Lala

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝙿𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚅𝚘𝚕 𝟷 by 𝚄𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜𝚞 ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

➝ • 3/5 ☆ •

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I liked this one, even if it didn’t totally hit the level I was hoping for. The art is genuinely good and fits the tone well, but some of the panel transitions felt a little awkward at times, like the flow wasn’t fully locked in.

The story itself is where it really works. It’s interesting, tense, and has that slow pull that makes you want to keep going. And the cliffhanger absolutely did its job. I enjoyed the read overall, but I expected a bit more from it.

Still excited to get to the novel version, especially now that I’ve seen the world in comic form.

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If you like:

✔️ 𝙴𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚜

✔️ 𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗

✔️ 𝙿𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎

✔️ 𝙲𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚟𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚜

✔️ 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚏𝚏

✔️ 𝙲𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

📅 Pub Day: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟼 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟼 📚

💌 ARC gifted via 𝙴𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚜𝚜 from 𝚃𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚊. All opinions are my own.

🗣 QOTD: Do cliffhanger endings make you excited or irrationally angry?

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ All Expenses Paid by Zoe Rosi ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

• 4/5 ☆ •

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This novella drops you straight into a sun bleached nightmare, luxury on the surface, absolute dread underneath. It has that glossy influencer trip vibe that curdles fast, and the shift from “dream vacation” to “you’re not getting out of this alive” hit exactly the way I wanted.

I love the way Zoe Rosi writes these sharp, vicious little stories. This is my third book from them, and the pacing is always tight: no filler, no downtime, just a steady slide into danger. The whole setup gave me major Hostel energy, but filtered through modern content creator culture, which somehow makes it even more unsettling.

If I’m nitpicking, I wanted a little more depth between the two girls before everything went sideways. But that's also the reality of a novella. There's only so much room before the story has to start breaking things.

Overall, this was quick, brutal, and easy to inhale in one sitting. Zoe Rosi continues to be reliably unhinged in the best way.

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If you like:

✔️ sun drenched horror

✔️ influencer culture

✔️ fast, brutal novellas

✔️ psychological tension

✔️ luxury to nightmare flips

✔️ Hostel adjacent themes

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📅 Pub Day: May 20, 2026 🎧

💌 ARC gifted via NetGalley from Lighthouse Books. All opinions are my own.

•┈๑⋅⋯ Death Do Us by Ruthy Mason ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

➝ • 4/5 ☆ •

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This was a genuinely fun read. The story feels fresh and unpredictable in a way that kept me paying attention, and I enjoyed the writing style. It has that quality where you think about the book even when you aren't reading and you look forward to getting back to it. I NEEDED to see how everything would end.

I can't justify a full five stars, but not for any dramatic reason. It's more of a feeling than a flaw. I enjoyed the ride and I liked the characters, but it didn't quite reach that top tier for me. Still, it's entertaining, clever, and very easy to sink into.

A solid pick for readers who want something fun, a little chaotic, and full of surprises.

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If you like:

✔️ dark humor

✔️ relationship driven tension

✔️ fast paced reads

✔️ unpredictable twists

✔️ light horror elements

✔️ compulsive reading energy

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📅 Pub Day: June 30, 2026 📚

💌 ARC provided via NetGalley from Union Square & CO. All opinions are my own.

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ An Artful Dodge by Karen Odden ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

• 4/5 ☆ •

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This is not my usual kind of book, but once I settled into the storytelling, I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected. Odden’s London is vivid and feels lived in. The noise, the grime, the crowded streets. It's easy to picture Kit moving through it all with the instincts of someone who has survived by being quick and clever.

Kit Jimeson is the heart of the story. She's a talented pickpocket and one of the top earners in an all women thieving ring, but her motivations are simple. Take care of her family and find a way out. She's written with a mix of grit and vulnerability that makes her easy to root for, especially as the pressure around her builds. I liked the tension in her choices, the way she weighs survival against the hope of something better. The stakes rise as Kit realizes how tangled the connections around her really are. The story stays grounded in character, but there are enough twists and turns to keep the momentum moving.

The audiobook narration is excellent. Anna Burnett brings the cast to life with clear, expressive delivery that fits the tone of the world. I was pleasantly surprised by how immersive the audio is. It really adds texture to the setting.

Overall, this is a well crafted historical crime story with a strong sense of place, a compelling heroine, and a cast of women trying to survive a world that gives them very few choices. I'm glad I gave it a chance.

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If you like:

✔️ Victorian heists

✔️ all women crime crews

✔️ morally grey heroines

✔️ historical crime fiction

✔️ stories about survival and loyalty

✔️ immersive audiobooks

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📅 Pub Day: Out Now 🎧📚

💌 ARC gifted via NetGalley from RBMedia. All opinions are my own.

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ Crybaby by Sierra Frank ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

➝ • 5/5 ☆ •

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This one gutted me in that personal way where you don't realize how deep it's cutting until you're already bleeding. It's raw without being performative, emotional without being melodramatic, and written with this soft honesty that feels like someone opening their ribcage and letting you look inside. This book feels like getting dragged through someone else’s coming of age in the worst, most intoxicating way. It’s not a diary. But it reads like someone trying to make sense of their own thoughts, feelings, and wreckage in real time.

Apple is the kind of girl who wants to belong so badly she would follow anyone into the dark. Dahlia and Starr are both beautiful disasters, and she folds herself into their world like it's the only place she's ever been wanted. The book captures that specific girlhood ache; wanting to be chosen, wanting to be seen, wanting to be loved even if it ruins you.

The writing is dreamy and bruised, drifting between motel rooms, strip clubs, late night drives, and the dangerous men who treat girls like currency. It's messy, impulsive, and painfully believable. You can feel the heat, the exhaustion, the bad decisions stacking up until there is no way out that doesn't hurt.

It's not trying to be inspirational. It's not sanitized. It's just honest, and that's what makes it such a hard read.

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If you like:

✔️ feral girlhood narratives

✔️ unhealthy attachment

✔️ the movie Thirteen (Evan Rachel Wood is literally my crush)

✔️ messy teens making worse choices

✔️ toxic friendships

✔️ coming of age gone wrong

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📅 Pub Day: June 1, 2026 📚

💌 ARC gifted via NetGalley from Xpresso Book Tours. All opinions are my own.