On the coast of Georgia rests a small southern town where faeries still take changelings. Faye lost her mother to the Folk, but has she spent her whole life longing for a glimpse—however brief—behind the veil.
When Faye finds her way in, she also finds the truth of why the dark and alluring world of the Folk has always called to her: She’s half-faerie, and heiress to the Dark Court’s throne.
When the rival court steals her best friend, she’ll have to claim her crown to get her back. But that means learning how to use her glamour so she can face three deadly trials—and not falling for the dark and brooding king she’s meant to be replacing, or the nymph-turned-knight teaching her to fight. [From Goodreads]
I had high hopes for this one, and maybe that was inevitably its downfall. I had seen someone compare this to The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black, one of my all-time favorites. So I was incredibly excited to start this one when I received approval on NetGalley.
Jordyn from Jordyn Reads really summed it up in her one-word review of this book: “underdeveloped”. This book had so much potential, and in the end, it just did not deliver.
The story started out with Faye at a high school party. Lots of southern charm, lots of friend dynamics already starting to form. I thought we would get to see a mix of the fae world and southern suburbia and how they interact with each other throughout the story, but this scene is really the extent we get of that.
After this, we get so much info on seelie/unseelie dynamics and absolutely no development of any of the characters. The only character who seemed well-developed was Gage. I know nothing about Faye, Isla, Ellie, or their grandmother.
The interactions with Gage are what kept me from DNFing this book. They were little glimmers of what could have been with this story had the other characters benefited from the same kind of characterization.
I loved the Bi rep as well, which is why I was so sad about not enjoying this one. It was underwhelming, and not much happens until the very end of the book. When something eventually did happen, I didn’t care enough about the characters to really feel anything.
II will give credit to this one for at least not giving me the feeling I had to DNF.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
Thank you to NetGalley and Independent Publishers’ Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Nora Stephens’ life is books – she’s read them all – and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away – with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again – in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow – what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves. [From Goodreads]
I was a little wary going into this one. I absolutely adored both Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation, but it’s been a while. I was worried that Henry’s writing wouldn’t live up to the hype I created for her in my head. I forgot about the actual magic that exists in her writing.
There was so much to love about this book. Henry said she wrote this one as a response to the common Hallmark romance trope where the main character escapes the work-obsessed partner back home in the city in small-town America. She says, “what’s wrong with being that partner back home who loves her job and the city?” This premise meant a lot to me. Before my grandma passed, we would go to her house and watch Hallmarks all night. I love Hallmark movies, but this trope is a commonly discussed and made-fun-of one in my family. This book honestly felt like home, and I loved seeing the ways Henry plays with these tropes to subvert them.
One thing that I think sets Henry apart from other romance authors is the humor she injects into her books. Characters in romances often have a very quirky sense of humor that is hard to relate to. Henry’s heroines have a little edgier and smarter sense of humor. They seem like real people that I know and am friends with. Actually, the humor kind of reminded me of the humor in Gilmore Girls which I watched over and over with my mom as a kid. The dialogue is just smart and really makes the characters come alive.
I think this is why, in the end, the romance works so well. Nora and Charlie feel like people you could bump into at any moment in the city because you get to know them so well through their dialogue. Like I said, Emily Henry has literal magic in her writing to make you feel for these characters at every turn.
Not to mention, she provides just the right amount of angst balanced with some give to make an insanely satisfying romantic ending. If you haven’t read any of Emily Henry’s romances, they are not hyped up this much for nothing–go read them!
Happy Wednesday, and Happy May!! I’m feeling very optimistic about my reading this month. I’ve already finished one book, close to finishing another, and have lots of free time for reading coming up since finishing classes for the ’21-’22 year.
I was able to get through a lot of These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong last night at work. Technically, I’m not supposed to have headphones in while at the circulation desk, but I think my customer service was top-notch, regardless. I’m 69% done with the audiobook, and I hope to finish this soon because it is so good. Nothing like I imagined it to be. Just a truly wild story.
I also went to Barnes and Noble yesterday to pick up Book Lovers by Emily Henry which I had to start immediately, obviously. Only about 40 pages in, but I can tell I’m going to love it. And because I couldn’t just get one book at B&N, I came home with about 6 or 7 books (post on my haul forthcoming).
I’m reading a third book as well: Of Beast and Burden by Kelsey Kicklighter. I know, wild. I usually like to be reading one book in each format: e-book, audiobook, and physical copy. This one is an e-book, and it’s a review copy, coming out next Tuesday. I’m about halfway through. It’s a quick read, but pretty underwhelming so far.
I finished The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes the other day (review to be published in the next few days). It was my first read of May, and it’s making me feel pretty optimistic about my reading habits this month! It was definitely an interesting read, and I’m looking forward to starting the next book soon.
Like I said, I’ll be starting The Hawthorne Legacy soon. I could wait on this, but I checked it out from the library, so I only have about a week and a half to actually get to it. I also think that if I don’t pick it up now, I won’t ever get to it. It’s not that I didn’t like the first one, I just wasn’t completely sucked in. I do want to see what happens next, so I’m making myself pick this one up.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell is part of the haul I brought home yesterday. I didn’t know anything about it until I saw it on the shelf. I’ve obviously seen it everywhere, I just never really looked into it. After reading the back though, I’m absolutely intrigued and super looking forward to starting it.
I am so, so excited to be starting Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl) this week given the theme. I love the idea of really concise reviews because I always write too much. I don’t think I reviewed a good amount of the last ten books I read, so it’s even better that I do this now.
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
One-Word Review: Mysterious
The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
One-Word Review: The f*cking sh*t
(cheating here but if you know Dave Grohl, it is the only fitting review)
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
One-Word Review: Magical
The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren
One-Word Review: Lacking
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
One-Word Review: Important
You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
One-Word Review: Sweet
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
One-Word Review: Hot.
The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
One-Word Review: Angsty perfection
(cheating again but I couldn’t just leave it at angsty)
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
One-Word Review: Underwhelming
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
One-Word Review: Forgettable
This was harder than I expected! I tried to pick words that weren’t so generic that they could be applied to literally any book. And obviously I cheated a couple times. No regrets!!
Happy May, everyone! While I love rainy April (seriously I could have rainstorms every day and never be sad again), May is my absolute favorite month.
My reading for April was not the best. I had a lot of family stuff going on, and my grandma’s passing really took its toll. I’m kinda glad I took this break from reading during that time, though, because I wouldn’t have enjoyed any book anyway. Aside from this huge chunk of my April, I also went on a trip to visit my best friend in St. Louis which meant not a lot of reading got done. Enjoy some unedited photos from our trip:
Under the arch!Missouri Botanic Garden
Books Read: 4
Pages read: 1,504
Books DNF’d: 2
According to Storygraph, most of my books were either funny or adventurous. I could probably agree that several were adventurous, but the ‘funny’ category was surprising to me. It lists The Storyteller and The Honey-Don’t List under that category. I get the former a little, but neither really jumps out as being incredibly funny.
As for genres, this checks out. Romance and fantasy are always my top genres. Pretty self explanatory.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
I liked these two reads, but they weren’t my favorites of the month. I didn’t even review A Song Below Water, mostly because it is YA. I don’t feel like I should be reviewing something if I didn’t absolutely love it when it wasn’t written with me as the intended audience. The Honey-Don’t List was cute but just a solid romance that didn’t do anything extraordinary.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
These two were the stars of April. Anything Dave Grohl does, I can’t not enjoy it. And Daughter of the Moon Goddess was just fantasy perfection. I have nothing more to say on either.
I read (or attempted to read) Twisted Love while I was dealing with my grandma getting sick, so I’d like to give it the benefit of the doubt. It just wasn’t the story I was looking for at the time. I wanted something a little more romance focused, and this was just waaaay too intense.
As for Island Time, I really, really tried hard to get into this. I got like 5% and almost put it down, but then told myself I had to keep going because it was a review copy. Turns out, my first instinct was right. Boring and just kind of weird, in the end.
I’m still in the middle of The Inheritance Games and These Violent Delights, so I’m hoping to get May off to a good start by finishing those soon.
Ok, I technically was not tagged in this. BUT I’m kinda just making up my own rules with this blogging thing. I’ve been running this blog for three months, which is honestly a lot longer than I expected myself to get with this. I saw Leslie do this, so I thought I’d take it and use it as a 3-month milestone post!
Hi y’all! I’m Louise! I’m a 24-year-old grad student studying to be a librarian, and I currently work in an engineering library on campus. I am definitely considering going into public librarianship, though, because I love working with kids and other people who aren’t in academia 🙂 I’m currently living in Illinois but am originally from Boston! And that is pretty much all I have to say in way of introduction lol.
Something most everyone wants to know…do you have any pets?
I have a 6 year old maltipoo named Gigi (after George Harrison), but she’s back home in Boston with my parents while I’m in school 😦
Here’s one of my favorite pictures of her after a grooming!
What is your favorite thing to drink?
Going to be veeeery boring here and just say water. There’s nothing like drinking a glass of ice water when you’re thirsty. Although, I do love a glass of wine on nights where I don’t have to work the next day!
What is your favorite season?
Spring!!! I love the feeling of everything coming back to life and the first warm day after a cold winter. It also just gives me a lot of nostalgia for when I was younger and would be finishing up the school year.
Do you have any special talents?
My family is all very musical, so we’re all singers and play instruments. I like piano and flute even though I haven’t spent much time practicing either. Not really a special talent, per se, but just a normal talent.
Blogging
When and why did you start your blog?
I’ve been blogging technically since I was about 14 on different platforms. First Tumblr, then I shared a WordPress book blog with a friend throughout high school. I started this one 3 months ago, obviously. Every time has been because I love talking about books and I wanted to share that with others. Not many people in my life are huge readers, so having all of you is really important to me 🙂
What is something that you wish you knew about blogging when you first started?
This is definitely premature, but I wish I had known all the WordPress tricks I do now. Other than that, I think there’s probably still a lot I have to learn!
What has been the hardest part about blogging?
Just getting myself to sit down and actually write the stuff out. I have all these ideas I want to post, and it’s been hardest to get myself to put them down on paper. Even though it feels good when I’m actually writing it out, I have so much going on with school and work that sometimes it’s just hard to stop myself from watching two hours of TikTok when I have some free time.
What has been the most rewarding part of blogging?
Definitely everyone I’ve interacted with so far!! I love seeing books I have in common with people and finding new books from people I follow. I hope to really get to know a lot of you continuing on 🙂
Do you write your posts ahead of time or write them the day of posting?
Usually write them day of, unless I have time to write two posts in one day. I don’t plan things out, because then it would become too much of a chore for me.
Reading
Who are your top 5 favourite authors?
This was incredibly hard but:
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Ali Hazelwood
Emily Henry
Jane Austen
What genre do you read the most?
This year it has been romance, but definitely overall fantasy/romance/romantasy are my top genres. I will never move away from these genres.
What genre surprised youby how much you love it?
Science nonfiction! I shouldn’t have been surprised because I love random facts, but I am a story girl through and through. Science nonfiction kinda snuck up on me in a few of the classes I was taking. I readThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for a biology class as an undergrad as well as a few others and was hooked on the genre!
Which popular book didn’t live up to the hype for you?
I’ve said this before, but it will always be the first to come to mind. I really did not like House of Earth and Blood. Sooooo so long with barely anything that happens.
Who are some popular authors you haven’t read?
Casey McQuiston! Her books have been on my TBR for a while, I just haven’t gotten to pick them up yet.
What upcoming release are you excited to read?
Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood. Enough said.
Do you listen to music while reading?
Nope! If I listen to music, I’ll just end up singing along. Yes, even if it’s classical music.
Carey Douglas has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and—more than anyone would suspect—has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There’s only one problem: America’s favorite couple can’t stand each other.
James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus.
Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses’ secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along—and start playing for keeps—they may have the chance to build something beautiful together…
I was a little scared going into this one, I’m not gonna lie. The Goodreads reviews are bad. If the reviews for a Christina Lauren book are this bad, then there must be some serious problem with the book, right?? I kept waiting and waiting for something seriously offensive to happen in this book, but it really was just a nice quick and cute read from the author-duo.
First and foremost, James and Carey were sooooo cute together. He was just so sweet and caring and I loved how their relationship developed.
I was also very appreciative of how Carey’s disorder was discussed and represented. Chronic illnesses and disorders are not usually portrayed often in romance books, so it was really great to see here.
I do think we could have done without the interview and blog post interjections between chapters. The interviews were useful to build suspense for the ending, but the blog posts were kind of just there to reinforce what we were already being told about the story.
In general, I would have just loved to see more of Carey and James and really understand more of their background. There are a lot of things hinted to about Carey’s life growing up that the authors could have really expanded on.
These are really just small ideas I had though, and overall, I thought this was a very cute and quick read. It wasn’t the best romance book I’ve ever read, but it definitely has the Christina Lauren touch which you just can’t seem to go wrong with.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Have you read this one? Let me know what you thought below!
Happy Wednesday, everyone! I’m finally getting out of a major slump this week, so I have some good books for you today!
Currently reading: Daughter of the Moon Goddessjust came in from the library the other day, so I’ve been speeding through it! My finals are pretty much done, so I don’t have much to do at work. Yesterday I was able to read through most of my shift! I’ve also been listening to Dave Grohl’s new autobiography, The Storyteller. It took a bit to get into, but he’s finally getting into how he got into music and his time with Nirvana, so I’m really enjoying it!
Recently finished: I just finished The Honey-Don’t List yesterday. I had been going through it quickly and just decided to sit down and read the rest yesterday. It was a really cute and quick read! Review will be up in the next few days 🙂
Reading next: I just got approved for the ARC of Of Beasts and Burden which comes out in a few weeks, and I think I am very in the mood for a fae story right now. My audiobook of These Violent Delights as well as a kindle version of The Inheritance Games also just became available to me this week through the library, so I think I’ll need to prioritize these three, possibly reading them at the same time. Wish me luck!
What are you reading this week? Link your WWWs or current reads down below!
I saw this tag on Jordyn Reads and thought it looked fun! While I usually love a lot of popular authors and series, I do have some opinions that many of you might fume over for a while. To that, I just have to say: I’m sorry! And with that, here we go!
A POPULAR BOOK OR SERIES THAT YOU DIDN’T LIKE
This is probably my most controversial opinion. I hatedHouse of Earth and Blood when I read it in 2020. I usually love Sarah J. Maas’s writing, but this one was just soooooo slow and boring. I felt like nothing happened in this book. Everyone was getting so excited about the sequel that came out a month or two ago, and I just cannot understand where all the hype is coming from.
A POPULAR BOOK OR SERIES THAT EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO HATE BUT YOU LOVE
Ok, so this is a very beloved series. BUT there are a lot of people who think this series is poorly written which I could not disagree with more. I also technically have not read the fourth book yet, but there was a lot of drama surrounding a specific plot point (yes I was spoiled) that we ALL should have seen coming. So, if you were mad about that, I’m sorry but it was 100% foreshadowed.
A LOVE TRIANGLE WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER ENDED UP WITH THE PERSON YOU DID NOT WANT THEM TO END UP WITH OR AN OTP THAT YOU DON’T LIKE
I’m going to steal Jordyn’s answer and go with Shadow and Bone. This is mostly because I just watched the Netflix series recently and Jessie Mei Li and Ben Barnes have insane chemistry. I do remember loving the Darkling when I read this series years ago, and I still feel like the series could have gone a different way with this.
A POPULAR BOOK GENRE THAT YOU HARDLY REACH FOR
I usually say that I’ll read pretty much any genre. Graphic novels, though, are probably a genre I’ve read the least of, and I’m not really sure why. I think this is just because I don’t enjoy consuming two types of media at the same time–it just slows down the story for me.
A POPULAR OR BELOVED CHARACTER THAT YOU DO NOT LIKE
This is another one I’m cheating on. I haven’t read this one. I DID just watch the new movie adaption on Hulu. If the movie characters are anything like their book counterparts, I absolutely hate them. So, so annoying and Joshua is not hot at all.
A POPULAR AUTHOR THAT YOU CAN’T SEEM TO GET INTO
Colleen Hoover. I actually read a good amount of Colleen Hoover books years ago and just have no interest in revisiting her writing. To be honest, I get really tired of seeing her books all over my feed.
A POPULAR BOOK TROPE THAT YOU’RE TIRED OF SEEING
I don’t see this as much anymore, but I’m sick of seeing the evil woman trope, where there is a girl who is just evil and antagonistic toward the protagonist for no reason or without any sort of redeeming quality. I’ve never met a woman with no depth. They do not exist. Stop writing them as if they do.
A POPULAR SERIES THAT YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN READING
I actually love Naomi Novik’s writing, but I’m kinda over dark academia. Although, I thought of this originally, now reading the synopsis I kinda wonder if I would enjoy it🤔 Anyway, I probably will never read this even though everyone says this is an incredible series.
THE SAYING GOES ‘THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE’, BUT WHAT MOVIE OR TV SHOW ADAPTATION DO YOU PREFER MORE THAN THE BOOK?
THE HANDMAID’S TALE. Hands down. I love the book but the show is just. Perfection. Highly, highly recommend this show to literally everyone. Yes, over the book.
Do you agree with any of my unpopular opinions? Share your own hot takes below!!
I saw Jordyn Reads do this tag, and thought it looked fun (also I’ve been in a reading slump the past couple weeks), so thought I’d jump on the tag train! If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged by me 🙂 I’m not sure who actually created the tag, so if you know please tag them below!!
How many books have you read so far?
I’ve read 30 so far! Definitely my best year so far since 2014, and although I’m currently in a slump, I think this is a good sign for the rest of the year!
Have you already found a book you think might be a 2022 favorite?
LISTEN, I will NEVER get over The Love Hypothesis. I am counting down the days until Love On the Brain. Fake-dating/enemies-to-lovers will always reign in my brain. I also can’t get over Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle. It was just so beautifully written, and the way the characters develop throughout their lives is perfection. Cannot recommend enough.
If not, what was your favorite book you read that wasn’t quite five stars?
So, I did have two favorites (obviously), but I wanted to give honorable mention to these three romances. Just so cute and aghhhh. I wish I could read them all again for the first time. I technically rated The Roughest Draft and The Spanish Love Deception five stars, but they were really more like 4.75 stars in my head. You Deserve Each Other was a solid 4/4.5 stars.
Have you read any one star books this year? Or what has been your least favorite read so far?
The Moonstone Girls. Racism and horrible writing. Enough Said. Honorable mention to Ramón and Julieta which just had horrible writing. DNFd both. Don’t want to spend any more time thinking about them, lol.
What is your most read genre so far?
I knew it would be romance, but here it is straight from Storygraph. This all checks out.
What is a book that surprised you?
Going with two on this one. Rules of Arrangement was just such a unique story, and I did not expect it to be so dark and romance-focused, but I really enjoyed it! As for Little Thieves, I think I just expect to be very underwhelmed by young adult fantasy, but this one proved me wrong because it was just so fun!
Is there a book that has come out already in 2022 that you want to read but haven’t yet?
She Gets the Girl immediately came to mind with this question. I have it on hold at the library, and I will be dropping everything to read it once it becomes available to me.
What’s one goal you’re succeeding at?
I definitely am doing way better at maintaining this blog and my bookstagram than I thought I would be! As Spring is upon us, I just feel very excited about the reading and interactions I’ll be having through this platform.
What’s one goal you need to work on?
I need to be better at reading a variety of genres. I have so many books on my shelf that aren’t romance, but that look so good. Romance is very easy for me to speed through, but I need to feel less intimidated by my books that are outside the genre.
How are you all feeling about your reading a quarter way through the year?
Louise Reads 