 Note: This review is spoiler free except or the underlined parts
Book: Love on the Brain Author: Ali Hazelwood Genre: Contemporary Age: For readers 16 and up Rating: 3.5/5 Every single book Ali Hazelwood writes is lowkey the same 😑 I LOVED the Love Hypothesis. It was cute. Funny. The perfect summer read. Then came those three eye-bleaching novellas that were the same story cut and paste but in a different font. I still gave her the benefit of the doubt. I was SO excited for Love on the Brain and honestly that’s all on me because I know better than to go into a book with high expectations because I know I’ll be let down 😕 What I didn’t like: Nothing New: Ali Hazelwood has a formulaic template for each book that she CONSTANTLY repeats. Exhibit A: I saw every plot twist coming in the first 75 pages. SPOILERS UNDERLINED: For each of the characters in the Love Hypothesis, there is an equivalent character in Love on the Brain. Bathroom guy=Shmac. The mysterious guy that is actually the MC’s love of her life but she will not know until later. Tom Benton= Guy. By the second interaction with Guy, I figured out he would be Tom Benton 2.0. Also his name gave it away. Guys are ALWAYS red flags. This dude’s name is quite literally “Guy”. Enough said. Exhibit B: Every. Single. Male. Character. IS TALLER THAN 6 FEET IN ALL OF ALI HAZELWOOD’S BOOKS. Do we live in a world of giants? Do guys under 6’4 not exist?? Bee’s Idiocy: Levi: “I’m driving you back to the cemetery and feeding you to the coyotes.” Me: THANK THE LORDS. Doing us all a favor honestly. Exhibit A: How can a person so smart be so incredibly dense?? Bee did everything in her power to remain stubborn in the fact that Levi hated her. Ali Hazelwood kept inserting lines like “He hates me! I can’t believe he’s being so nice to me today tho!! Even though he hates me”. Minor Spoilers: He literally dropped everything he was doing and brought a ladder to a cemetery to save Bee the second he got a phone call from her. But sure! He definitely hates you!! Exhibit B: And the make matters worse Bee would say “We’re archenemies” like every two pages and I just wanted to 🤠 🔫 If I had a nickel for the amount of times Bee said “I know you hate me but thanks for being so oddly nice to me,” I’d be rich. Archenemies? Are you serious? Girl, this isn’t middle school 😐 Ali Hazelwood needs to learn that you can’t will an enemies to lovers relationship to appear out of thin air. He obviously did not hate her. Reminded me a lot of the Catalina-Aaron plotline in the Spanish Love Deception. Boooooo 👎 Exhibit C: This stupid mofo kept hearing 2 seconds of each conversation and then jumping to the stupidest conclusions after. LIKE PLEASE LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVO AT LEAST?! And then everytime she confronted Levi with the made up conclusion she came to, she wouldn’t let him speak. She kept interrupting with accusatory remarks everytime Levi opened his mouth. Forced Interactions: I was already rolling my eyes at the cemetery scene but then the stupid conference scene came up and I just couldn’t– there is only so many forced interactions I can take before combusting from annoyance. Minor spoilers: Isn’t there two lower officers that could go spy on the other company? It doesn’t make sense for the project leaders to commit the espionage when their project is in a critical, time sensitive place. Kaylee and Roció could’ve gone instead. Levi: While he did sort of redeem himself in the second half of the book, he was a jerk in the first half. Everytime she even talked to him he would always close him eyes like he couldn’t stand the look of her and he kept saying: “Please… email me,” like he couldn’t stand to hear her voice for a second later. This man COULD NOT communicate for the life of him. It was very annoying. Like hello? You have a mouth for a reason. MINOR SPOILERS: Ik ik it’s because he liked her and the thought of seeing her was too much blah blah. They are both co-leads in a professional setting. If he has to restrain himself enough to have a normal conversation with his co-lead, then that’s an issue. How does he expect a NASA project to be successful if he can’t even have a 2 minute conversation with her? Also, everytime Levi said “We’re working on it”, I wanted to punch the nearest thing. 👨🏻💻🤛 Miscommunication/ Sabotage Trope: I’m not kidding when I say that I think my BP skyrocketed when Bee couldn’t get her equipment. The sabotage/miscommunication trope always make me so frustrated I HATE IT. Things I liked: There just wasn’t anything that stood out about this book. The writing was good. But the characters were eh, the romance was alright and the only aspects of the plot I liked was the NASA related scenes. Overall the book was fine. Nothing special but nothing horrible either.
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 Note: This review is spoiler free
Book: The Love Hypothesis Author: Ali Hazelwood Genre: Contemporary Age: For readers 16 and up Rating: 5/5 Waittt hold up? When was the last time I ever gave a rating to a contemporary book even remotely close to 5 stars? NEVER. I can’t even remember the last time I enjoyed one without full on cringing. I went into this book thinking I’d hate it. Teacher-student romance? How about no. YA Contemporary? Hmmm I can already guess the writing will be horrific. I’d already written it off as a cringy romance with a possibly toxic love interest like every other romance novel nowadays. I was wrong. SO WRONG. Until now On the risk of sounding like I’m advocating this book using a “not like other books” trope, this book is NOT like other contemporary books and here’s why: Things I liked:
WE GET IT. IT STARTED TO GET REPETITIVE AFTER THE FIRST 3056883 TIMES YOU MENTIONED IT. PLS AND THANK YOU. 2. Miscommunication trope: I hope this trope burns and rots forever because it is insufferable and is the reason why everything bad is happening in the world right now. 3. Adam Liking Olive (SPOILERS): Was not a fan of the revelation that Adam liked her since that bathroom incident. I mean it's fine if he was like “Oh she seems so cool” but noooo he met her for five minutes and then literally never had a conversation with her in three years but apparently he was head over heels for her during that time. It was kind of like… dare I say it… instant love. 🤢 🤮 But guys this was such a good book that the minor instant love thingy was forgotten really easily. I loved pretty much everything about it and would like the whole book tattooed on my forehead 😌  Note: This review is spoiler free except for the underlined portions!
Book: Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series Author: Holly Jackson Genre: Mystery Age: For readers 14 and up Rating: 5/5 First Book: 5/5 stars Second Book: 4/5 stars Third Book: 5/5 stars Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Book 1: A good YA mystery novel is SO hard to find. Nowadays they’re literally all the same 😑 It’s always set in some small town with a predictable story and a protagonist I couldn't care less about. BUT After years of searching, I FINALLY found a good YA mystery series. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder had EVERY essential in a good mystery book. It kept you on your heels, it wasn’t too predictable and the characters are actually likable (which for me, is rare in YA books). However, it wouldn’t be a bookconfessionssecrets review if my crabby self did not find something to be nit picky over. What I loved: Everything. 99.999999% of the book. The writing was flawless. The characters were chef’s kiss 👌 (I’d marry Ravi in a heartbeat 🤩 ). This book has absolutely no faults. Exceptttttttt: Things that were unrealistic/ annoyed me a little:
SPOILERS UNDERLINED: Also sidenote but I wished we explored more of Daniel De Silva’s role. I’m so glad he wasn’t the murderer because that would have been boring. But in the end I wanted to know his connection to the drugs and Max Hastings. Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Book 2 (Do not read this part of the review if you have not finished book 1): Ok this one was not as good as the first book. The characters and writing was still phenomenal but the mystery just wasn’t as good ☹️ (it’s my least favorite of the trilogy). Butttt I was still super invested and finished the book in under 48 hours! Also the one thing that really stood out about this book is that they didn’t just brush over Pip’s trauma from the last book. It played a vital role instead of just being acknowledged at the beginning and then swept under the rug for the majority of the novel, like some other mystery book sequels I’ve read. Now onto the things that just didn’t make sense:
Things that I didn’t like:
Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Book 3 (Do not read this part of the review if you have not finished book 1 and 2): I LOVED this book. The actual mystery was disappointing and predictable but then the stuff that happened after was just…. SKJFKAJSF AMAZING 😫 And the way this book connected back to Andie’s mystery??? GAVE ME CHILLS. Things I didn’t like:
What didn’t make sense (SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION):
What I Loved:
Especially at the end of the book (SPOILERS): when Ravi implicated himself in the case by going to Detective Hawkins and saying he put the headphones in Jason’s room. You KNOW its true love when he’s willing to face possible jail time for murder for you 💔 Screaming. crying. Throwing up hysterically. I’m so lonely 😭 Anyways the title of this book was talking about me because every adorable quote that came out of Ravi’s mouth got me as good as dead 😵😍 Max Hastings: Let me just create a separate column for this insufferable jerk. I want to smash Max Hasting’s nose into the rest of his face. I HATE HIM SO MUCH. In the beginning of the book Pip daydreams about beating him up and I remember thinking: Pippa that was so violent😟... do it again 😁 🤪 Moral of the story, READ THIS SERIES. I promise you won’t regret it. It has such intricate plotlines and the writing style is so good. Plus the character development is written amazingly! Easily one of my top ten favorite series!  Note: This review is spoiler free !
Book: It Ends with Us Author: Colleen Hoover Genre: Realistic Fiction Age: For readers 17 and up Rating: ⅗ First Half of the Book: 2/5 stars Second Half of the Book: 3.5/5 stars This book could have easily been rated higher if it weren’t for that hair ripping, cringeworthy, toxic first half of the book. I swear Colleen Hoover took the plot of a wattpad story and inserted it for the first half of “It Ends with Us”. 💀 But the second half was MUCH better. It had actual substance and a good message. What I Didn’t Like: *Copies and pastes the entire first half of the book* 🙇♀️ 😬 (Just kidding hehe)
2. Toxic and Non Consensual Behavior Romanticized:
What I liked:
I feel like this would be a much stronger book if it weren’t for the fanfiction type writing in the first half. But I feel like everyone should still give it a read because of the powerful message behind this book!  Note: This review is spoiler free!
Book: So Long as I’m With You Author: MC Winkkle Genre: Realistic Fiction Age: For readers 14 and up Rating: 3 /5 Ok I thought this book was such a cute and easy read! It gave me MAJOR five feet apart vibes which I loved!! Summary: Sydney only knows the walls of the clinic that she has been confined to for her whole life. Richard finds himself at the same clinic, trapped against his will. The two meet and offer each other glimpses into their perspectives of the world. “Even a fraction of those, I was happy to give it to her. One and a thousand times” I LOVED The Cute Romance: Sydney and Richard’s interactions were adorable! It was interesting to see the way Sydney’s character developed throughout the book as Richard showed her glimpses of life outside of the clinic. But what was even more interesting was seeing the change in Richard as he slowly fell for Sydney. He became much more softhearted and I ATE THAT UP 😌 (soft fictional characters have a special place in my heart <3). The Ending was Perfect (except for one tiny bit): The reunion at the end was SO WHOLESOME. However, there was one plot twist that I absolutely hated though… (SPOILERS: was this supposed to be Clary and Jace part two? Because I thought it was unnecessary 😅 ) “I’d said the words I love you more than once, but I never truly understood what they meant until I met her” What Could Use Some Improvement:
Overall I thought this book was sweet and fast paced! The characters are likable and the last 100 pages have you on your toes!  Note: This review is spoiler free! Book: The Inheritance Games series Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes Genre: Mystery/Thriller Age: For readers 13 and up Rating: ⅘ I’m on the fence about this book and honestly don’t know if I really liked it or not. 😬 I mean… yes it did hook me in and I finished it in less than a day (which is very fast for me) but I hated the writing style, was indifferent towards the characters and felt meh about the romance. But I did enjoy it. Soooooo idk 🤷♀️ What I didn’t like: The Absence of Mystery: Sooooo here’s what basically happened in the book: “Random” girl (Avery Grambs) is very special but no one knows why. Then Avery faces some difficult challenges that she has to overcome- she has to survive in the house for a year. Yes, I said survive. What an incredibly taxing challenge, right? 🤠 Then Avery has to complete even HARDER challenges, like choosing between two basically identical brothers who are both in love with her for some reason that I have yet to discover (honestly she has the personality of a brick so I’m not sure what these brothers are fighting over 😐 ). Sound familiar? Here’s a hint-Avery Grambs = Elena Gilbert confirmed 🤯 . Ok that was an exaggeration. I mean there were some riddles thrown in the book but not as much as I expected from a book marketed as a suspenseful mystery filled with riddles and games. Honestly, 50-60% of the book was a love triangle which took away from the mystery aspects of the book 😕 . Writing Style: The main factor that killed the flow of this book was the writing style. Ngl it was pretty bad 😐 “She went here”, “He looked at the room”, “She stopped.”. These were all LEGIT sentences in the book! It was all telling and no showing. No descriptive writing whatsoever and the extremely short sentences made the book choppy. (On the topic of writing style, I think I even catched a grammatical error. At one point in the book there was a sentence written as: “I was an heiress”. Now I’m not the best at grammar but shouldn’t it be “I was a heiress”? 🤨 ). Jameson: Yes I am devoting an entire section to Jameson because he lowkey unsettles me. 😬 He reminds me of those creepy porcelain dolls that seem to follow your every move. YOU CAN”T TELL ME THIS MAN ISN’T ONE OF THOSE DISTURBING DOLLS.. Exhibit A: He practically stalks Avery. Exhibit B: He just seems so void of emotions. I don’t know how to explain this properly but it's hard to tell if there was ever any genuine connection between him and any one of the characters (especially Avery). The only thing he’s passionate about is riddles. Not about his dead Grandfather. Not about his brothers. Not about Avery. But about riddles of all things 🤠 The Quirky Dialogue:
The Hawthorne Legacy: (Contains NO spoilers about the 1st and 2nd book) Writing: I didn’t think it was possible for the writing to get even worse in the second book. But it did. By a LOT. 🤧 There was a bunch more tell and not show examples. “We ran back to the abandoned wing. We came to a stop just outside the door.” Guys this book is so poorly written its hilarious 💀 At least it had decent plot so it was still fun to read. Romance Overload: I thought the last book had too much romance, but this book was a hundred times worse. It was basically the dollar tree version of the Selection where Avery pulls a America move and switches between Grayson and Jameson CONSTANTLY. But seriously, the author goes out of her way to set up forced romantic scenes to exaggerate the love triangle. It got real annoying, real fast. 😐
What I liked: Addicting: The storyline is REALLY addicting. I honestly don’t know why but I swear this plot had a chokehold against me. I really avoided all my homework to finish this book in under 24 hours lol 🤭 The Endings: THE CLIFFHANGERS OMG. DID NOT SEE THEM COMING…🤯 Sooo overall this was an entertaining book to read and it was so addicting but the writing style and the forced romance interactions did ruin it a bit though 😕 I still think everyone should give this book a read regardless because it’s quick and fun.   Note: This review is spoiler free (spoilers are all marked and have warnings)! Book: One of Us is Next Author: Karen Mcmanus Genre: Mystery Age: For readers 12 and up Rating: 3/5 Honestly, as a member of the “Always Being Disappointed by Karen Mcnamus” fanclub, I don’t know what I expected from this book. I went in with low expectations and yet I STILL managed to finish the book bored and annoyed. 🙄 But I must admit that this is probably the better book out of the other mystery books she’s written. It’s wayyyy better than the monstrosity called “One of Us is Lying” and “Two Can Keep a Secret'' 🤢 . What I didn’t like: The Characters are Selfish Brats (Spoilers): So you’re telling me that a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD STUDENT died and there is heavy evidence it was a murder and the things the main characters in this book are worried about is getting their phone confiscated ??? WHERE ARE THESE KIDS PRIORITIES?! There's this part where the characters contemplate whether they should get the police involved and one of them actually said that they shouldn’t because if they do, their phones would get confiscated and they wouldn’t be able to have phones in school anymore. I GENUINELY WANTED TO SLAP THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF THESE DUMB KIDS. In what world is getting justice for a dead student less important than being able to hold on to your phone during school hours? Incompetent Police: The police in mystery books have always lacked several braincells but in this book it was TOO MUCH. Spoiler: A kid died on the roof of the building because it collapsed for NO REASON. Does that not sound suspicious???? But the police were like: oH WeLl iT wAs JuSt PrObAblY SoMe AcCiDenT! 🤷♀️ 🤷♂️ Smh these dumb officers should be fired on the spot. Unrealistic:
Romance: YAWNNN 🥱 I literally couldn't care less about the romance. When I tell you the romance in this book is beyond cringy, I’m not lying 🤡 💀 Too Much Drama: Drama is fun but not when it overshadows the mystery aspects. This book was 90% highschool drama and 10% mystery, which is ironic considering this book’s genre. 😬 Anyways, the abundant amount of teenage drama removed ALL the suspense from this book. Plot Points Galore: It’s like Karen Mcnamus had wayy too many ideas, mixed it all together in one book and hoped for the best. If you’re going to bring in serious plot points, you can’t just leave it stranded! You have to be prepared to invest time to attend to that plot point. But in this 300 page book, it was so unnecessary to bring in other plot points when there is no time to really delve into it. SPOILERS: The cancer was unnecessary because the plot point was dropped so suddenly and didn’t add to the story at all. It was so random too. Maeve was worried her cancer was reappearing but like 20 pages later, it was resolved and she had no cancer. After that it wasn’t mentioned at all. You can’t just bring in an important plot point like cancer and just forget about it. Besides, there were too many elements in this 300 page book that plot points like the cancer one were just abandoned, with no meaning to the plot. What I liked: Gee, that’s a hard one. I liked the ending! Because that meant the book was finally over and I didn’t have to keep reading it 🤠 Just kidding. The ending was actually the only part of the book I found interesting. Yah the last minute twist was only added for shock factor and there were several plot holes tied to it but I still liked it nonetheless lol. This book is not worth it. Most of the book is just filler plot and it’s just boring. If you want a good mystery book, go read Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.   Note: This review is spoiler free Book: Killing November Author: Adriana Mather Genre: Mystery Age: For readers 13 and up Rating: 4/5 Stars I’m going to be honest. YA mystery books have ALWAYS let me down. They’re just too predictable and I LOATHE the bland characters who have like zero brain cells. I was expecting Killing November to be some average mystery book where I would zone out for most of the book and still be able to guess the murderer. And I was right...in a sense. I did guess the murderer and I’m sure many others could too but I did not zone out of this book even for a second! This book was FUN! The sad part is that it was doing so well but then the book went and blew it all in the end 😑 The ending is very predictable and disappointing but I promise, the rest of the book makes up for it. The side plot where November adjusts to this assassins school keeps the book interesting at all times! If you’re a fan of fantasy and mystery this is THE book for you because it has cool assassin stuff (yes, “assassin stuff”. Very specific of me I know 😌 ) Synopsis: It’s a school completely off the grid, hidden by dense forest and surrounded by traps. There’s no electricity, no internet, and an eye-for-an-eye punishment system. Classes include everything from Knife-Throwing and Poisons to the Art of Deception and Historical Analysis. And all of the students are children of the world’s most elite strategists—training to become assassins, counselors, spies, and master impersonators. Into this world walks November Adley, who quickly discovers that friends are few in a school where personal revelations are discouraged and competition is everything. When another student is murdered, all eyes turn to November, who must figure out exactly how she fits into the school’s bizarre strategy games before she is found guilty of the crime…or becomes the killer’s next victim. What I liked
Go read this book, it’s pretty good and has an interesting plot. Just don’t expect too much out of the ending!   This review is spoiler free Book: Someone’s Story Author: B.A Bellec Page Number: 330 Pages Genre: Realistic/Contemporary Fiction Age: For readers 15 and up Rating: 4/ 5 stars "Own your own path instead of being a prisoner to the process." Synopsis: In this coming of age novel, we hear about Someone’s story (Literally! The main character’s name is Someone). After recently moving to a new town, Someone befriends a group of friends, who are each outcasts in their own ways. They help each other come to terms with the harder aspects of life and band together to fight the ups and downs of daily teenage struggles. Note: This book contains mature content about drugs, mental illnesses and depression. What I Loved About This Book:
What I Thought Could Use Improvement:
This book is a MUST READ for everyone! It does have it's faults but in the end it's worth reading it!   Disclaimer: This review is spoiler free except for the parts labelled as spoiler
Book: The Book of Moons Author: K.M Herbert Page Number: 218 Pages Genre: Fiction Rating: 4/ 5 stars “‘It means eternity.’ She brushed Kira’s hair. ‘The beginnings are the endings to our beginnings and the like’” Synopsis: Sixteen year old Kathy is on the run from the orphanage that she and her best friend, Sinead, had resided in. Their mission is to make it to Dublin but matters get complicated when Kathy wakes up to find that she is in an Irish Traveller camp, miles away from Dublin. In order to enlist the Traveller camp’s help in getting her to Dublin, she must prove herself by acquiring a talent. Heath, a Traveller, helps in her search to find one. Unfortunately, Kathy has tried fortune telling, fiddling, dancing and has had no luck in any of those departments. Nothing is working out for Kathy- until she discovers the Book of Moons. “The Book of Moons” is a beautifully woven story of Kathy’s journey. As a debut novel, this was very well written. It was a light read with a bit of mystical touch to it! Without further ado, here is what I loved about this book:
“I’m not even a Traveller, I’m not anything. I’m just a girl who ran away from the orphanage.” What I felt could use a little more improvement:
“You say you haven’t seen the world but when I look into those eyes I can see a thousand places that I’ll never be able to see” Overall, I really enjoyed reading “The Book of Moons”. I was quite invested in Kathy’s journey from the start and was happy to see her character evolve to become more confident at that end. Everyone should definitely check this book out and let me know your thoughts! |
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