Hey y’all! I’m back from my hiatus, and would you look at that! I changed the name of my blog and updated a bunch of things! But never fear, my reviews were always full of sass and feelings, so nothing about the content is going to change. I was gone a while, so I have some catching up to do. But I was so busy that my reading really took a dive, so this isn’t going to be super long or anything. Anyway! Here we go!
Here’s a reminder of my cuter than words rating system (puppies!):
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
This book was so fun, and it was a really great introduction to feminism and activism. But it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more from it. I’ll be reviewing it in full in July, so I’ll leave it at that.
Rating: 3 dogs petted.
The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean
This series was the most wonderful historical romance series I’ve ever read. The Soiled S’s are my faves. You can read my full review here.
Rating: 4 dogs petted.
Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali
I’ll be reviewing this one in full very soon as well, but know that I loved it more than a lot of books I’ve read lately. It’s wonderful and the MC isn’t always likable, and I feel that in YA books.
Rating: 4 dogs petted.
Mister O by Lauren Blakely
This might be my favorite in the entire Big Rock series. Full review to come!
Rating: 4 dogs petted.
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz
DNF at 8%. I hated the writing in this book, and I didn’t want to read it in the first place. I’ll be reviewing this one soon too, and I’m excited to sit down and dive in. Stay tuned for some tea, y’all!
Rating: 0 dogs petted.
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
I didn’t know I needed this beautiful, hopeful book until it was right in front of me and I was reading it. It deserves every award it has received. I can’t wait to gush over it in my upcoming review!
Rating: 4+ dogs petted.
27 Hours by Tristina Wright
DNF at 25%. I’m trying to decide if I want to write a review for this book at all. There were several controversies surrounding it, including that the author has sexually harassed people, which I am not about supporting EVER. So I don’t know. But I just didn’t like it, separately from all the controversy. Too many POVs, to many characters I didn’t feel anything for, I guess.
Rating: 0 dogs petted.
Listen to Me by Kristen Proby
This series warms my heart, and I’ll be reviewing soon. My only complaint is that the dialogue throughout is a bit cringeworthy. But the story was cute and I’ve now read almost the whole series, so… ❤
Rating: 3 dogs petted.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
I was so bored reading this book. Back before my new job through everything into a tailspin, I was doing the #aseriesamonth reading challenge, and this was my February pick. But it was such a struggle for me to finish this one and the sequel. I’ll be reviewing soon, but overall, I just think these weren’t for me.
Rating: 2 dogs petted.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
This is an excellent example of “the book is so much better than the movie.” My husband and I listened to this one on a road trip and we were both super into it. Michael Crichton is great at writing action. However, he’s not great and writing children… I’ll explain what I mean in my upcoming full review.
Rating: 4 dogs petted.
Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco
Yawn. Although I’ll say that I liked this a lot better than the first one. In the future, I’m probably not going to force myself to read books I’m only feeling “meh” about, but this was for a reading challenge. So I’ll just say “meh” now, and then again in my full review.
Rating: 2 dogs petted.
Close to You by Kristen Proby
HEARTWARMING. I loved the peeps in this one as much as the first one. Ugh, these books are so adorable. ❤
Rating: 3 dogs petted.
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
OKAY. I wanted to like this book, and I did, but I definitely didn’t love it. There were parts in the middle that were super slow and I really didn’t like the love triangle thing going on. The adventure and time travel stuff was great, though! But… after reading what the sequel was about, I started procrastinating it. This series is the reason I failed at #aseriesamonth. Ah well, I don’t need that in my life (until next year, when I try it again, ha). Full review to come once I figure out what to do with the sequel.
Rating: 3 dogs petted.
Blush for Me by Kristen Proby
I didn’t love the characters in this one as much as the first two, but I still love the series. Kat is just a bit abrasive to me, and while I tend to like unlikable characters, she was a bit… much. But I still love the series.
Rating: 3 dogs petted.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
THIS BOOK MELTED MY BRAIN. That’s about all I can coherently say right now, so I hope I have more words when it comes time to actually review it!
Rating: 3 dogs petted.
The Beauty of Us by Kristen Proby
Okay, again, this one wasn’t as good as the first two in the series. There was way too much girl-on-girl hate and drama in this one, but I did love nerdy Trevor, so that balanced out a bit. Hopefully the last book in the series lives up to the first two!
Rating: 3 dogs petted.
My reading picked up again in June, so I’ll have an actual recap for this month. I’m so happy to be back!
Another thing of note – I’ve always signed these reviews and recaps as “A.” I’ve decided to change that, to review under a different name from now on. You can call me Marie, and I’m here to stay.
Happy reading!
Snark & Squee 