Karissa

This was an interesting read. I was not expecting the twist at the end. Oh my goodness. It was a really quick read and if I hadn't read it interrupted, it probably would've only taken me 5-6 hours? So if you're looking for something small to dive into, I'd definitely give this one a go. Some of the narrative was repetitive with certain background pieces being repeated over and over throughout the book (e.g. the MC mentioning how much she needs the money and how broke she is). Overall though, it was a good read and I'd recommend it to someone who likes mystery/thrillers with light suspense.

Easily this book is a 4.5 out of 5 for me. From the very first page, I was hooked. I read this book as an audiobook, which is narrated by the author himself. The performance was outstanding. It really was like reading a letter from a friend. It wasn't needlessly overcomplicated and THE PLOT TWISTS! I just.. wow. This book was great and I recommend it to everyone, especially to those who love a good character journey. It was like the Odyssey– but with the end of the world.. and dogs. ♥

An Anonymous Girl was.... okay? If I was to give it a grade, I'd say it was a solid C. Average, but C's get degrees, right? I like a good, high-stakes thriller and I just... didn't feel it. It all just felt kinda.. flat. It was a decent read but nothing special, in my opinion.

Being a Vegas girl, VGK has made hockey a pretty popular and common topic in every day life. So color me happy when Chelsea Dolling's smutathon video introduced this book to me. The plot sounded absurd enough that I wanted to see where it went. And boy, it..... went.

There were some obvious flaws in the writing– the characters, even the two main characters, felt very.... flat and one dimensional. There were glimpses of depth to them, but not enough that I really became attached to them. You could have replaced Rory and Max's names with.. really anything else and it would not have affected the book at all, which is sad. The side characters, I felt, only existed as archetypes, stereotypes, and points to drive the absurd plot further. I'd say a good... 80% of the time, their actions were unbelievable, unrealistic, and, like I said, only there to propel Rory and Max to their ultimate finale. It also didn't help that everything, compared to the latter half of the book, felt slow in pace and then suddenly everything is a whirlwind of action and only to result in a dissatisfying ending. I like a sappy, happy ending as much as the next person, but for everything to go completely sideways and then be wrapped up in a neat little bow.... I don't know. It frustrated me.

Despite this, this book hovered around a 3/5 for me for a good 40-50% of the book just simply because it had sucked me in. There were glaring problems but I couldn't stop reading. But the last, I'd say 25-30% of the book pretty much ruined it for me and knocked it down. While there were unrealistic bits throughout the story, the latter half of the book cranked the surrealism all the way up to 11 and then broke the rating system. I would go into specifics because it would lead to spoilers for those who want to give this book a shot, but there are events that happen towards the end that just left me sitting there saying, “You really just threw everything at the wall to see what would stick, huh?” The latter half of the book was so incredibly frustrating and I actually vocalized my frustration, loudly, a lot, (much to the chagrin of my pets who just wanted to nap, haha).

The fact that I could not put the book down and it made me feel something at all is why it gets 2 stars, honestly.

The best word to describe this book is cute. Did it have all your typical romance troupes? Yes. Were some parts of the storyline predictable and others completely unrealistic? Yes. Did I still enjoy it? Yes. It was a cute, fluffy romance with a smattering of sexual tension and angsty build up. What I appreciated about the book was that it wasn't until.... I want to say 83% in or so that sex was had. From my experience, it's pretty typical for romance books to have sexy times pretty much at the beginning, middle, and end of the book, multiple times. So it was nice to have a book where, yes, clearly you knew it was going to happen, but, to put it bluntly, smut didn't drive the plot.

I'm not okay. Absolutely not. I need Book 3 ASAP.

A twisted take on some classic fairytales. I enjoyed that each chapter was its own story, but that each one connected and built off of each other. Frank was definitely my favorite. I really hope there will be a second book because I want more of the Bastard Champions.

This book was... truly amazing. It was perhaps the only BN Book Club Book aside from Island of Sea Women that I would reread. It was real and raw and heartbreaking at times. I 100% recommend anyone to read it.

A lot can be said for this book. It reads like a novel as the story of Israel Keyes and his crimes unfold. I hadn't heard of Keyes before this book and now, having read it, I'm incredibly interested to see what the FBI is able to find out over time with what Keyes left them before committing suicide. If you're a fan of true crime, check out this one out.

This was between 3 and 4-stars for me. I liked it but I wasn't 100% wowed by it. It was a good read though and a light psychological thriller.

This book...... Oh this book. I knew what I was getting into to a degree in reading a romance book. I mean, I know how romance books typically go and I watch Hallmark movies, so I'm no stranger to the cheesy, the regular drama, and the melodrama. So, I went into this knowing that it was going to be just a cheesy, feel-good type read. And it was. I was excited to have an interracial pairing, to have the lead male be half-Vietnamese, for the lead girl to be on the spectrum. And I was fine with it being over the top. Until about 80% of the book when I was over it. I was over all the back and forth, back and forth and all the melodramatic internal monologues and the lack of communication. Just.... oh. my. lord. The last two hours of the audiobook was just me sitting on my couch rolling my eyes and yelling JUST C O M M U N I C A T E, DAMN IT. It was a 4 star read up until that point and then with all of it continuing literally until the last 30 minutes of the book, I had to drop it down to 3.

..... that being said, I'm complete trash and will still read The Bride Test.

I will not be rating or reviewing this book at this time; I read the ARC/listened to the audiobook for the BN Book Club at a time when I was not in a reading mindset and my depression colored my feelings towards.. basically everything. So I'm not sure if I didn't like this book because of the book itself or if I didn't like it because of my mental health. So, if I ever get around to rereading/relistening to this book, I'll do a rate/review then.

I'm not sure if it was the writing or if it was the general plot of the book, but I wasn't that into it until somewhere between 5 and 6 hours of the audiobook. I've always been a Marvel fan, but I'm not opposed to DC (was just never as into the characters aside from Teen Titans, as I was in Marvel superheroes) and I thought, ‘Hey, it's Cat Woman. I'm sure I'll love it because badass female, am I right?” And Selina was badass. I just... I don't know. Maybe it was the romance that spoiled it for me? Or the constant telling that Selina had a horrible life (as opposed to a cutaway scene or flashback or something that let us SEE the horrible life, rather than just hear her say it– there was a lot of telling in this book and I just wasn't 100% engrossed in what was going on). As a MC, Luke Fox was definitely a flat character, and kind of going along with my earlier point about the romance spoiling it for me, it was like “this woman is awful, this woman is awful, she has to be stopped” to “I'm AtTrAcTeD to Catwoman?! Should I do XYZ? Bruce would kill me! ..... but ..... ... no.” There was zero... development between them to explain why he would feel any type of romantic way about her. She could have been a well-respected foe– like, “Oh, she is awful and needs to be brought down, but man, she's powerful,” and carried that type of relationship. Romance wasn't needed and honestly I think the rest of the book suffered to hit those romantic key points. And don't even get me started on Ivy and Harley– As some other reviewers have stated, Ivy was done dirty in this book. I may have not been the biggest DC fan, but I remember the cartoons and Ivy was always a BAMF. In this book, she was..... nothing more than a poorly written platform for the plot and I feel like most of the scenes with Ivy in them were solely in there to be like “Don't forget! We have Catwoman AND Poison Ivy.” I just..... it wasn't... absolutely terrible. I've read way worse. But it's not something that I'll actually go out and buy and it's not something I'd ever re-read.

Much like the first one, China Rich Girlfriend is over the top, dramatic, and cheesy. It is not out of this world fantastic and there were definitely boring bits but it was a fun listen. It is nice to have a book just be easy going and something purely for entertainment.

I had no idea what Theranos was until my friend read this book, explained the horrible, absolutely effed nature of this company and its founder. This book was so well written. I listened to it as an audiobook and I felt that it was paced well and it covered a lot of information without feeling info-dumpy or heavy. I was frustrated at many points reading this book because so many people knew what was going on and just shrugged it off or remained silent because it was easier. All I have to say is that Elizabeth and Sonny deserve to be in jail and I truly hope they're convicted.

Told in part in first person in the past and in third during 2008, The Island of Sea Women follows the stories of Mija and Youngsook as as their lives unfurl as hanyeo on the Korean island of Jeju. This book starts during the Japanese colonization of Korea and follows through World War II, the Korean War, up to 2008. This is a story about friendship, about family– both the ones we are born into and the ones that we create– tradition, one of love.. and of loss.

This book... I want to start off by saying that I was incredibly excited to read this book for the Barnes and Noble book club. I run it every month, so of course I was going to read it anyway, but I was really motivated to read it because of my own studies of Korea and Korean history. I felt like this book was well researched and definitely well written. There are moments where I laughed, and definitely quite a few where I cried. I made the mistake of reading one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the book while I was out in a public park on my vacation and oh how the tears wanted to flow. You don't have to have a knowledge of Korean history to read this book and to enjoy it. I think that the stories of Mija and Youngsook are so powerful and important on their own that anyone could read it and enjoy it.

I read this book as an audiobook and holy crap once I started listening to it, I couldn't put it down. It was a short book– about 4 hours if I remember correctly– as it's told completely in verse. But holy crap, this book. The things Xiomara goes through, the things her brother goes through... my heart ached for them. I want more of Xiomara's story. I felt like at the end she was finally coming into her own and though a sequel isn't necessary, I loved this main character and this book so much that I would gladly read more about where her life goes from there.

Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon picks up after the events of the first book. The school year is coming to a close and the mystery surrounding Arlo Finch seems to be intensifying. When he and the Rangers go Camp Redfeather, Arlo finds himself not only in the middle of the mystical shenanigans that have followed him to camp, but between his two best friends as well. This book has all of the magic and mysticism that the first one does, but throws in time travel, time manipulation, and alternate realities as well.

Much like the first book, it took me a while to catch on to what was going on and I felt confused in places, but none of my confusion detracted from the story at all. I was just slow on the uptake and it just took me longer than some to catch on and figure it out than it might for others. Just like the first book as well, August balances the fantasy and magic with real life; these are kids– 12 year olds– and yes, they maybe more mature than other 12 year olds, but they still have 12 year old drama, like being in the middle of a fight between your two best friends. I love that the realism isn't thrown out the window and that despite the fantasy, we're still seeing Arlo, his friends, and his family dealing with real life issues along side the mystical.

I definitely recommend this series for fans of Harry Potter and especially as a series for those MG kiddos that loved the Harry Potter movies, but perhaps are not quite at that level yet to read the books. I know I get asked that question a lot at my job (‘Suzy loves fantasy and the Harry Potter movies but I think they're too hard. What do you recommend that is similar?') so I will definitely be adding this series to my list of recommendations.

Max and Carys have found themselves in a bit of a predicament. They're spiraling through space, together but alone otherwise, with only 90 minutes of oxygen left. How in the world, no pun intended, did they end up in this predicament? This book is told in a mixture of present day space dilemma and flashbacks into Max and Carys' relationship and how they got from point A to point Holy Crap We're in Mortal Peril.

I did not want to put this book down. I found Katie Khan's writing pretty engrossing and once I started, it was very hard to stop at just 50 pages every day because of my book club. There were parts where the conversation between the two main characters didn't really make sense and there were definitely scenes were I wanted to slap them both, but it was very much a character driven book and how two worlds, essentially, collided– what with Max being a staunch utopian and Carys having been raised outside of Europia's utopian society until her late teens– and the conflicts and developments that can occur because of that.

I... just.. the ending though.... that ending...

I listened to this title via audiobook and just... the way it was written felt like I was unfolding a story, not necessarily listening to the gruesome acts of a serial murderer and rapist. I loved the way that Michelle McNamara wove facts of the different attacks with her own personal narrative. I only wish that she had been alive to see the GSK put away for good.

3.5 Stars

The Last Romantics is a book about love. It focuses on one family, The Skinners, made up of Renee, Caroline, Joe, and Fiona and their mother, affectionately called Noni. We're told much of the story through Fiona's perspective as the lives of the Skinners are unraveled by their father's death and their mother's 3-year depression, and how the family attempts to stitch themselves back up again.

I want to start off by saying that adult contemporary is not normally my jam. I read this book as it was the Barnes and Noble Book Club pick for the month and I run the event every month at my store, and it was the first book that I've annotated probably since my high school years. I found myself engaged, reacting to the story, making predictions, etc. So, it wasn't an unenjoyable read in the slightest and it was a good book, but it just wasn't my favorite.

What kept this from being a 5-star book, or even a 4-star book, was that the climax was kind of a let down. There's all this build up for for 250 pages for something concerning one of the siblings (not going to say it out of respect for keeping spoilers out of my review) and then once it happened it was... a major let down. There were other elements as well that were not really explained and felt kind of out of place– such as Fiona working with a Climate Change organization and then the situation with Luna just felt so... incomplete?

I loved this book. I listened to it as an audiobook and I highly recommend anyone interested in the book do the same. Hearing Leah's story in her own voice, thick Brooklyn accent and all, is so raw and powerful and real. It felt as if I was in a room with her and she was actually talking to me about her life. 100% recommend this book if you are interested at all in her show or in the horrible organization that is Scientology.

Thunderhead picks up where Scythe left off (... obviously, that's what sequels do, Karissa -.-). Rowan Damisch is wanted by the scythedom and Citra Terranova has to adjust to her new life as Scythe Anastasia. But could Neal Shusterman leave the plot as simple as that? The answer is no, no he could not.

Holy cow, this book was a RIDE. There were twists and turns and several moments where my mouth just fell open. Sadly, I was reading alone, on my couch, because I totally wanted to look around and be like, “did ya'll just read what I just read???” Shusterman throws characters at you left and right in this book, but it all somehow works without feeling like a complete overload. I don't feel like anyone was added that didn't need to be added. I loved the progression of this book and much like Scythe, it was a casual build and then at the end you had to hold on tight. I'm looking forward to book 3 (because there -has- to be a book 3, despite there not being a release date or anything for it yet) and how newbie Greyson Tolliver will play into the new world that Shusterman has now left us with.

I received this book as a digital arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this thinking that I was really going to love this book. It is told in pieces of mixed media (courtroom documents, video surveillance footage, a YouTube video, etc.) The concept seemed really cool and murder mystery-esque. And, let's not kid ourselves, the cover is great (the UK cover is GORGEOUS). But, I just.. didn't. I am glad that I read it and I don't think that it was a bad book, there were just parts that I was not about and did not feel like needed to be in the book (not giving away particulars but fair trigger warnings for self-harm, suicide, and rape). I also felt like it took too long to get to the climax of the story. I was 50-60% through with the e-book and still had no idea what was going on and just wanted to get to it already. It wasn't until I was about 70-80% through with the book that it really started to get moving and things started to make sense and fall into place. The ending was nice, but if you want to know what kept it from being a 4-star book for me, see below (beware of spoilers).

spoilers below; do not read below these lines if you do not want to see them

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There were many parts throughout the book that implied sexual assault on the girls, particularly Kaia. After said sexual assault, the girls' memories would be erased. It seemed like some of the other Fantasists knew what was going on, and even our main character eventually figured it out, but of course they couldn't say anything because who would believe them (much like present-day rape culture and how most victims are afraid to report because they feel no one will believe them or say that it is their fault). I can handle difficult topics in my books, generally, but what really bothered me was that there didn't seem to be one decent human staff member of The Kingdom aside from Owen. Investors were seeking the ‘company' of the girls at night, even just regular crew members would harass the girls or take them away to presumably have sex with them.

While I can understand why this was an element in the story (to highlight how people didn't view the Fantasists as beings but rather playthings that they could use however they saw fit, to show the depravity of the people who were supposed to be “greater than” because they are human, not machine, etc.), it was referenced SO much throughout the book with zero repercussions for the guilty. The only one who is implied to get in trouble is Mr. Casey but none of the other men were ever punished for what they did or even implied to be so. For me, that is what really soured this book for me (that and it taking way too long to climax and then resolve), especially since the author could have taken that out of the book entirely and based on the other interactions with staff, we still would have gotten the same message. The implied sexual assault was not necessary in this book whatsoever.

I really liked this book. The beginning was quite confusing for me in terms of the actual fantasy world, but I understood it a little more the more I read. Arlo and his friends were such likable characters and despite it having some typical tropes (a chosen one who is attacked by an unnamed enemy), I really felt like John August was able to breathe a new life into that trope and make it feel new and refreshing regardless. The cliffhanger at the end makes me look forward to the second book, which I already have a hold on at the library. I definitely recommend this one for people who are looking for a good, middle-grade paranormal/magical fantasy.