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I have been going through my old NetGalley backlog, finding the books that have expired at my local library. This one is from April 2023, so not too old compared to other, but my taste in books has changed quite drastically since then!

SO, you get the story of a Swedish vet who grew up on a farm with distant parents, and who starts her career in the Norwegian countryside. She talks about nature, enjoys her independence, her home, and her garden, works hard and is content with the value she provides to the community. She pretty much keeps to herself and is very introverted. At one point, she meets an old woman who lives deep in the wood, and it feels like an inspiration, an important moment to tell her that she could do it herself, living on her own and being content with her life!

After that, the writing felt a bit off, so I checked who the author was, and discovered it was a man! So that got me guarded, to write about the inner life of a woman ‘authentically'. And oh my, the more I read, the more the book lost stars and got boring. I liked it so much at first, but then I just wanted it to end.

I thought it would be a book about an introverted woman who loves her job as a vet, loves her life in the countryside surrounded with nature, who continues to be her own independent self. But in the end, after finishing the book, it feels more like a book about a vet who starts her career alone, then met a man, and than had a baby girl, who - we are hinted - might become a vet herself. Way less interesting!

Also, the guy was one dimensional, we didn't really know anything about him. He is like a white bed sheet drying in the sun. I don't get it, this absence of communication. I don't need a lot to happen in books, but this one was just too basic. It lost itself in its writing.

Edit: Was she really lonely? She was. She was happier in the days leading to her boyfriend's visit. What frustrates me with this book? That she could have had a life on her own but decides to find a partner and form a family? Maybe? Maybe it was interesting that maybe parts of her life hinted to her self-independence, but in the end she found a man that resembled both her parents, her mom with the love of arts and the plays on the radio, her dad with the practically and her difficulty to talk to him? Maybe the guy was the man for her. A good balance. What of this book now? Did it work? Yes. Was I still bored half-way through it? Yes. Did I wish the story had taken a different approach? Yes as well. It is what it is. 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A young girl starts asking question about the world around her, and her teacher helps her find her answers via the world of physics. This is really how a kid thinks, and I liked it a lot :)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

SA is not cute or funny or the way to start a FF relationship. The MC is manipulated by the high school teacher in order to get accepted into college, and then forcefully kissed by another student and blackmailed every day. Nope, nope, nope. The plot is very weak and relies on artificially scary situations to get the two main characters to bond together. It was very shallow, problematic, and not interesting. I wouldn't recommend it. 

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I realized that I missed reading and reviewing this NetGalley ARC... back from 2016. Luckily, I found it at my library and just read it.

I started reading it without knowing anything about the plot. The beginning of the book feels like a mess of murders after murders without context. Mid-way, you understand that the main characters keep being reincarnated and keep killing each other. They don't know why, but they still do it. And they are supposed to always be attracted to each other and love each other... but they always kill each other when they meet? Doesn't make any sense to me.

It was intriguing enough to get more than a star, but not much more than that. I wouldn't recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I kind of see what the author wanted to do with this short story but the quality of the writing was way too low to make it a good story.

Some reviews suggest that the story could benefit from being a longer story, but I think it would actually be better as a flash fiction with fewer characters. It would have allowed the writer to (maybe) struggle less with the transitions between events, thoughts, and spatial dimensions.

The dialogues, the transitions, and the world building are the weaknesses of the story. The high level concept is what's slightly better.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

OMG what even was that book! I read it in the course of three days to savor it! My thoughts while I was reading it was, “If I had a small publishing press, I would ask the author if I could publish her story!”. How often has this though ever happened to me while reading a book? NEVER! This story absolutely GRIPPED me!

So why is it not a shining 5 stars? I mean, what happened in the last 15% of the book? What was that? It looked like the author no longer had time to finish the book and did a patchwork of concepts and pages, very roughly put together. It was quite jarring, especially when the entire book before that flew so effortlessly!

But to go back to the story, you get a main character from the “white trash” part of the town (she calls it herself) who has an awful fuckng disturbing mom and who gets drown to the creepy part of the local circus. Insta love? Fated Mate? Disturbing seducing ‘dance'? Yes, yes, and yes! All my favorite tropes! I could read an entire 500 page book about Draco! First book from the author, and I will be reading her next one very soon! I read the book 10 days ago and the scenes are still so vividly painted in my brain! This is wild! Thank you BookSirens and the author for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

As soon as I finished volume 1, I read the ENTIRE series online, the full 64 chapters. Does it tell you how much I liked it? Probably :) Have a ever read an entire manga series? Once, and it was Paradise Kiss from Ai Yazawa, twenty years ago. Why did Tied to You become so addictive? Probably because it was weird and a little bit creepy... haha

I picked up this ARC because of the sweet BL cover, and it pretty much became a page turner from the very beginning. It is kind of weird that you have a love triangle with two brothers, a major age gap, and some serious manipulative behavior, but if you are okay with that, I think you will enjoy it! The red flags are serious, and it is manipulative throughout the series, so if this is a trigger, please avoid this manhwa.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

I read this book to complete a book challenge with the letter ‘Y', and I am glad I found this book. I know very little about the cosplay world and this was a nice introduction to this world. The main character is interesting in how inflexible, perfectionist, and idealist they are, and I enjoyed seeing their journey to a more empathetic relationship with other cosplayers. The volume #2 is not available at my library, or else I would have borrowed it and continued on with the series. Recommended it.

Good writing, intrigued enough to continue this serialized novel.

It's wild that I found this book at my library!

Underwhelming. The cover is the best part of the story. The illustrations are good at representing the eerie feeling of being surrended by snow, but the physics doesn't work, for example when Celeste slides down a hill and the snow moves up ahead of her. The way the big sister was talking about dragons was unpleasant to read (greedy, princess-eater...), and the end of the story was so abrupt I thought I missed a page or two. The only cute part of the story is when Celeste actually meets the snow dragon. I didn't see at first that there was a pinecone. It's not very clear if the snow dragon collected it or simply landed next to it.

2.5 rounded up. I'm not sure I would recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for offering me a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was just incredible

It was perfect!

I can't remember the last time I read a collection of short stories where I liked EVERY SINGLE story. Maybe it's because they are all cool and queer and sci-fi

I know that this children's book was published almost a decade ago (2015), but I am shocked that images of suffering animals in tiny concrete cages or performing tricks for humans was still tolerated at this time. I would not recommend showing this to your kids.

Omg this books made me so happy! I couldn't wait for the work day to end every day to cozy up, grab my tablet, and read it :)

This is the story of a 66 years old retired paralegal and writer who decides to RV full time. And wow, she loves this new lifestyle and it shines in each page :) Just writing this review makes me smile, thinking about how content she is with her life (of course, it's not all shine and candy, and she spends a great amount of time talking about all the ‘cons' and difficulties of RVing). She keeps it honest!

So, why do I like this book so much?
- The first part of the book is about living in RV full time, and it is SO detailed and real, I was amazed. She goes over so many topics, like weather, cost, grey and black waste (dirty water and bathroom waste), being a solo woman nomad, writing while RVing, repairs... It's fascinating (by this point, you probably realized that the idea of being a digital nomad/slow traveler has popped up more than once in my head :))
- The second part is about the actual travels she took during her first year. At first, I found it quite mundane and repetitive (I went to this city, visited this museum, met my friends x and y, then moved to campground z...). But then, I realized this is RVing full time. No shine and glamour, just the simple truth. And I started enjoying this part more and more. And there are quite a few places I want to visit myself, especially the salt mine!!
- The third part is about her second year RVing in 2020... during COVID. She kept safe, used masks, social distancing, vaccines, and found ways to isolate herself and keeping safe. Very interesting new perspective on having to stay for longer periods of time in the same place, and what it felt like (the travel bug was itching her!). OMG and I forgot to talk about the dog and home-sitting she did in the previous year! Sooooo interesting!
- The final part is more about the perception of others on her lifestyle, from people lending a helpful hand to people forcefully handing her religious pamphlets to ‘save her soul'. Nothing creepy was described, and she has a good instinct to avoid weird places.

So with everything said, how could I not give it a 5 stars? I loved it! Thank you Sue Ann for writing it :)

This is the perfect book to show good parenting skills!

One morning, while her dad walks the family dog, the little girl discovers pinecones. And when I say discovers, I should say “loves at first sight” and “gets immediately obsessed with” pinecones. While the dog drags papa up and down the path, ending in a magnificent fall in the mud, this little girl collects all the pinecones she can get her hands on, giving them family names one by one.

Cutting to later in the story, what does the dad do when he discovers the mountain of pinecones collected and accumulated in her room and across the house? React like a good dad! No scolding, no disapproval, but instead he decides to decorate the full house with pinecones, celebrating his daughter's new hobby and fascination. This was utterly charming and made me feel all warm in my heart.

And about papa and the dog falling in the mud? Parenting at its best once again: letting the dog play in the mud, then carrying it back in his arms, before drying it and cleaning it with a fluffy towel, starting a laundry, and getting a nice cup of tea. Just patience, love, and letting his kids be kids. Just perfect.

And did I mention how charming the illustrations are? The facial expressions and overall body language are so on point! And I love the pattern effects! Just great, great, great! Extra point: bi-racial family and possibly single dad!

Highly, highly recommend this book, go get it for your kids, schools, and libraries once it is out on 9/10/2024!

I received an advance review copy for free from Edelweiss and the publisher Candlewick, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

After loosing my dog due to cancer, I wanted to read a cute and short story about dog love. And let me tell you that this book exceeded by best expectations!

Dog cuteness? check
Adoption with pre-interview by the rescue organization? check
Tripod (omg just like our dog)? check
Queer couple (At this point, my wife and I were just wondering if this was a sign)? check
Loving and responsible extended family? check
Happy and sweet ending? check

If you are looking for the story of a loving family adopting a tripod dog and doing everything they can to make the life of this puppy easier (ramp, chariot, carriage, wheels), and showering it with love, look no further! Highly recommend it!

I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The beginning was so good I thought it could be a 4-5 stars for me, but then the middle part was so boring I had to force myself to finish it. (I'm new to romance and I'm trying new sub genres). Why was it so boring? The dialogues and the scenes became completely improbable and quite frankly badly written, and the book became a family oriented thriller. The ending redeems itself and it could have been quite an okay stand alone, but why why why was the last chapter added? Arrrrh. Didn't he heard him call? How come we don't see any resistance or just sound? Just rolled my eyes. Spice level: 1.5/5. Overall: 2.5/5 rounded up.

As a biography, it gets 3 stars; as a book about dogs only 2 stars. I actually enjoyed the memoir, seeing many parallels with my own life (TW: bullying, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and attempt, abortion, death of pets). In many ways, reading about the author's struggles and redemption helped me see my past, so far behind now, from a new perspective. I am at a much better place in my life now, and I'm glad the author is as well. (Also, omg Halo 2 was so good!!)

Now, as a book about dogs, I can't give it more than 2 stars. The author grew up with dogs brought by her mom, either rescue or given by a friend. These moments were pure love and devotion to the dogs, and showed how life changing they have been on the author's life, confidence, and self-respect.

The issue about this book is when the author grows old and decides to get dogs on his own. I'm not going to go into details, but if you want to see the struggles that come from getting unhealthy, unsocialized, and underage dogs from puppy mills, read this book. Or about finding an injured puppy in the streets and giving it up for free to a stranger from Facebook without urgently bringing the pup to the vet. (TW: the story doesn't end well for this pup).

Additional TW: photo of the family dog after being humanely euthanized, and photo of a rescued dog with hundreds of cigarette burns.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I'm so impressed by this author. The world building was wild!

Was I still reading it past midnight? Did I finish it in less than 24h? Yes! On to book 3!

I can't grab book 2 fast enough.

This story feels like the start of a bigger adventure. While it can (sort of) stand on its own, knowing more about the story's world would help. Because of this, it was tough to connect deeply with the characters, and the spicy scene didn't quite hit the mark for me. I found myself reading without feeling fully engaged, yet I'm still intrigued about what unfolds next. I might give other books by the same author a shot. She's definitely gifted!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The first half was just okay for me, but then the second half was so steamy and so well written I am bumping it to 4 stars. I will definitely read the rest of the series!