite Justine Pucella Winans book so far! Full of Justine’s signature heart and humor, I found myself invested with Gigi and the gang from the beginning.
From Bianca to River and now Gigi, Justine knows how to write awkward and lovable MCs. I couldn’t help but laugh and cringe with Gigi. She knows when to laugh at herself and can be a bully to those she loves, much like me. I enjoyed her family dynamic and the openness of her parents was so refreshing to see.
I understand Gigi wanted to gravitate towards people who don’t see her as the bad guy, like Mr. Ford. Him being murdered would have crushed my spirit as well. I clocked she murderer early on, but was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t all what it seemed. Kudos to throwing a bit of a twist in there.
I also could tell who had a crush on Gigi from a mile away. It was actually painful to see how oblivious she was being. But I also very much appreciate the aroace rep the book had!
If you enjoy cats, bad puns, and queers solving crime, this is the book for you!!...more
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!
I am a F.T. Lukens stan. Nothing but hits for 4 books. I liveThank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!
I am a F.T. Lukens stan. Nothing but hits for 4 books. I live for everything they put out. I was super psyched when this book got announced and it lived up to the hype in my head. First, the cover is perfect. Beautiful and whoever does this art deserves the world and more.
I love found family books and yes this counts even if it is their actual family. Charley and Zada seemed cool as heck and I’d love to hang out with them. Ellery seemed grumpy at times and there were times I thought it came off as annoying, but I also recognize that behavior in my own personality and I have to sit back. Knox was fun and he seemed like such a sweet and loyal guy. I also love how golden his eyes are on the cover.
The way the supernatural beings were described were super cool too. I would love to know that the world is actually just full of strange little beings I can be friends with. I wish we could have seen even more of them.
I will ALWAYS cry when the ending is adorable and this did not disappoint. Magic and love always win for me....more
So happy I can be the first review for this book! After The Getaway, I knew I would be a huge Lamar Giles fan. The level of intensity and violence thaSo happy I can be the first review for this book! After The Getaway, I knew I would be a huge Lamar Giles fan. The level of intensity and violence that book had made my heart race with anxiety. This sounded like a perfect mixture of horror and supernatural elements that pulled me in and didn’t let me go. I also absolutely love the cover. It captures the entire story so well.
I’ll start by saying I went through so many emotions. Anger, sadness, and heightened anxiety. My heart was picking up like crazy. There was so much going on that calling what would happen was almost impossible. I called one plot point which broke my heart but everything else just kind of blew my mind. Cade is such a lovable person that the fact this is happening to him hurts so much. He only wants to get through school and get a football scholarship to help his family and friends. To do right by his community. He’s treated differently at school for being one of the only black students and treated like a criminal in public for being a big black teenager. Why wouldn’t he wish that people weren’t afraid around him? I’ve always liked the money’s paw storylines and this one was done so well. The supernatural elements to this were so well done. You see little bits and pieces throughout the book and when it all fits together it starts to make so much sense. The level of violence wasn’t as extreme as his last book, but one scene was so intense I was gasping.
Cade’s love for his family and his friends was admirable. He was willing to do anything and everything for those around him. The micro aggressions and full on racism that was displayed towards him made my blood boil. I wanted to throw something at everyone in that stupid school. The teachers too?! Like come on. And that stupid kid who got in his face and said absolutely nothing and got everyone to clap for him. I would have shoved him down some stairs. And Brady. Jeez Brady. What can you even say to him?
The bittersweet ending got to me. I wasn’t sure how I was feeling. Much like The Getaway, you just want what’s best for our MCs. They are innocent and have done nothing wrong. But things can’t be ok in the worlds that Lamar Giles has created....more
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review! Also thank you Sher for sending me a link!
I was a huge fan ofThank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review! Also thank you Sher for sending me a link!
I was a huge fan of Sher’s debut book. This was such a pleasant surprise and perfect timing that Sher reached out for me to read and review her sophomore novel.
I’m unfamiliar with the original story this was adapting, but it seemed like a very interesting tale. This was a quick read and I was thankfully able to finish it in a day.
I went back and forth on Xian. In the beginning he was so sweet but he still had moments that made me question him. After a while I was frustrated with him. The way he and Zhen flip flopped gave me whiplash. Zhen was the same throughout the whole book so I appreciated that. He was so cute and forgiving almost to an infuriating degree.
I expected the villain but the twist about it was very well done. Didn’t see it coming at all.
I’m always here for a queer historical romance, so this was right up my alley. Thank you so much again!...more
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
3.5 stars
The things I enjoyed: the character development. I Thank you to Edelweiss and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
3.5 stars
The things I enjoyed: the character development. I wasn’t sure I was going to like Drew. I actually hated her. But her progression was so good! The friend group seemed kind of stale. I wanted to know more about them and they didn’t get any development because the focus was on Drew and Devon. I liked the feeling of community this book has as well. I never had people I lived near who I saw daily and our parents had a group chat. I never felt that connection to anyone. It’s refreshing to see. There were also moment where it was super funny and I was laughing from their antics and conversations. I loved how queer it was as well. And the cover! It’s so eye catching and does a good job portraying the story.
Things I didn’t like: It was just so cliche! I love a good cliche, but this was so predictable I was hoping my guesses wouldn’t hit. I was right about everything. There were some good twists in there that caught me, but after that it just kept piling on with predictability. I guess I’m too used to horror movies and their tropes.
I’m super disappointed I didn’t like this as much as I wanted to. I’m looking forward to more from Joelle. Queer YA horror is my favorite thing and I’m begging more people to write more of it!! ...more
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This book fucked me up. In a good way. In the best waThank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
This book fucked me up. In a good way. In the best way. I’m haunted. It’s heartbreaking, disturbing, tragic, devastating, and somehow hopeful. Sophie mirrored so much of myself and my thoughts from so long ago. I eat any book with religious trauma up. After reading Maeve Fly last year, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this author. A book that ripped my heart out and put it back in I did not expect.
First we say we love Barghest. I saw so many reviews say this and I mirror it. What a good boy. Literally everyone was so amazing. I loved Cleo the most. Fitting the big sister role who could tell you amazing life advice and then show you how to kill someone. Ben was solid and I’m so glad they found each other. Maro as well. He’s a real one.
Having the main character be 16 was a good move. We see everything through the eyes of a child. She’s frightened and questioning everything she’s ever known. Sinning, Hell, Heaven, God. Who’s good and who’s bad. What makes us rotten? At the root of this, Sophie is searching a hellscape for her twin brother. Her other half. The one her parents tossed aside. She is risking everything to find him. I was sobbing through this. I will say I loved this book and it is a favorite and nobody can tell me otherwise. Another great entry for C.J. Leede....more
I really fell in love with this cover and the prospect of it being a queer feminist remaking of The Mis“They called us witches, so witches we became”
I really fell in love with this cover and the prospect of it being a queer feminist remaking of The Mist. While it was queer and feminist, I didn’t really get The Mist vibes. There was a mist, however, if you want to count that. I saw some reviews say they didn’t like the characters, but I actually did. Harper was really annoying and oblivious with Gavin in the beginning and I was furious at her when Nell was trying to talk to her about her trauma, but after a while she at least owned up to her screw ups and behavior. Gavin made my skin crawl from the beginning and I knew before it even started where it was going to go. I can’t even imagine how many unfortunate people he hurt in the same way. It made me sick.
The heart of this story is rooted in sexual assault and “boys will be boys” mentality. Everyone has an experience. We are filled with rage and longing for things to be right. This story is powerful and necessary. While there are parts in it that were annoying, I really enjoyed the overall messages and themes of sisterhood. Also I identified with Nell so much. A horror writer that hasn’t been able to write? Been there, done that....more
Why does it mention so much that Lucy has red hair and she’s blonde on the cover? I really really wanted to love this book and just couldn’t. The writWhy does it mention so much that Lucy has red hair and she’s blonde on the cover? I really really wanted to love this book and just couldn’t. The writing was not my cup of tea. This really felt like a Disney book in the worst way. Every parent here SUCKED. Why did they say don’t get involved and just leave their kids to do whatever with no supervision? If you don’t want them to be involved maybe you should watch them? Also why couldn’t Lucy’s mom just talk to her?! It was so frustrating how much she tiptoed around everything. You drag your daughter to a trip on spring break and explain NOTHING and then just never talk to her about anything? I do not understand. She’s gone for most of the book investigating and then when she’s around she’s acting dodgy and weird instead of just explaining things so her daughter didn’t want to figure it out herself and then she’s mad and surprised? I also think that the author wasn’t sure how to make Lucy. She’s supposed to be afraid of everything and squeamish but she stands up to everyone and runs at intruders? The whole scardey cat thing lasted like a day. She was there for less than a week. Completely wild. Honestly the twist at the end was pretty good at least.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Well I flew through this book. I wasn’t expecting to like it Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Well I flew through this book. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, but I should have considered since it’s Adib Khorram. Since reading his Darius books back in 2022, I will read anything and everything he puts out. This was an adorable addition.
I don’t know how I felt about all the random words being crossed out everywhere. I know it was probably to make it look like a list or something, but it was a little weird. I love a good romcom, and this one had all of the usual workings as well as some moments that truly made me furious. Jasmine was the most annoying person ever throughout the whole book and I’m not really sure if I can forgive her in the end. She’s just a really bad sister. I also got weird anxiety reading because I knew something bad was going to happen eventually. Why do romance books always need third act breakups?!
I liked how this explored Jackson being deaf and how people treated him for it. The way people would speak slowly or treat him like he was stupid instead of just repeating themselves to him. The fact that none of his family had learned sign language. Liam was such an adorable golden retriever boyfriend. His character was my favorite. I also really liked Bowie and a few of the minor characters that we don’t really see that much of.
Adib’s writing is incredible and I’m so excited for his adult debut later this year. This one has a lot of heart and great storytelling and is full of amazing rep of different kinds....more
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