Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Gist I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am a sucker for space stories. Throw some young adult plots with a sprinkle of classic literature retelling and I’m a very happy reader. Brightly Burning is all that. It is a retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre…set in space with quite a bit of young adult drama. Yes, please! The Details As with the author’s other retelling (The Stars We Steal) I was excited trying to figure out what character was based on the characters in the original classic and also what changes were made to…
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The Orphan of Cemetery Hill
The Orphan of Cemetery Hill by Hester Fox My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Graydon House, for providing me with an ARC of The Orphan of Cemetery Hill in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I had Fox’s first novel, The Witch of Willow Hall, on my to-read list ever since it came out in 2018. Being the hopeful optimist that I am, I kept making plans to read it any day now. Well, the road to hell is usually paved with good intentions. So, sadly, I hadn’t been introduced to her writing until the publisher was so kind…
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Mayan Blood
Mayan Blood by Theresa DaLayne I was given this ARC by NetGalley in return for an honest review. The file I have received for my Kindle is unfortunately difficult to read. After page breaks the sentences from the previous page and current page are mixed up, chopped up and in disarray. I have to skip paragraphs and points in the story get lost. Also, spaces between words are missing or placed randomly within words. Sadly, this takes away from the reading experience and makes it impossible to focus on the story, which requires the reader’s full attention.
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Lore
Lore by Alexandra Bracken My rating: 4 of 5 stars Thank you NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for providing me with an excerpt from the ARC of Lore in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I have been meaning to read one of Alexandra Bracken’s books ever since I found out how creepy The Darkest Minds is supposed to be. My little Wednesday Addams-like heart calms at any creepy, mysterious and/or murderous story. It relaxes me. I know, I’m weird. I even bought the hardcover edition of Passenger, fully intending on reading that asap. But alas, it’s been on my bookshelf since 2016, looking very pretty…
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Fangs
Fangs by Sarah Andersen My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an ARC of Fangs in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I hear about Anderson’s new comic story from her Instagram account. She posted weekly – I think – snippets of the whole story until it was complete on her website. I meant to keep track of them, but lost track of time. So, when I saw the entire story was available for request on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance. I enjoyed all of Anderson’s previous work and was curious what she…
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Annabeth Neverending
Annabeth Neverending by Leyla Kader Dahm My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you NetGalley and Create Space for providing me with an ARC of Annabeth Neverending in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I still have quite a few books sitting on my “to-read” NetGalley shelf, so I thought now is just as good a time to finally check them out and review them as any other. In the past, I would have a few weeks off during which I had enough time to get super excited about new books and then schoolwork would catch up with me again, putting my reading and…
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Cursed Pirate Girl, Vol. 1
Cursed Pirate Girl Volume 1 by Jeremy A. Bastian My rating: 5 of 5 stars I got the first volume of Cursed Pirate Girl as a Christmas gift and I finally took the time to read it. I snuggled up on the couch, ready to dive into this adventure story about a pirate girl and before I knew it, I had finished the book. It was a great read that grabbed hold of me and didn’t let go even after I had finished. I want to know more. I want to read more. Unfortunately, under our current circumstances with comic bookstores and libraries temporarily shut down, I have to ignore…
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White Raven
White Raven by J.L. Weil My rating: 1 of 5 stars I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I don’t even know where to start. I have been having a lot of free time on my hands lately and thought I will work myself through the ever-growing list of NetGalley books. I can’t remember why I requested this story in the first place, because reading the synopsis I can’t really find anything that would personally interest me in the story. I’m not trying to be rude; it just didn’t seem like my cup of tea. Before I started reading I…
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The Bone Houses
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones My rating: 5 of 5 stars It feels like I read this one a lifetime ago. So much has changed since then, but one thing stays the same, my opinion of this book. It was a great read. I am a sucker for horror, tasteful, spine-tingling, goosebumps-on-the-back-of-your-neck horror. And this was just that. I have been mulling over this review for a while, quite simply because I don’t know how to elaborate on the fact that this was just a perfect story. I really have nothing to suggest to make it more interesting or gripping. The characters were well developed, had depth and held…
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The Song of Achilles
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller My rating: 1 of 5 stars I read this book in early February of this year and I have been dreading writing a review ever since for two reasons. For one, according to the reviews and ratings of it mine is a very unpopular opinion. Secondly, I’m not sure I can keep my sarcasm in check, but I will try my best and as a result turn this into a very boring and dull review…maybe. The Song of Achilles has been on my to-read list for a very long time and I finally took the opportunity to read it now that I have…
