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YA MYSTERY/ REALISTIC FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood: A Book Review

9/17/2022

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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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The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood: A Book Review

6/26/2022

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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:
  1. Writing: In my opinion YA contemporary is hard to write without it sounding like wattpad style fan fiction. But this was surprisingly REALLY good writing. 
  • Exhibit A-Humor: The Love Hypothesis did an excellent job of writing realistic humor without sounding like some author trying to write gen-z humor and failing miserably at it. The story felt more authentic to real life events and I applaud the author for that. 
  • Exhibit B- Social Agendas: I love the way the author demonstrated the difficulty of being women in stem without shoving a wikipedia page on STEM exclusivity down our throats. Usually authors over exaggerate plot lines just so they can force a scene where they spew an oversimplified solution agenda to important social issues. It literally drives me nuts because the authors always portray it wrong and then act as if the complex issue is easily solvable by just throwing in a few lines about it on one page and then never speaking about it ever again. The Love Hypothesis is more subtle about it, which makes it more realistic.
  • Exhibit C- Conversations: Every YA romance author out there, PLS TAKE NOTE OF HOW NORMAL CONVOS ARE. I’m in love the TLH’s conversations because they’re SO realistic and funny. They’re not forced, or cringy, or long, daily monologues of how much the couple likes each other. 
  1. The Romance: THE DEVELOPMENT of the romance was just chefs kiss. IT WAS THE RIGHT PACE. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS SO REALISTIC. I felt like I was drunk on love the entirety of this book. (Note: For those who feel apprehensive about the teacher student thing; I felt much better when I found out that Olive is like 26 and Adam is like 30 something. He’s also not her teacher so that’s good. Just putting that out there in case that helps stomach the romance trope.)
  2. ADAM:  Adam pls step on my face. I would thank you for it. AND GUYS the brooding, unapproachable man ACTUALLY has a personality for once?! How cool is that! Ik some were complaining about this man’s lack of personality and I can see where they’re coming from but I honestly thought he was a step up from most of the YA brooding men I read about. This guy didn’t just growl, or snarl or smirk all the time, he also told jokes, paid attention to the little details about Olive and overall was a pretty chill guy. Besides we all know that Olive’s personality is enough for the two of them. And that’s how it should be. Women>>>>> men
  3. Science: ASKJFAKJDFH I LOVED EVERY SCIENCE REFERENCE IN THIS. As a woman going into stem, the rep in this book was everything.
What I didn’t like:
  1. Massiveness: ISTG Every two seconds: 
The author: hE wAs MaSSiVe. hE wAs BiG anD TaLL
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 😌 

Read review for It Ends with Us
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A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Series Review

6/12/2022

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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:
  1. Unrealistic: Ok let’s first start out with how everyone AND their mom was eager to overshare and truthfully spill secrets to a self proclaimed detective. Most of Pip's witnesses gave personal information that no one would EVER give to a random stranger claiming to do a high school research project. Also apparently the police never bothered to talk to them back in 2014? If these witnesses were so willing to share information, it should have been easy for the police to investigate. So why didn’t they go and question key people like Andie’s friends? 
  • Also can we talk about how fast everyone replied back to Pip? I can’t even get an email back from my teacher and she’s over here getting lengthy replies in less than a day 😭 . Teach me your ways please 🤧 🤲
2. Pip: Pip was an AMAZING character. But it lowkey pissed me off when she made the mystery her life goal or something. I mean this girl was OBSESSED. I yelled at her through the book when she skipped hanging out with her family to go look at her notes or whatever. Or when she procrastinated her college essay? 😭  Who writes a college personal essay six hours before it’s due? 

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:

  1. Release of the Podcast: Why on EARTH did Pip release the podcast while she was solving the case? Then couldn’t the person who kidnapped Jamie listen to her podcast and see exactly how close she was to solving the case? This would easily tip them off and give them a huge advantage….🤨 make it make sense. She should’ve released all the episodes AFTER she finished solving the crime.

Things that I didn’t like:
  1. LACK OF RAVI: It was a CRIME to give Ravi such less screen time. He was literally a side character in this book and I. Hated. It. ☹️ I wish he got the same amount of screen time as he did in the first book. 😕 

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:
  1. PREDICTABLE: The first book in this series is literally one of the only mystery books where I didn’t guess the culprit. I was SO happy to finally find a YA mystery series where the author can ACTUALLY write good plotlines (yes I’m throwing shade to Mrs. Karen McManus over there 🙄). But this mystery in the final book was such a let down. The culprit was such an obvious choice that I didn’t even consider them an option because I was confident Holly Jackson wouldn’t make the answer choice so easy. They’re the first person I thought of when an Andie related clue was released. So disappointed honestly. The moment Pip found the Andie related clue, I was like ok, Pip will make them the number one suspect. But she didn’t. And I didn’t think they would actually be the real person because it was so dang obvious 😭 
  2. Pippa’s stupid decisions (Spoilers in this paragraph): When Pippa called DT’s number, I was like “huh, interesting choice”.  Like she should have responded after he was in prison? He could retaliate somehow and crush her phone so he won’t have access to the phone number anymore. Or he could trace her call and come after her. And then two pages later she got kidnapped and I annotated in my book: “Girl I called it….Don’t say I didn’t warn you 😐😐” She literally should’ve have gloated in his face AFTER he was in prison 😭

What didn’t make sense (SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION):
  1. Billy’s coercion into confession (Spoilers skip this paragraph): Anyone with a brain could read the transcript and blatantly see that the interrogator forced Billy into a confession. So then why has NO ONE besides Maria checked the interrogation transcript to see that the interrogator coerced Billy into confession???
  2. Max’s house cameras (Spoilers): Why were Max’s cameras near ground level? Why would anyone place cameras in an easy to reach spot? It should have been placed by the roof of the house, where Pip could not have easily reached and duct taped it.
  3. Ending: SHE DIDN’T KEEP CONTACT WITH HER FAMILY, RAVI OR HER FRIENDS IN TWO YEARS?! Why couldn’t she keep contact with her family? Ngl, I didn’t get her reasoning. Because even if she kept contact with her family but ended up getting implicated in the crime again, no detective would ever suspect that her family was in on the murder just because Pip maintained contact with them. If anything, it’s more suspicious to see that Pip separated herself from everyone she cared about after the murder happened. 


What I Loved:
  1. Ravi and Pip: I WANT WHAT THEY HAVE. The things I would do to get a Ravi in my life 😫🤲 Every scene with them I felt butterflies 🦋 

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!

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Read my One of Us is Next Review
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It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover Book Review

4/1/2022

34 Comments

 
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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)
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  1. The Wattpad Storyline:
  • Was the author drunk while writing the first half?? This is ridiculous and I feel like I’m reading fanfiction.
  • Exhibit A: This book starts out with two strangers meeting each other on a rooftop and immediately spilling their deepest darkest secrets…. Why? No clue. What kind of people have deep convos with a stranger they just met? Ur really going to spill all your life’s secrets to a man you just met? Maybe it’s just me and my introvertedness, but I don’t get it 🤷‍♀️
  • Exhibit B: This thing between Ryle and Lily is weird and unrealistic. They’ve met like ONLY twice now and he’s knocking on all the doors in her neighborhood to find her?? And he’s literally panting over her. He says that he can’t pass his medical school exams because he can’t stop thinking about her and gets distracted. He then goes on to say he lost sleep over her 😭  Then he has the AUDACITY to beg her to… um do stuff…HELLO?! U GUYS BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER AND HAVE HAD TWO SMALL INTERACTIONS. This is the stupidest thing ever 😂 . 
  • Exhibit C: “You make me want to be a different person, but what if I don’t know how to be what you need”. Wow, so romantic 🙄 . This was said after the fourth interaction between them. Totally not rushed at all 🤩  🤩 ! Gosh I have to keep reminding myself this is not fanfiction 💀
  • Exhibit D: “But I’ve missed you and for some reason I sleep better when I sleep next to you”. I- that’s a bit much for two people who barely know each other but ok.

2. Toxic and Non Consensual Behavior Romanticized: 
  • Exhibit A: Immediately after these two meet, Ryle invites her to… um do stuff part 2…. I got the icks. Ngl if a stranger said that to me, conservation would be over faster than you can say “lawsuit” and I would be filing a restraining order right away 😟 
  • Exhibit B: Then a few pages later HE STARTS TO LIFT UP HER SHIRT?! This guy needs to learn to ask people before he touches them 😤
  • Exhibit C: A quarter through the book, Ryle begs her to… um do stuff part 3…. And she said no (thank goodness this guy gives me the creeps).  AND then he literally pressurizes  her even after she said no. And this is normalized in the book??
  • Exhibit D: "Please have s** with me. I want you so so bad and I swear- once you have s** with me, you'll never hear from me again. I promise" UM IMMEDIATELY NO. GET BACK! GET BACK! 🤺 🤺 🤺 I’LL BE RIGHT BACK, I’M GOING TO GO LOCK UP ALL MY DOORS 😧
  • SPOILERS: The problem is that this toxic behavior is romanticized and passed off as flirting. That’s a dangerous message to support. It was only considered abuse when we were told that it’s abuse. Otherwise, the previous “flirting” moves Ryle had made were apparently justified.



  • **This is in neither the likes or dislikes section, just wanted to mention it: Why is 99.999999% of YA female leads red haired (including Lily) but only about 2% of the world’s population is?! 💀


What I liked: 

  1. Message (Kind of a Spoiler): The message about abuse was very powerful. It was developed in a way that truly encased the mind of a woman going through domestic abuse. It was very well done.
  2. Atlas: ONLY BEARABLE PERSON IN THIS ENTIRE BOOK. I loved every scene he showed up in. Especially Lily’s diary entries about Atlas.

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! 

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So Long as I'm With You by MC Winkkle ARC Review

2/25/2022

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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: 

  1. The Descriptions: The book could use more descriptive language to better convey the emotion felt by Sydney and Richard. There were several emotional scenes that weren’t written to its full capacity because I didn’t feel the strong emotion. For example, in the very beginning when Richard talks about brother he says: “when I found out he wasn’t next to me, I was devastated”. This scene is supposed to convey a tragedy that ripped Richard’s heart out, but the word devastated simply doesn’t do enough justice to convey this heart wrenching emotion. I would have liked to see more descriptive language to improve moving scenes such as that.
  2. Grammar Errors: I spotted several grammatical errors. Examples: 
  • In page 51 in the first paragraph: “Today she was wearing wore a brown foulard”
  • Also on same page: “The performed on her” instead of “They performed on her”
  • On page 183 there was an equal sign randomly in the middle of a sentence: “you don’t like it”=?
  • Page 89: “Writing had been passion for years now” sentence is missing an “a” or a “her”.

Overall I thought this book was sweet and fast paced! The characters are likable and the last 100 pages have you on your toes! 

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The Inheritance Games and the Hawthorne Legacy Review by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

12/18/2021

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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: 
  • Case 1: Max saying "fudge" and "beach" instead of actual swear words were one of the cringiest dialogue I've ever read. If it appeared once or twice, then fine. But nooooo, Maxine would say it like 60 times in one sentence 😭 . NO ONE EVER TALKS LIKE THAT IN REAL LIFE OMG 🙄 . And her reason for using them was the dumbest thing ever. Maxine isn’t allowed to say swear words in front of her parents but is allowed to say swear word innuendos and they’re fine with it? 
  • Case 2: Jameson calling Avery “Mystery Girl” and “Heiress” was cute at first but then he used it in every sentence and it got annoying 💀 . 

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. 😐
  • Grayson X Avery: I shipped these two more in the first book (honestly because the alternate, Jameson x Avery seemed to have no chemistry at all). But this book ruined them. There were barely any interactions between them and they were all EXTREMELY forced and bland. Minor spoilers: Also I find it funny how the kiss between Grayson and Avery was just never brought up again 💀
Avery: Avery’s personality was nonexistent in this book. It was like she was just narrating things that happened to her and not actively moving the story along with. Idk. Even the spark of personality she had in the first book was completely washed away in the second.
  • Sidenote: Avery is such a horrible friend to max. It was her BIRTHDAY and it took Max reminding her the day before to realize it. Even then she forgot by the next day until Max showed up at her house. Max does so much for Avery but Avery still doesn’t do much back for Max. JUSTICE FOR MAX 😤  ✊
How Characters Reference Each Other: 
  • It’s so weird to me how everytime Emily’s name is brought up, Avery has to mention the fact that Emily isn’t as beautiful as Rebecca. Why does that matter? And why has that exact statement been written 5+ times in both books lol?! 🤨
  • Why do they keep calling their grandfather “Old man”? “The old man” this,  “The old man” that.... they even admit their grandfather is the one who raised him yet they still refer to him as this, which I thought was disrespectful towards their grandfather. 
Inconsistencies (Spoilers skip this underlined paragraph): How come the period of time Avery was kidnapped didn’t count against her? She already used up her 3 days away from the house that month. She should have lost the inheritance because she spent an additional 12 hours away from Hawthorne house. 

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.
Read Review for the Selection
Read Review for A Curse so Dark and Lonely
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One Of Us Is Next by Karen McNamus- A Book Review

7/17/2021

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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: 
  • The most illogical part of this book is how a 17 year old easily hacked into a computer that belonged to an employee of a law establishment. I don’t care how skilled in computer programming you are, no 17 year old can hack that well. And she didn’t even hack! She guessed the password by typing in birthdates! I assure you, corporations do not leave passwords to be made in the hands of their employees. Plus there are multi factor authentications employees have to go through, like plugging into their USB port to verify they are the employee. So HOW IN THE WORLD was Maeve able to guess her way into a computer? And then later on in the book this kid easily “hacks” into the law cases on the computer that are heavily guarded? WHAT?
  • SPOILERS: How did Jared get Pheobe’s number? If he was texting Emma pretending to be Phoebe on her phone, Jared would have Emma’s phone number written down. How did he get her number?
  • SPOILERS: As much as I appreciated the last minute plot twist, how did Owen continue the conversation with Jared without a phone? How did he even know about the deal with Emma and Jared? At the end it says he was eavesdropping but how can you eavesdrop on your sister texting something? She wasn’t saying all her diabolic plans outloud?! 
Truth or Dare: This whole book was marketed around the mysterious truth or dare game right? Then can someone explain to me WHY it only made an appearance for less than 20% of the book?! 
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. 
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Killing November by Adriana Mather- A Book Review

6/4/2021

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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
  • The setting and premise: FOR ONCE this YA mystery novel was not set in the same old small town setting where a mysterious teen death occurred at school and the main character happens to be some mastermind detective who easily is able to get down to the bottom of things when no one else can (I’m looking at you Karen McNamus). This story gives a different take to YA Mystery involving a school to train spies and assassins, which was WAYYY more interesting than whatever story Karen McNamus comes up with at some small town school. (Sorry I need to get over the grudge I have with this author, but everytime I try I get reminded of the monstrosity of “One of Us is Lying” and “Two Can Keep a Secret” and my grudge starts all over again. *Shudders*) 
  • Plot: The main reason this book is getting such a high rating from me is because it was SO FUN. Like seriously, after you get to page 50 it’s really hard to put this one down. As the plot progresses, the secrets about the school are slowly revealed bit by bit and you’re left wanting to know more.
  • Fast Paced: There were no parts where the book got unbearably slow. Which is actually surprising because most books I have read in the past few months have had some really slowwwwwww middle parts. Then I end up taking a “small break” (more like a week-long break) where I avoid reading the book because I was bored. Huh, maybe that's why I have the reading speed of a snail. Anyways the pacing of this book is very well done and there are no slow parts here 😌 



What I didn’t like:
  • It was so predictable??? You know how mystery books usually choose a character to display as the obvious culprit but it never turns out to be them in the end? Yah well the author of this book never got the memo to make the murderer the least obvious choice. The really obvious choice ends up being the real culprit. It’s a huge letdown and I remember thinking “Ok at any moment now there will be a twist and the real murderer will be revealed”. I basically sat there through the last 50 pages waiting for a twist to happen and when it didn’t, I was beyond disappointed because THE MURDERER’S IDENTITY WAS LITERALLY SO PREDICTABLE. 
  • 2. A bit unrealistic:
  • Is THERE NO FINGERPRINT DETECTORS IN THIS SCHOOL? Legit the whole mess would have been resolved if someone bothered to check for fingerprints 🙄  Plus, November, Layla and Ash constantly touched objects in places they aren’t supposed to without worrying about leaving fingerprints behind
  • Even if November hadn’t attended the elite assassin school since she was a kid, somehow she was better than everyone at the school? Even better than the top students? 🤨  Yes I get that her dad taught her how to use knives and stuff, but these students have been training every day for years at the academy. Then suddenly some intermediate student (November) enters the school and is able to beat all the advanced students. Yah, totally realistic! 😐  All the best students are being beaten by someone who spent her time going to normal school and at most, training 3 hours a day at home. Whereas the academy kids spent 7+ hours training every single day since they were kids. 
  • November’s Character: For most of the book November ran around the school super confused and clueless (I don’t blame her.. The school is absolutely crazy). However, while she is figuring out the confusing school, she also has moments where she suddenly is able to be the most confident person at the school and able to defeat everyone there. Sometimes she’s presented as a clueless and nervous wreck and then sometimes she’s presented as the most confident person on earth?

Go read this book, it’s pretty good and has an interesting plot. Just don’t expect too much out of the ending! 
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Book Review for "someone's story" by b.a bellec

7/29/2020

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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: 
  1. The Ending: This ending was a complete rollercoaster…. If someone filmed my reaction after finishing my book, they would find me staring at a wall for an hour contemplating those plot twists. Yes, you read that right! Plot twists, plural, as in more than one. I literally could not take my eyes off from the book during the last 30 or so pages. SHEESH I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING! I don’t want to spoil it but I will say this ending is one that will resonate with you and is unforgettable.
  2. Unique Writing Style: The first few chapters were a bit hard to swallow since I was new to this type of writing. However by chapter three or four, I started really liking it! I thought it was super unique to address the character’s name and put a colon after it rather than put quotation marks around the dialogue.  (Example: Caleb: I guess so.)  It was like a script for plays! 
  3. Very Engaging Story: I was completely invested in this book! At first it seems like a simple story about a teenager adjusting to the town he just moved in. However, halfway through the book it becomes more complex than what was seen from first glance. The book delves into heavier topics and develops the characters beautifully! And don’t even get me started about that complex plot twist at the end of the book…I will not stop talking about this ending, it’s THAT good! 
  4. Mental Health/Family Situation Awareness: This book was very eye opening about the various types of mental health illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Representation of these mental illnesses through characters that we read about is a great way to bring awareness to readers. Moreover this book tackles family situations for many of the characters. I found it interesting that we were first introduced to these characters without having any idea of what they went through. It was a great reminder that you may think you know a person but you really have no idea what they are going through.
  5. The Main Character’s Name: Naming the main character as “Someone” was a symbolic way of showing that this main character could represent anyone. It's a great way for readers to put themselves in Someone’s shoes and relate to what’s happening!

What I Thought Could Use Improvement:
  1. The Beginning: The first few chapters were hard to get through. One big reason why it was hard to get into the book in the beginning was because there was such frequent usage of simple sentences instead of complex ones. A lot of the sentences were about three or four words at max. This improved on later in the story but I do remember there being quite a few simple sentences at the start. After the first three or four chapters, I became super interested! Maybe the beginning could have had an interesting hook to attract the readers in from the first chapter?
  2. Portrayal of High School Students: A lot of the background high school character’s actions are exaggerated or just felt a bit inaccurate at some parts. For instance, on the first day of business class when the teacher asks: “What is business?”, immediately students start answering but not in the brightest way (the first student just said that business is something that their parents do). If this was an actual high school class then there would have been minutes of awkward silence while the students each internally hoped that the teacher wouldn’t call on them. And even when they finally were called on, they probably wouldn't say something as surface level as: “business is what our parents do”.  It’s a small thing, but in the end all the small things add up and count towards the overall setting.
  3. Unanswered Questions: There were a few questions that by the end of the book, I still was not sure about. 
  • What do Someone’s friends call him by? Why isn’t a single classmate or teacher asking why he wants to be called Someone? When he's introduced to someone new, why aren't they asking him why his name is Someone?
  • SPOILERS: Who did Someone see instead of Ashley on the bed unconscious? Was that just a trick of his mind?
  • SPOILERS: What really happened in his old town? Did Someone really do something or was the girl lying? I was confused at the end as to what was real and what was not in that situation.

This book is a MUST READ for everyone! It does have it's faults but in the end it's worth reading it!
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book review for "The book of moons" by k.m herbert

6/14/2020

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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:

  • The First Chapter: Right away in the beginning I was hooked! I was glued to the book as Kathy and Sinead escaped their orphanage. While the next few chapters of the book were slower paced, the first chapter had me on the edge and left me wanting to know more!
  • Irish Culture: I loved learning about Irish culture! It’s a topic I don’t know much about, so the exposure to Irish culture from this book was very welcome. 
  • Kathy: In most books, the main character is really confident and strong. Kathy is more of a flawed, reserved character and it was refreshing to read about. She was different from the normal fictional character I read about and it gave a unique air around her.
  • The Frenemy Relationship: I love the frenemy relationship between Brigitta and Kathy. It was so heartwarming to see them both comfort each other in the worst of times.

“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:

  • Backstory: I was really looking forward to a backstory or a few more flashbacks about Kathy’s past in the orphanage and what she endured there. We only got a few flashbacks here and there but not enough to explain all the questions I had. What were her parents like? When did she go to the orphanage? How did she end up in that orphanage? What incident happened that made Kathy and Sinead want to leave the orphanage in such a rush? A backstory or a flashback could’ve answered these questions and given more depth to the characters.
  • Story Ending: Spoilers: For me, the ending felt incomplete. I really would have liked to see Sinead. Instead, I’m left with more questions. What if Kathy never sees Sinead again? What if Sinead was captured by the people in the orphanage? I really wished the ending of this book gave more answers instead of leaving me with more questions.
  • Typo: This is a really nit-picky suggestion but on page 24 it says: “‘I noticed,’ Kathy mumbled darkly. ‘She’s not that bad, honest.’
Kathy raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ll believe it when I see the other side of her’” (Page 24, Herbert). I’m pretty sure the first dialogue is meant to be from Heath but instead there is a typo and it’s written like Kathy is saying it. 

“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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