Joy

This was so relatable.

This was such a funny, mysterious but heartfelt story. I didn't read the summary before starting the book because I wanted to be fully surprised and I really was!!
A full review will be up later!

I feel so at peace after reading this book.
I think I might be a little overwhelmed with feelings now, so a coherent review will follow later.

Matt Haig is so good at writing and describing mental illnesses and mental health. He never fails to touch me with his writing.
The setting of the story also is so magical and so thought-through. Just the concept of this whole book is been written down so well.
This book talks about regrets, grief, love, friendship,... in such a wonderful way. I loved going on this quest with Nora Seed.

This is definitely one of my favorite books of 2020.

Thank you to Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved reading it, it was a quick read, the story was fast paced. This story evolves around friendship, love and finding yourself. I loved that aspect of it. I think that Dawn and Autumn were very likeable characters.
However, I thought that Amy and Sawyer were both unlikeable characters. In my opinion, they came across quite egocentric and selfish, which I didn't really like in the story.
I'm also stuck between liking and disliking the fact that everything that the characters dream of in this story just suddenly happens to them, as if it is all ‘meant to be'.

However, I did like the character development from the main characters.

This is a great book if you want to dream away with a story, because that is really what this story does.

This book just wasn't for me...

Thank you NetGalley and She Writes press for giving me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a short and fast paced book, which you could read very quickly.

However, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. Often, I found myself thinking what the point of certain chapters was. I felt like some chapters didn't really go anywhere, and had no real meaning in them (at least to me). I couldn't really link the stories together or make it a coherent piece.

The characters also weren't really likable. I couldn't really connect with any of them in any way.

I give this book 2,5 stars.

I received a partial advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books.

Me, liking a science fiction book? A miracle!
I'm so glad I read this excerpt after the book was fully published, because I'm going to buy the complete book right. now.

The first part of this book is already very intriguing and screams for the book to be read further.

I was quite scared I wouldn't fully understand the story as it is science fiction and difficult (and maybe non-existing) words are mentioned into it. I was surprised to see that I could adapt to this world rather quickly and that I could so enjoy the book further.

I'm very excited to read the full book!

3,5

3,5

Safe to say Colleen Hoover is the only person allowed to break my heart several times.

I'm so happy I got to receive an advanced reader copy of this poetry book in exchange for an honest review.
This is such a pure poetry collection. Reading it, you feel this was written with full honesty by Rajiv. I could feel comfort with nearly every poem. The poem that touched me the most was “Mom, I want to go home”.
In the acknowledgment, Rajiv says that it's okay if you cannot connect to every poem in the collection, I love that this is mentioned clearly, although I felt like I could connect with a lot of the poems.
Rajiv is such an honest poet, and this book touched me to the core of my heart.

This was a very insightful read. It was very short and easy to get through, but at the same it's very educational. I think this is an important book that a lot of people should read to have an insight and the lives of POC. This book teaches a lot about racism, and I think that's very important.
There are some short poems, but also longer ‘essays' but I think there's a nice interplay between them.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

3,5

holy moly, what a rollercoaster. maybe i'm just dumb, but i couldn't predict how everything would work out in the end. i love that. i love that i was not halfway through the book saying: “oh yeah, how obvious, x did it”.
i couldn't get into the story at the beginning, hence why it took me so long to finish this. but i started chapter 10 yesterday evening and i somehow managed to just finish the whole book right now. speaking of a good book if i manage to finish it that quick!

i'm very excited to read the second book in this series!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The book is written very well, and I quickly flew through it.

Hailey was a good representation of a woman in her end twenties trying to figure out life and ‘getting her shit together'. I love how relatable she was at times, and how the author made sure that Hailey wasn't a ‘perfect' character, even though her boyfriend and best friend seem to think so. It was really fascinating to take a look into Hailey's mind.

Hailey, Vivian and Sophie went through an amazing character development, which I love. In my opinion, the other characters were quite flat to me.

From time to time, something unpredictable came up and caught my attention again.

I give this book 3,5 out of 5 stars.

This book really touched me. Since its main topic is COVID-19, I think every reader will relate to one (or more!) of the essays/stories in some way. I think it's beautiful how a team of writers can piece together such a beautiful collection of stories and touch so many readers with it.
Some stories were more relatable to me and touched me more than others, but overall every story had its own beauty and meaning. Each story was unique and honest and I loved that.

4,5

I just like... really had to reread that last part of the book.
Now I'll be off thinking about this book for a long time.

I had never read a poetry book by Alicia Cook before, and now I wonder why.
I absolutely love the concept of this book, and love the execution of it.
The poems are all very wonderful, I bookmarked so much of them. I think my favorite part of the book was side B of the ‘tapes', but I actually just loved the whole book.
I'm also a big fan of the ‘Currently listening to ....' notes on the end of each page, I made a playlist with these songs which I listened to while reading the book.
Last but not least, I think it's very good that a trigger warning is shown at the beginning of the book. I think every author should do this.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

This book contains a lot of good and useful tips to cope with stress.
I read this book during my retakes, a very stressful period, and I will try to implement some of these tips into my life for a more stress-free life!

This book is a very powerful book. As Mayrock says in one of her poems:
“You might believe the words you speak are weak,
but the echoes of words
can start revolutions.”
This is a quote that very much speaks to the book.
I really appreciated the poems in this book, however some of them didn't speak to me.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I really wasn't sure whether I was going to love this book. The concept was great, but I had my doubts.
I was definitely W R O N G. I loved it. This book deals with grief, losing, love, friendship in such a good and beautiful way.

Josie Silver did it again. While he made me dream away with One Day in December, he made me think about lots of important things with The Two Lives of Lydia Bird. I loved it.

An extensive review will be up in the next few days.

Let me start this review by saying: this was by far the most confusing yet intriguing books I ever read.
I loved the concept of this book, being able to skip into alternate universes. I have never read a book with such a storyline, but I really loved it.
The book does deal with very heavy topics, but all these topics were handled very well.
Skipstone's writing style is very beautiful and easy to get through, which is why I flew through the book once I started.
I'll definitely check out Skipstone's first book and am very excited for the second book in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Skipstone Publishing for giving me the chance to read this amazing book.

My heart is broken.