Alex

You Won't Forget Me is a love letter to those that pushed down the attraction of same gendered folks and had no idea they were doing so until it hits like a ton of bricks. Cubby, girl, same. It is quite different from the typical romance novels, it is heavily focused on the themes relating to social media addiction, mental health and compulsory heterosexuality. All of these themes hit so close to home for me, the most recent of which I have been dealing with being comp het. The theory that heterosexuality is assumed, expected, and enforced upon people by patriarchal and heteronormative societal pressures. It asserts that being attracted to the opposite sex is treated as the default, "natural" way of life. Cubby having kissed her best friend Darcy believes it was just platonic because of course she is attracted to boys, right? RIGHT???

It is only through talking it out to a couple of friends that she questions her sexuality. My personal awakening came in the way of Is This A Cry for Help? by Emily Austin. I was already questioning things but that book made it very clear to me that my lack of sexual attraction to men was not in fact because I am demi or ace, but rather that I was trying to fix into a box that society planned for me. I felt so deeply for Cubby in so many ways.

When I was younger I also dealt with a social media addiction, it was only that after stepping away for days that I could take a moment to grasp how unhealthy it was. That compulsion to check socials is so real and is really so toxic. I don't see very many books touch on this subject so that was nice to see.

I will say that I noticed the relationship between Darcy and Cubby took a back seat to the themes in the book, I was hoping for more of the focus being on the relationship, but overall I really enjoyed this story and the writing captivated me. I finished the book in just two days.

  Thank you @coloredpages book tour for the finished copy. Thank you to @Libro.fm and @SimonMaverick for the ALC. 

Another cozy fantasy win for me! ✨ Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife is exactly what I look for in the genre, it ticked off every single box I've been searching for. Of course, we all know Legends & Lattes 🍵, but if you're craving something in the same vein kicked up a notch, you're going to love RFAUA. This story dives deep into grief, second chances, and the idea that no matter your age (or mortality), you can still shape your own life. Our OKMC (orc knight main character) Raz is among the undead, a former indentured servant turned retired cook, finally deciding what he wants to do with his time. He opens a restaurant, and what follows is a delightful blend of daring adventures, sweet found family, and quiet reflection.
It's slice-of-life with a kick. A lovely story that left me full in the best way, and I'll definitely be checking out the author's other books set in this world. 💀🍽️✨ 

 A Billion Butterflies is my first non-fiction of the year and its completely out of my comfort zone: weather prediction and how the system came to be. This novel was equal parts science and memoir. I was not expecting that, but it was a lovely surprise. I loved learning about Dr. Shukla's upbringing in rural India. This book is not something I would typically gravitate towards (you have the cover to thank for me picking this one up) and I am so thankful I did. The last 1/4 of the book was an interesting turn talking about the vitriol thrown his way with the current administration and their lack of trust in science at the highest rate than it has ever been. I am so thankful for getting the opportunity to read this book especially during our current political climate. I feel like this such an important one because as the verbiage goes, we can't know where we are headed if we don't remember where we have been. 

A massive thank you to Sourcebooks and Kamilah Cole for my e-arc of my most anticipated read! I first need to shout out how sweet Kamilah is. I met his at Worldcon in Seattle and told her how excited I am to read her book and she told me to send her a message and she’d get me an arc. What a life saver!

TLDR: I absolutely loved it!

An Arcane Inheritance is a part dark academia, minor plot of romance and fantasy. I had such a good time being in the world of Warren University in Ellory Morgan’s head. Ellory is a freshman at the prestigious and elite university. As a Black woman she is in the minority of this school and it doesn’t help that she’s not as financially stable as most of the students. Ellory is such a multifaceted character that I really felt every emotion she did. Betrayal, love, frustration, everything. The mystery was so good! I was enthralled from the first page. There is something about it Kamilah’s writing that really sticks with me and keeps me locked in the whole time.

The twist had my jaw on the floor! I can’t say too much but just know it was so good it had me wishing there were more books coming with this story. I definitely felt hints of Babel with less info dumping. I loved how Kamilah examined the themes of classism, elitism and racism within the scope of academia. I know it’s talked about fairly often now, but truly it felt like a new voice in this genre and I had such a great time with it. I can’t recommend it enough.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒙 𝑬. 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 Releases: October 28, 2025 Genre: Fantasy Romance Fairytale Historical Fiction Thank you Macmillan audio for the ALC. Summary: The Everlasting follows Owen Mallory, a historian who falls in love with the legend of The Knight Sir Una Everlasting and is sent back in time to ensure the story is told correctly. He and Una become “tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again,” as they try to rewrite her legendary ending.  “ 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛: 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝, 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝙸 𝚊𝚖.” ▶︎ •၊၊   ၊ ။   ။       ။       ။‌‌‌‌‌ Narration: Moira Quirk and Sid Sagar are two of my favorite narrators so when I saw they were narrating this one I knew it was going to be a favorite. They do a fantastic job of transporting the reader to a time and place all its own. I highly reccomend the audio, it added so much to an already breathtaking story.  “𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝: 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔.” Thoughts: The more I continued to read this novel, the more it really reminding me of the relationship between River Song and The Doctor from Doctor Who. Truly my favorite and heart achingly beautiful love story in any piece of media. Every review of The Everlasting has given it high praise and accurately so. It's a genre bending novel that you just can't help but sink your teeth into as you're transported to another time along with Owen Mallory as he bears witness to the Knight he's devoted his life to studying. Through their many lives together you the passion and yearning that is down right palpable. I read this novel in little over 24 hours but I didn't want it to end! I can definitely see myself going back and rereading this probably yearly to remind myself THIS is the way to write a romance. Still in awe of this. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up!