Jenn

I loved this story! It was interesting and fast-paced, with a believable romantic arc. There were plot twists and intrigue to keep you chasing the words down the page to the end.

I found out later that this was a spin-off novel from the Jennifer Armentrout's Lux series, but it reads well as a stand-alone. But I would be remiss if I didn't admit that I want to go right out and gobble up the Lux series now, too. I also really hope that these characters appear in subsequent novels!

I think the relationship between Evie and Luc is my perfect blend of intriguing bad-boy with a heart of gold, and spunky heroine who doesn't let him walk all over her. Evie's relationships with her friends and mother also felt very authentic and well thought-out.

This was a book that started off fairly strong, but ended even better. It went from 4 stars, to 4.5, straight to a 5 star book that I must own. Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to read this!

I am loving this series! I love how unique the characters are and the way the worlds come alive. This is a very immersive story and this book, more than the two that came before, shows a lot more of the different worlds and paints them well.

Each book in the series started with a strong quality, then built upon it. The first was great at character development and motivation. The second was great at mood and setting. And this one excelled at world-building.

Also, the primary setting for the book was the world of Confection, which was perfect to be reading on Halloween, where everyone is Trick-or-Treating for candy!

Three books into this series and I'm definitely putting it on my list of books to own in physical format.

This was a very interesting story and a great one to have read the day before Halloween!

It's about a girl who had entered a doorway and found herself in a fantastical new land. She adapted to this new land and loved being there. But now she's back in the real world, and she is having a hard time adjusting to mundane life. Her parents send her to the school for Wayward Children, which poses as a school meant to rehabilitate children who have been “lost” for a period of time. And this is where our story begins.

I loved the unique characters in this story, they were quite original and each had their own motivations and secrets. The world building was great, very detailed, but it left you with enough of a mystery to want to keep discovering more.

There was a mysterious danger in the story, which prompted much of the action in the book. I could tell where it was headed to a degree fairly early in, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Some people say that the POV was distracting, but I read this as an audiobook and was able to immerse myself in this world quite easily.

This was one of my favorite stories from childhood. Reading it again as an adult, I still enjoy it, but can recognize now several problematic elements, including - glaringly - several instances of lack of consent and gross deception/outright lies and manipulation. A lot of that seems to come hand-in-hand with the historical romance genre, likely as a result of reflecting the societal norms of the time, E.g. where women were treated as property of their fathers/husbands.

This was a compelling collection of short passages that tell experiences within Trauma Room Two from a variety of perspectives: the doctor, the patient, support staff....

Emotions, not medicine, were the focus of each of the stories, which really helped the reader to connect. While each story was fairly short, there was something challenging about it that made you think about the issue or the perspective presented.

This was a basic introduction to the topic of seeds and plants, geared toward children. I enjoyed the photographs, which were vibrant and detailed - great macro shots. While this book was rather short and simplistic, I think it could inspire young readers to want to learn more about the subject.

I enjoyed this book far more than I was expecting to. To be frank, I expected it to be rather dry. To my surprise, it was quite entertaining while still informing me about all of the amazing things that Ben Franklin was responsible for. This is the kind of biography that you want to introduce your children to!

This is a solid story - biography, really. It tells the story of an indigenous boy taken away from his home land to Victorian England. The story is told in few words, but it is really the evocative illustrations in this book that makes this book great. I read this book to Gabby as last in a series of books we read that night, and by the time we got to this one, she was more interested in making up her own stories than listening to this one. However, these illustrations grabbed her imagination and she was able to tell her own fantastic tale and took pleasure in examining the details in the images. There were some which were magnificently detailed and full of things to look at. There were others which were stark and almost monochromatic. All of these tied in nicely with the emotions of Jemmy during his travels.

This was a delightful book about Halloween! I thought the illustrations were adorable and loved the children's interactions with each other and their parents. I thought the Halloween snacks they made out of fruits were very clever - only to find out from the author's intro that she studied nutrition and dietetics! I definitely have to snag a copy for Gabby now!

This was a fantastic, edge-of-your-seat, engaging story! It hooked me in from the beginning and kept up the fast pace and startling reveals right to the end. It has a similar feel as Ready Player One without the time-period nostalgia. The descriptions of the world were so lush and vivid, I could almost see it. This would make a fantastic movie adaptation.

While I couldn't really get into the plot of the book, I do love the illustrations. They are both cute and expressive. After a while, I gave up on trying to figure out what was going on and just skimmed the text, enjoying the images.

This was an interesting take on a Choose Your Own Adventure style book. It sought to inform you about the history of the ninja, as well as entertain you. Unfortunately for me, I died. However, I died an honorable death and saved the person that I was entrusted to protect.

I enjoyed this book because I felt it was very evocative of my summers growing up, where my mother would plant a large garden and we kids would see the different plants growing and ripening at different times during the growing season.

This book definitely had an Asian-style spirituality about it, with a definite message about a harmony with Mother Nature. Perhaps in part due to this, I think it would almost appeal to adults more than children, although children can definitely learn about the life cycles of plants and where veggies come from by looking at this book.

The illustrations look deceptively simple, but there is a grace and beauty to them that keeps you looking again.

This is a really adorable, clever, funny book! And the illustrations are just darling!

This is a book that I can see myself reading over and over to the girls. There are some obvious gags, but some more subtle ones that they may not catch until they mature a bit and are able to read between the lines a little.

I like the message that it has as well - you may not be athletic or gifted in a certain area as you may want, but there's something about you - even if you consider it to be a flaw - that can bless the world.

I'll admit, for the first third or so of this book, I was really hating it. I hated how Emma was acting and the story was frustrating. I nearly gave up on her. But, then - finally - it started turning around and I was able to start rooting for her again. There were several times where I didn't know how the relationships would turn out, and I didn't know which relationship I wanted to see continue and which I wanted to end.

I couldn't grab the sequel to Reason to Breathe quick enough! The story and characters were compelling and I was hooked.

This book only heightened my concern for Emma and the decisions that she was making - just when I thought the worst was over! The tension and pace were great.

I had gotten this as an audiobook from Audible a while ago and for some reason was reluctant to listen to it. I'm not sure why I felt this way, but whenever I'd look at my play list, I had the impression that this wasn't going to be the best story, and I'd but it off.

I'm glad that I finally gave it a chance! This was a great story and kept it's suspense and pace up throughout. You always knew that something would happen which would prompt more abuse, but you never knew what the trigger would be, so just like Emma, you had a certain level of fear and wariness at all times.

I can sympathize with people who critique this book for being too much of an exact rewrite of a lot of the dialogue that occurs in Beautiful Disaster. It's not as much of an issue for me, as I don't particularly eschew repetition, especially for something that I'm really into.

I don't think that we gained a lot of additional perspective that we didn't have before, but I was happy to be spending additional time with the characters that I've come to love.

I know there are a lot of people out there who criticize this book for portraying an unhealthy relationship, and there were certainly many things about it which were unhealthy. However, this book got high ratings from me because I just loved the interaction between Abby and Travis. I literally had a smile plastered on my face for most of the time I was reading the book. Their verbal sparring was exactly my brand of humor/sarcasm.

I also quite enjoyed that while Travis was made out to be an alpha-male, who is basically incapable of being defeated, Abby was not portrayed to be a weak female. She was as strong or stronger than Travis in her way and was quite brilliant in her own ways.

Abby has a couple different paths that her relationships can go during the course of the book and I waited for the author to make one choice or the other to be closed irrevocably, but in the end, the choice and the struggle was within Abby - whether she was going to go with the version of herself that she has tried so hard to recreate, or if she was going to forgive her past and allow herself to live in a world similar to the one she has been trying for so long to leave. This felt very real - there's often multiple different choices that you can make in life and end up fairly well. It's rare that the choices before you are 99 villains and 1 prince. Usually it's more like 3 stable boys and you're the awkward girl-next-door.

I liked that this book had a teen male POV - not common in YA fiction - and one which felt authentic. However, I kept waiting for some big reveal or plot twist, but this never came.

The cover photo and title led me to think that something big or ominous or momentous was coming, but it felt very... blah. It wasn't a horrible read and it went by fairly quickly, but it was ultimately forgettable.

This book deals with a taboo romance between an adult male and a very young child. It starts as a sweet, protective friendship with each person providing emotional fulfillment for the other, but then crosses a line of propriety. You are given enough insight into each characters thoughts to understand that nothing sinister is intended, but as a reader, it is an uncomfortable position to be in.

Wavy as a child was a much more interesting character than Wavy as a later adolescent. About halfway through the book, I started to lose interest and started to desire that Wavy move on with her life quickly, so that I could do the same.

At the end of the novel, I could admire Wavy's persistence and grit, but I was missing the emotional connection and empathy for her that I had at the start of the book. If it was written to show more of her emotional vulnerability at this point, I might have been more engaged in the story.

I brought over 3 different library books to read with Gabby. This one was the first one that she picked to read.

I loved the story. It was about a little tree who was afraid to give up his leaves. Ultimately, it was a moral story about having to take a risk in order to grow and change, and how holding on too tightly can stunt your personal growth.

The illustrations were very cute. Gabby liked trying to determine which tree was Little Tree on each page and seeing what the squirrels were doing.

Everything that I loved about Crazy Rich Asians was continued in China Rich Girlfriend. The characterizations were fantastic and made me invest in even unlikable characters. It had the right mix of humor, information, snobbery, and surprise to keep me turning the pages until the end. This is definitely a series that I'll want to have on my bookshelf!

I loved the glimpse into the lifestyles of the uber-rich. This was a very fun, interesting, quick read that gave a different perspective. It's always good to see cultures and customs outside of those you were raised with and this was no exception. I loved the characters and their reactions felt authentic. I watched the movie shortly after completing this book and felt that it was fairly faithful to the spirit of the novel.

It is also quite funny. Case in point: “NEVER, EVER wear green chiffon unless you want to look like bok choy that got gang-raped.”

I loved the characterizations in this book. The way each person responded felt authentic to who they were supposed to be. They were layered and complex and their personal histories influenced their present day actions, which while common in daily life, is hard to bring out in a novel. I love how the title of the book not only refers to the beginning and end of the story, but also the “little fires” within each person's life. Everyone has their own troubles and burdens to bear, and no one's life is as perfect as it may appear from the outside.