en-US Mon, 31 Mar 2025 18:41:05 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 61313902 Eight hours.
Six friends.
One sniper . . .

Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There’s no mobile phone reception and nobody around to help. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there in the dark watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.

A game of cat-and-mouse plays out as the group desperately tries to get help and to work out which member of the group is the target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. Not everyone will survive the night.]]> 391 Holly Jackson 0755504402 �. 4 4.09 2022
author: Holly Jackson
name: �.
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: friends-recs, 2025-reads, 4-stars, thrillers
review:

]]> 214269353 From the award-winning author of Flux comes a dazzling novel about love, family, and the art of sushi that asks: What if you could return to the point of a fateful choice, wiser than before, and find the courage to forge a new path?

A coma can change a man, but the world Jack Jr. awakens to is one he barely recognizes. His advertising job is history, his Manhattan apartment is gone, and the love of his life has left him behind. He’s been asleep for two years; with no one to turn to, he realizes it’s been ten years since he last saw his family.Ìý

Lost and disoriented, he makes a reluctant homecoming back to the bustling Korean American enclave of Fort Lee, New Jersey; back into the waiting arms of his parents, who are operating under the illusion he never left; and back to Joja, their ever-struggling sushi restaurant that he was set to inherit before he ran away from it all. As he steps back into the life he abandoned—learning his Appa’s life lessons over crates of tuna on bleary-eyed 4 AM fish runs, doling out amberjack behind the omakase counter while his Umma tallies the night's pitiful number of customers, and sparring with his recovering alcoholic brother, James—he embraces new roles, That of romantic interest to the male nurse who took care of him throughout, and that of sage (but underqualified) uncle to his gangly teenage nephew.

There is value in the joyous rhythms of this once-abandoned life. But second chances are an even messier business than running a restaurant, and the lure of a self-determined path might, once again, prove too hard to resist.

Why do we run from those we love, and why do we still love those who run from us? A highly entertaining and poignant story about second chances and self-discovery, I Leave It Up to You pilots through the loss, love, and absurdity of finding one’s footing after the ground gives way.]]> 311 Jinwoo Chong 0593727053 �. 0 to-read 4.04 2025
author: Jinwoo Chong
name: �.
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203579211
During a grocery run to her local shopping center, Shell Pine sees a ‘HELP NEEDED� sign in a flower shop window. She’s just left her fiancé, lost her job, and moved home to her parents� house. She has to make a change and bring some good into her life, so she goes inside and takes a chance. Shell realizes right away that flowers are just the good thing she's been looking for, as is Neve, the beautiful florist who wrote the sign asking for help. The thing is, Neve needs help more than Shell could possibly imagine.

An orchid growing out of sight in the heart of the mall is watching them closely. His name is Baby, and the beautiful florist belongs to him. He’s young, he’s hungry, and he’ll do just about anything to make sure he can keep growing big and strong. Nothing he eats � nobody he eats � can satisfy him, except the thing he most desires. Neve. He adores her and wants to consume her, and will stop at nothing to eat the one he loves.

This is a story about possession, and monstrosity, and working retail. It is about hunger and desire, and other terrible things that grow.]]> 288 Sarah Maria Griffin 1250910692 �. 0 4.01 2025
author: Sarah Maria Griffin
name: �.
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 213570812 "I'm in your blood, and you are in mine�"

The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.

Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behavior takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angryâ€� and hungry.Ìý

Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth, or risk losing her forever.]]> 368 Johanna van Veen 1728281571 �. 0 to-read 4.02 2025
author: Johanna van Veen
name: �.
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 215362543 A delightful queer romantic fantasy full of friends-to-lovers chemistry, found family, rival family drama, and cozy garden magic from two acclaimed YA authors making their debut in the adult space.

Yael Clauneck is the only scion of an obscenely wealthy banking family with its fingers in every pie in the realm. They’re on the precipice of a predetermined life when they flee their own graduation party, galloping away in search of…well, they’re not sure, but maybe the chance to feel like life can still be a grand adventure.

Margot Greenwillow—talented plant witch, tea lover, and greenhouse owner—has never felt further from adventure in her life. She’s been desperately trying to keep what remains of her family's magic remedies business afloat. So when her childhood friend and former crush, Yael, rides back into her life, she’s shocked. But perhaps this could be a good thing. After all, Margot could use an assistant in the greenhouses.

Yael has no experience or, honestly, practical skills, but they’re delighted to accept. They can lay low for a while, flirting with Margot while they figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, Margot has plans of her own—but plans are notoriously unreliable things, unlikely to survive a swiftly blooming mutual attraction, not to mention the machinations of parents determined to get their heir back . . . no matter the cost.]]> 368 Jamie Pacton 0593873653 �. 0 to-read 3.54 2025
author: Jamie Pacton
name: �.
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214269343 A young witch cursed with sacrificing memories to cast spells must decide how much she’s willing to lose to save her town in this thrilling tale of magic, love, and self-discovery—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic.

In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. The more powerful the magic, the greater the memory required.

Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget. Forget the mother who left them without a trace. Forget the cracks in her relationships with her judgmental oldest sister, Thalia, and her distant middle sister, Eurydice. Forget about the very cost of her magic. And most of all, forget the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago.

But when an ancient evil awakens in their town, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to an annoyingly handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power.

Battling a sizzling chemistry to a man she can't trust, Calliope needs to confront her sisters and the painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, and ancient magic in order to keep the town and all she loves safe. But will she have anything left of herself?]]> 400 Breanne Randall 0593875001 �. 0 to-read 3.58 2025
author: Breanne Randall
name: �.
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61246903
Evan Taft has plans. Take a gap year in Alaska, make sure his little brother and single mother are taken care of, and continue therapy to process his father's departure. But after his mom’s unexpected diagnosis, as Evan’s plans begin to fade, he hears something: a song no one else can hear, the voice of a mysterious singer . . .

Shosh Bell has dreams. A high school theater legend, she’s headed to performing arts college in LA, a star on the rise. But when a drunk driver takes her sister’s life, that star fades to black. All that remains is a void—and a soft voice singing in her ear . . .

Over it all, transcending time and space, a celestial bird brings strangers together: from an escaped murderer in 19th century Paris, to a Norwegian kosmonaut in low-earth orbit, something is happening that began long ago, and will long outlast Evan and Shosh. With lyrical prose and original songs (written and recorded by the author), I LOVED YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE explores the history of love, and how some souls are meant for each other—yesterday, today, forever.]]> 352 David Arnold 0593524802 �. 0 currently-reading, 2025-reads 3.40 2023
author: David Arnold
name: �.
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: currently-reading, 2025-reads
review:

]]> 208430658 Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.

An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.

Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?

A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)]]> 430 M.L. Wang 0593873351 �. 0 to-read 4.40 2023
author: M.L. Wang
name: �.
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 13623848 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062060624.

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.]]> 408 Madeline Miller �. 5 4.30 2011
author: Madeline Miller
name: �.
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: my-love-and-my-life, 2023-reads, queer, romance-the-good-kind, sad, mlm, 2025-reads, rereads
review:

]]> 56302573 208 Ray Bradbury �. 2 2025-reads 3.77 1953
author: Ray Bradbury
name: �.
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1953
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: 2025-reads
review:

]]> 1722423
1. Get a perfect score on the SATs.
2. Get into HarvardYalePrinceton.
3. Don't talk to boys.*

Patti's parents expect nothing less than the best from their Korean-American daughter. Everything she does affects her chances of getting into an Ivy League school. So winning assistant concertmaster in her All-State violin competition and earning less than 2300 on her SATs is simply not good enough.

But Patti's discovering that there's more to life than the Ivy League. To start with, there's Cute Trumpet Guy. He's funny, he's talented, and he looks exactly like the lead singer of Patti's favorite band. Then, of course, there's her love of the violin. Not to mention cool rock concerts. And anyway, what if Patti doesn't want to go to HarvardYalePrinceton after all?

Paula Yoo scores big in her hilarious debut novel about an overachiever who longs to fit in and strives to stand out. The pressure is on!

*Boys will distract you from your studies.]]> 322 Paula Yoo 0060790857 �. 2 3.90 2008
author: Paula Yoo
name: �.
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 55812605 For fans of Caraval and The Night Circus, this decadent and darkly enchanting YA fantasy, set against the backdrop of a Belle Époque-inspired hotel, follows seventeen-year-old Jani as she uncovers the deeply disturbing secrets of the legendary Hotel Magnifique.

All her life, Jani has dreamed of Elsewhere. Just barely scraping by with her job at a tannery, she’s resigned to a dreary life in the port town of Durc, caring for her younger sister Zosa. That is, until the Hotel Magnifique comes to town.

The hotel is legendary not only for its whimsical enchantments, but also for its ability to travel—appearing in a different destination every morning. While Jani and Zosa can’t afford the exorbitant costs of a guest’s stay, they can interview to join the staff, and are soon whisked away on the greatest adventure of their lives. But once inside, Jani quickly discovers their contracts are unbreakable and that beneath the marvelous glamour, the hotel is hiding dangerous secrets.

With the vexingly handsome doorman Bel as her only ally, Jani embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery of the magic at the heart of the hotel and free Zosa—and the other staff—from the cruelty of the ruthless maître d’hôtel. To succeed, she’ll have to risk everything she loves, but failure would mean a fate far worse than never returning home.]]> 400 Emily J. Taylor 0593404513 �. 0 to-read 3.76 2022
author: Emily J. Taylor
name: �.
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53457092
Shiori'anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted. But it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.

A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes. She warns Shiori that she must speak of it to no one for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.

Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in a paper bird, a mercurial dragon, and the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she's been taught all her life to forswear--no matter what the cost.

Weaving together elements of The Wild Swans, Cinderella, the legend of Chang E, and the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.]]> 454 Elizabeth Lim 0593300939 �. 0 to-read 4.19 2021
author: Elizabeth Lim
name: �.
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35959740
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.]]> 393 Madeline Miller 0316556343 �. 0 to-read 4.22 2018
author: Madeline Miller
name: �.
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 41951626 Impossible love between two girls —one human, one Made.
A love that could birth a revolution.

After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, Designed to be the playthings of royals, took over the estates of their owners and bent the human race to their will.

Now, Ayla, a human servant rising the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging the death of her family� by killing the Sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier. Crier, who was Made to be beautiful, to be flawless. And to take over the work of her father.

Crier had been preparing to do just that—to inherit her father’s rule over the land. But that was before she was betrothed to Scyre Kinok, who seems to have a thousand secrets. That was before she discovered her father isn’t as benevolent as she thought. That was before she met Ayla.

Set in a richly-imagined fantasy world, Nina Varela’s debut novel is a sweepingly romantic tale of love, loss and revenge, that challenges what it really means to be human.]]> 464 Nina Varela 0062823965 �. 0 to-read 4.12 2019
author: Nina Varela
name: �.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55868456 Two warriors shepherd an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family in this new epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds.

The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.

But that god cannot be contained forever.

With the aid of Jun, a guard broken by his guilt-stricken past, and Keema, an outcast fighting for his future, the god escapes from her royal captivity and flees from her own children, the triplet Terrors who would drag her back to her unholy prison. And so it is that she embarks with her young companions on a five-day pilgrimage in search of freedom—and a way to end the Moon Throne forever. The journey ahead will be more dangerous than any of them could have imagined.

Both a sweeping adventure story and an intimate exploration of identity, legacy, and belonging, The Spear Cuts Through Water is an ambitious and profound saga that will transport and transform you—and is like nothing you’ve ever read before.
]]> 525 Simon Jimenez 0593156595 �. 0 to-read 4.17 2022
author: Simon Jimenez
name: �.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 43263680
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs� are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.]]> 461 Leigh Bardugo 1250313074 �. 0 currently-reading 4.00 2019
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: �.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 50202953
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 272 Susanna Clarke 163557563X �. 0 to-read 4.22 2020
author: Susanna Clarke
name: �.
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 198493806
After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves. Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation.Ìý But things aren’t so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled “obsceneâ€� or “pornographicâ€� and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors.Ìý Noor can’t sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics—and small-town love—be her downfall? ]]> 384 Samira Ahmed 0316547840 â„�. 0 to-read 4.22 2024
author: Samira Ahmed
name: �.
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 37004370
When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.

A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.]]> 274 Y�ko Ogawa 1101870605 �. 0 to-read 3.72 1994
author: Y�ko Ogawa
name: �.
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 25489025
Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.]]> 188 Han Kang 0553448188 �. 0 to-read 3.61 2007
author: Han Kang
name: �.
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213344066 Fans of Allison Saft and Margaret Rogerson will be swept away into this lush and beguiling sapphic romantasy from the bestselling author of Flowerheart, Catherine Bakewell.

Ofelia has lived her life dreaming of entering Le Château Enchanté—the mysterious court of the gods-blessed King Léo, where the shadow monsters that roam Ofelia’s home never trespass.

Lope has lived her life as a knight, defending Ofelia and her home from Shadows even as she dreams of escaping with Ofelia by her side.

When the Shadows venture too close, Lope and Ofelia are thrust into a journey that will lead them to the heart of the darkness haunting their home: the dazzling and deceptive Château Enchanté itself.

A mesmerizing daydream with a subtle edge of darkness that will leave you utterly unable to put it down, Where Shadows Bloom pits terrifying monsters, chilling secrets, capricious gods, immortal kings, and death itself against the unstoppable love between two girls.]]> 432 Catherine Bakewell 0063359081 �. 0 to-read 3.63 2025
author: Catherine Bakewell
name: �.
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214143805 A new breathtaking tale of unforgettable romance, set in a dark academia world of secret societies, lush suspense and sizzling sensuality, from RuNyx, the New York Times bestselling author of Gothikana.

Salem Salazar comes to Mortimer University to get to the bottom of her sister's mysterious death. There, obsessed with forensics, she discovers there have been a lot more unexplained deaths on the campus. Her search leads her down a dark and dangerous path to a secret society and to Caz.

Cazimir van der Waal is in her way and another mystery to unravel. Is he just an art student, a man living a double life, or a murderer? While also at the university seeking answers for another death, Caz has a lot more to him than meets the eye.

Secret forces are at play in Mortimer and no one is safe. As Salem tries to go under radar and Caz tries to block her path, somehow, they both end up in the crossfire of a powerful, secret society. They are forced to work together to discover the truth or risk losing their lives.

In this magnificent, steamy dark academia romance from RuNyx, sparks will fly, rivals will become lovers, and terrible secrets will be unleashed.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 463 RuNyx 1250334241 �. 0 to-read 4.24 2025
author: RuNyx
name: �.
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216879705 From the author of the instant New York Times bestseller I Hope This Doesn't Find You, Never Thought I'd End Up Here is another hilarious and romantic romcom from Ann Liang, this time following a former model determined to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA - it's all she's ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She's forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can't hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China's most beautiful cities. To them, it's the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it's simply a much-needed escape.

But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who's somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other.

While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody's looking, she can't get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Yet the deeper they wander into China's provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love - with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she'd call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.]]> 320 Ann Liang 1546110674 �. 0 to-read 4.57 2025
author: Ann Liang
name: �.
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 180633984 June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace, crafts a devastating and pulse-pounding tale that will feel all-too-relevant in today’s world, based on a true story from Korean history.

Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly.

1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings.

Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death.

Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

When Iseul's and Daehyun's fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul’s family connections and Daehyun’s royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever

Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant.

Also by June
The Silence of Bones
The Forest of Stolen Girls
The Red Palace]]> 364 June Hur 1250858100 �. 0 to-read 3.97 2024
author: June Hur
name: �.
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 12000020
But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other—and the power of their friendship—can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.]]> 390 Benjamin Alire Sáenz 1442408928 �. 5
the book starts out choppy and sounding extremely juvenile with sentences and dialogue that seem to try to be poetic but fail. the connection between ari and dante seemed very random and kind of rushed. their friendship was difficult to understand and i often wondered what the two found so amusing between themselves. but maybe that's just something we're not supposed to understand.

it was beautiful and heartbreaking how ari's thoughts and feelings caused his actions. sure, the things he did and said sometimes were interesting, but it's not random. he does those things for reasons and it's just so easy to understand where ari comes from. the way he feels is described in a way where i feel like i understand despite never having experienced some of the things he's been through, and i think that's the beauty of sáenz's writing.

his ability to write such simple and short sentences yet still make them beautiful and poetic was very new to me. i'll admit, it was a bit awkward at first, but you really do grow into it. i think it just adds more into the beauty of coming of age stories, especially with this one. i feel like i've grown with the characters from being very hesitant with the book and writing style when ari and dante are 15 to really starting to fall in love with the characters when they turn 16 and 17.

i rarely cry to books, but this book made me tear up. after all, there's nothing better than [spoilers removed] i will say though, the part where [spoilers removed] but regardless, this book was still so beautifully written it deserves 5 stars.]]> 4.29 2012
author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
name: �.
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: 2025-reads, mlm, my-love-and-my-life, queer, poc-mc, romance-the-good-kind, sad
review:
queer coming of age books will never not slap and this book is a prime example.

the book starts out choppy and sounding extremely juvenile with sentences and dialogue that seem to try to be poetic but fail. the connection between ari and dante seemed very random and kind of rushed. their friendship was difficult to understand and i often wondered what the two found so amusing between themselves. but maybe that's just something we're not supposed to understand.

it was beautiful and heartbreaking how ari's thoughts and feelings caused his actions. sure, the things he did and said sometimes were interesting, but it's not random. he does those things for reasons and it's just so easy to understand where ari comes from. the way he feels is described in a way where i feel like i understand despite never having experienced some of the things he's been through, and i think that's the beauty of sáenz's writing.

his ability to write such simple and short sentences yet still make them beautiful and poetic was very new to me. i'll admit, it was a bit awkward at first, but you really do grow into it. i think it just adds more into the beauty of coming of age stories, especially with this one. i feel like i've grown with the characters from being very hesitant with the book and writing style when ari and dante are 15 to really starting to fall in love with the characters when they turn 16 and 17.

i rarely cry to books, but this book made me tear up. after all, there's nothing better than [spoilers removed] i will say though, the part where [spoilers removed] but regardless, this book was still so beautifully written it deserves 5 stars.
]]> 56980548 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, two boys in a border town fell in love. Now, they must discover what it means to stay in love and build a relationship in a world that seems to challenge their very existence.

Ari has spent all of high school burying who he really is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he can’t go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard. And, always, there is Dante, dreamy, witty Dante, who can get on Ari’s nerves and fill him with desire all at once.

The boys are determined to forge a path for themselves in a world that doesn’t understand them. But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss, he’ll have to fight like never before to create a life that is truthfully, joyfully his own.

The highly anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is an achingly romantic, tender tale sure to captivate fans of Adam Silvera and Mary H.K. Choi.]]> 516 Benjamin Alire Sáenz 153449619X �. 0 to-read 4.11 2021
author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
name: �.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202774960
Fünf Jahre später stehen die beiden, Jaq und Fern, kurz vor ihrem Abschluss, scheinbar glücklich in ihren heteronormativen Leben. Bis der Geist Mallorys auftaucht und sie daran erinnert, wer sie eigentlich sind, wen sie lieben und welch düstere Geheimnisse sie damals im Wald zurückgelassen haben.]]> 336 Natalie C. Parker 0593619390 �. 0 3.96 2024
author: Natalie C. Parker
name: �.
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 208840739 We Were Liars meets The Raven Boys in this mind-bending YA debut about dark revenge, twisted desire, and the sinister secrets lurking behind the walls of an elite boarding school.

Seventeen-year-old Marin James has spent her entire life living in the shadow of the exclusive Huntsworth Academy. And when her cousin’s dead body is found in a creek on school property, Marin knows exactly who’s to blame: Adrian Hargraves and Henry Wu, the enigmatic yet dangerously alluring leaders of the school's social elite.

Swapping her ripped jeans for a crisp prep school skirt, Marin infiltrates Huntsworth to seek justice. But her quest is quickly muddied by a confusing attraction to her new life, and to the two dysfunctional and depraved boys who somehow understand her better than anyone ever has.

When Marin uncovers an otherworldly secret the boys are hiding within Huntsworth's ivied gates, the lines between right and wrong, love and hate, and nightmare and reality begin to crumble -- and nothing is as it seems.

Welcome to Huntsworth Academy.]]> 400 Jenni Howell 1250334594 �. 0 3.50 2025
author: Jenni Howell
name: �.
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 198509187 This debut novel pulls at the threads in the (cashmere) sweater of academia in a witty take-down of racial inequality at prep schools, perfect for fans of Such a Fun Age and Little Fires Everywhere.

Wesley Friends School is Washington, DC’s most prestigious prep school, so of course Aki Hiyashi-Brown is proud to teach at it and send her daughter Meg there. Why wouldn't she be proud? Parents kill to have their kid enrolled at Wesley. Not only is Wesley the premier academic destination for the children of the capital elite, but it’s all about "Diversity, Achievement, Collegiality," as all of their every glossy brochures will tell you. Aki should know. As one of the few teachers of color on staff, her face is plastered on every piece of marketing material the school puts out.Ìý

But when someone graffities "Make Wesley White Again" on campus, it exposes dangerous fault lines in the school community—ones Aki may have spent a lifetime learning to ignore. But her headstrong daughter Meg, and Meg's similarly impassioned classmates, aren’t willing to let slide.Ìý

Before Aki can sort out her own feelings about the hate crime, the school's administration jumps into crisis management mode and assigns Aki as head of the Racial Equity Task Force—a cobbled-together initiative that has a big name and no little actual power. Between hasty changes to the curriculum and an anonymous instagram account documenting a history of racism on campus, Aki finds herself caught in the crossfire.

Written with the keen eye of a prep school insider, It’s a Privilege Just to Be Here is a piercing takedown of the American institution of prep schools and a searing perspective on the growing tensions between generations with different ideas of how to fight for what you believe in.]]> 320 Emma Sasaki 1639107835 �. 0 3.58 2024
author: Emma Sasaki
name: �.
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 203578707 Yellowjackets meets Girl, Interrupted when a group of troubled teens in a wilderness therapy program find themselves stranded in a forest full of monsters eager to take their place.

Devin Green wakes in the middle of the night to find two men in her bedroom. No stranger to a fight, she calls to her foster parents for help, but it soon becomes clear this is a planned abduction—one everyone but Devin signed up for. She’s shoved in a van and driven deep into the Idaho woods, where she’s dropped off with a cohort of equally confused teens. Finally, two camp counselors inform them that they've all been enrolled in an experimental therapy program. If the campers can learn to change their self-destructive ways—and survive a fifty-days hike through the wilderness—they’ll come out the other side as better versions of themselves. Or so the counselors say.

Devin is immediately determined to escape. She’s also determined to ignore Sheridan, the cruel-mouthed, lavender-haired bully who mocks every group exercise. But there’s something strange about these woods—inhuman faces appearing between the trees, visions of people who shouldn't be there flashing in the leaves—and when the campers wake up to find both counselors missing, therapy becomes the least of their problems. Stranded and left to fend for themselves, the teens quickly realize they’ll have to trust each other if they want to survive. But what lies in the woods may not be as dangerous as what the campers are hiding from each other—and if the monsters have their way, no one will leave the woods alive.

Atmospheric and sharp, What the Woods Took is a poignant story of transformation that explores the price of becoming someone—or something—new.]]> 336 Courtney Gould 1250340675 �. 0 3.89 2024
author: Courtney Gould
name: �.
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 196407998 A lying Twitch streamer
A demon hungry for her secrets

After spending the summer wracked with guilt about causing the accident that killed her little sister, ambitious gamer and chronic liar Viv returns to Twitch streaming. She never told her parents the truth about the accident, but she hopes that maybe making it big in streaming and giving the money to them is penance enough for her mistakes.

The weekend before school starts, Viv finds the perfect horror game to make her Twitch comeback, and during an offline practice run, an NPC asks Viv for a secret. She decides to tell them the truth about her sister’s death since a game could never share her secret―in doing so, she accidentally welcomes a demonic mimic into her life.

No one believes Viv when she tells them about her evil doppelganger. Viv has lied to get her best friend’s sympathy and has spread rumors for attention, so why should anyone trust her now? The only person who believes her is Ash, a cute social outcast whom Viv once bullied. In trying to clear her name and kill the mimic, Viv discovers that her lies have hurt people who never deserved it, herself included.]]> 304 Tatiana Schlote-Bonne �. 0 3.88 2024
author: Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
name: �.
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 174146852 A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor's murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she’s only ever read about.

The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader—Lorelei’s beloved mentor—is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again—and a coup begins in earnest.

But there are other dangers lurking in the forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth—and resist their growing feelings for one another—they discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all.]]> 384 Allison Saft 0593722345 �. 0 3.59 2024
author: Allison Saft
name: �.
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 75715117 Selected as an Evening Standard 'one to watch in 2023'

It's the early 1990s, and in the Irish village of Crossmore, Lucy feels out of place. Despite her fierce friendships, she's always felt this way, and the conventional path of marriage and motherhood doesn't appeal to her at all. Not even with handsome and doting Martin, her closest childhood friend.

Lucy begins to make sense of herself during a long hot summer, when a spark with her school friend Susannah escalates to an all-consuming infatuation, and, very quickly, to a desperate and devastating love.

Fearful of rejection from her small and conservative community, Lucy begins living a double life, hiding the most honest parts of herself in stolen moments with Susannah.

But with the end of school and the opportunity to leave Crossmore looming, Lucy must choose between two places, two people and two futures, each as terrifying as the other. But only one can offer her real happiness.

Sunburn is an astute and tender portrayal of first love, adolescent anxiety and the realities of growing up in a small town where tradition holds people tightly in its grasp.]]> 288 Chloe Michelle Howarth 0857308416 �. 0 4.33 2023
author: Chloe Michelle Howarth
name: �.
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 211642122 A stunning, standalone romantic fantasy filled with dangerous secrets, forbidden magic, and passion, of a young ruler who fights to protect her kingdom, from bestselling author Sue Lynn Tan and set in the breathtaking world of Daughter of the Moon Goddess.

“What the gods did not give us, I would take.�

As the heir to Tianxia, Liyen knows she must ascend the throne and renew her kingdom’s pledge to serve the immortals who once protected them from a vicious enemy. But when she is poisoned, Liyen’s grandfather steals an enchanted lotus to save her life. Enraged at his betrayal, the immortal queen commands the powerful God of War to attack Tianxia.

Upon her grandfather’s death, Liyen ascends a precarious throne, vowing to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortals. When she is summoned to the Immortal Realm, she seizes the opportunity to learn their secrets and to form a tenuous alliance to safeguard her people, all with the one she should fear and mistrust the most: the ruthless God of War. As they are drawn together, a treacherous attraction ignites between them—one she has to resist, to not endanger all she is fighting for.

But with darker forces closing in around them, and her kingdom plunged into peril, Liyen must risk everything to save her people from an unspeakable fate, even if it means forging a dangerous bond with the immortal� even if it means losing her heart.]]> 464 Sue Lynn Tan 0063267616 �. 0 3.88 2025
author: Sue Lynn Tan
name: �.
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 200982373 Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him.

Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality―Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork―whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew's wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what's wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster―Thomas's drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator...]]> 336 C.G. Drews 1250895669 �. 0 4.12 2024
author: C.G. Drews
name: �.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 58490569 An emotionally complex portrayal of secrets, loss, and grief from Dante Medema, Indies Introduce author of the Indie Next Pick title The Truth Project.

Bailey and Vanessa shared everything: laughter, secrets, and packets of Pop Rocks to ward off bad days. But that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey's, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house. Now Bailey, who thought she knew Vanessa better than anyone in the world, is left with a million unanswered questions, and the only person with answers is gone.

To help grieve her loss, Bailey creates a chat bot of Vanessa using years' worth of their shared text messages and emails. The more data she uploads to the bot, the more it feels like she's really talking to her best friend. That is, until the bot starts dropping hints that there was more going on with Vanessa than Bailey realized--a secret so big, it may have contributed to Vanessa's death.

This compelling puzzle of a story, filled with engrossing twists and turns, is written in alternating prose and text message formats. Teens will gobble up this fast-paced page-turner.]]> 400 Dante Medema 0062954431 �. 0 3.91 2022
author: Dante Medema
name: �.
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 55120657
But with time, Huong realizes she will never see her husband again. While she copes with this loss, her sons, Tuan and Binh grow up in their absent father's shadow, haunted by a man and a country trapped in their memory and imagination. As they push forward, the three adapt to life in America in different ways: Huong takes up with a Vietnamese car salesman who is also new in town; Tuan tries to connect with his heritage by joining a local Vietnamese gang; and Binh, now going by Ben, embraces his adopted homeland and his burgeoning sexuality. Their search for identity--as individuals and as a family--threatens to tear them apart. But then disaster strikes the city they now call home, and they must find a new way to come together and honor the ties that bind them.

A stunning debut novel about an immigrant Vietnamese family who settles in New Orleans and struggles to remain connected to one another as their lives are inextricably reshaped. ]]> 304 Eric Nguyen 0593317955 �. 0 3.72 2021
author: Eric Nguyen
name: �.
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 54814676
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band � and meeting the man who would become her husband � her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.

It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Vivacious, lyrical and honest, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.]]> 243 Michelle Zauner 0525657746 �. 0 4.25 2021
author: Michelle Zauner
name: �.
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 41880609 On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born � a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam � and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one's own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.

With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years.]]> 246 Ocean Vuong 0525562028 �. 0 4.05 2019
author: Ocean Vuong
name: �.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 22822858
Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.ÌýYet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever.]]> 720 Hanya Yanagihara 0385539258 â„�. 0 4.28 2015
author: Hanya Yanagihara
name: �.
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, looking-forward-to-reading
review:

]]> 30319086
As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.]]> 354 M.L. Rio 125009528X �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 4.11 2017
author: M.L. Rio
name: �.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, friends-recs
review:

]]> 19288043 What have we done to each other?

These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren't made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone.

So what did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?]]> 415 Gillian Flynn 0307588378 �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 4.22 2012
author: Gillian Flynn
name: �.
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, friends-recs
review:

]]> 56905097 The finale to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. By the end of this mystery series, you'll never think of good girls the same way again...

Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?

Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars.

Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself—or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle... and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears...]]> 500 Holly Jackson 0593379853 �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 4.20 2021
author: Holly Jackson
name: �.
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, friends-recs
review:

]]> 51335759
With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.

But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.

The police won't do anything about it. And if they won't look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town's dark secrets along the way... and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it's too late?]]> 413 Holly Jackson 1405297751 �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 4.27 2020
author: Holly Jackson
name: �.
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, friends-recs
review:

]]> 40916679
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.]]> 433 Holly Jackson 1405293187 �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 4.30 2019
author: Holly Jackson
name: �.
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read, friends-recs
review:

]]> 194746 No Longer Human, this leading postwar Japanese writer's second novel, tells the poignant and fascinating story of a young man who is caught between the breakup of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas. In consequence, he feels himself "disqualified from being human" (a literal translation of the Japanese title).

Donald Keene, who translated this and Dazai's first novel, The Setting Sun, has said of the author's work: "His world � suggests Chekhov or possibly postwar France, � but there is a Japanese sensibility in the choice and presentation of the material. A Dazai novel is at once immediately intelligible in Western terms and quite unlike any Western book." His writing is in some ways reminiscent of Rimbaud, while he himself has often been called a forerunner of Yukio Mishima.

Cover painting by Noe Nojechowiz, from the collection of John and Barbara Duncan; design by Gertrude Huston]]> 176 Osamu Dazai �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 3.99 1948
author: Osamu Dazai
name: �.
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1948
rating: 0
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]]> 28421168 Secret Identities. Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies � humans with extraordinary abilities � who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone... except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice � and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.]]> 552 Marissa Meyer 1250044669 �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 4.12 2017
author: Marissa Meyer
name: �.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> 27833670 A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

"Are you happy with your life?"

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend."

In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that's the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.]]> 342 Blake Crouch 1101904224 �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 4.13 2016
author: Blake Crouch
name: �.
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> 19063 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

(Note: this title was not published as YA fiction)]]> 592 Markus Zusak �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 4.38 2005
author: Markus Zusak
name: �.
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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]]> 14578407 Penpal began as a series of short and interconnected stories posted on an online horror forum. Before long, it was adapted into illustrations, audio recordings, and short films; and that was before it was revised and expanded into a novel!

How much do you remember about your childhood?

In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him. If you've ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you've ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt you, if you remember the first friend you ever made and how strong that bond was, then Penpal is a story that you won't soon forget, despite how you might try.]]> 243 Dathan Auerbach 098554550X �. 0 friends-recs, to-read 3.84 2012
author: Dathan Auerbach
name: �.
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> 53285047 We were just these innocent girls in the night trying to make something beautiful. We nearly died. We very nearly did, didn't we?

Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other Bunny, and seem to move and speak as one.

But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled Smut Salon, and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus Workshop where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision.

The spellbinding new novel from one of our most fearless chroniclers of the female experience, Bunny is a down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, friendship and desire, and the fantastic and terrible power of the imagination.

Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Vogue, Electric Literature, and The New York Public Library]]> 305 Mona Awad 0525559752 �. 0 to-read, friends-recs 3.43 2019
author: Mona Awad
name: �.
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> 219334785 A breathtaking romantic fantasy inspired by Beauty and the Beast about a girl who paints the future and a cursed dragon lord, bound by love and deception in a plot to bring down the gods.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Six Crimson Cranes!

Truyan Saigas didn't choose to become a con artist, but after her father is lost at sea, it’s up to her to support her mother and two younger sisters. A gifted art forger, Tru has the unique ability to paint the future, but even such magic is not enough to put her family back together again, or stave off the gangsters demanding payment in blood for her mother’s gambling debts.

Left with few options, Tru agrees to a marriage contract with a mysterious dragon lord. He offers a fresh start for her mother and sisters and elusive answers about her father's disappearance, but in exchange, she must join him in his desolate undersea palace. And she must assist him in a plot to infiltrate the tyrannical Dragon King's inner circle, painting a future so treasonous, it could upend both the mortal and immortal realms. . . .]]> 480 Elizabeth Lim 0593650611 �. 0 to-read 4.17 2025
author: Elizabeth Lim
name: �.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/10
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]]> 63910262 In the luscious, dark sequel to One Dark Window, Elspeth must face the consequences of what she's wrought - perfect for readers of Hannah Whitten's For the Wolf and Alexis Henderson's The Year of the Witching.

Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.

If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom.

And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth's head. The Nightmare. And he's not eager to share any longer.]]> 437 Rachel Gillig 0356519503 �. 0 to-read 4.39 2023
author: Rachel Gillig
name: �.
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> 211003924 The first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy duology based on characters and teachings created by Bruce Lee!

Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Earth to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s honor—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.

But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. There is no future in honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.

As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself.]]> 341 Shannon Lee 1250902673 �. 0 to-read 3.99 2025
author: Shannon Lee
name: �.
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> 211004175
A mind is a terrible thing to erase...

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.

Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers—just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.

Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor—and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting—knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work—and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…]]> 112 Olivia Waite 1250342244 �. 0 to-read 3.80 2025
author: Olivia Waite
name: �.
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> 217388174 A new Queer, Asian-inspired fantasy novella about a renowned dragon slayer who never takes her armor off in public, Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame reads like She Who Became the Sun meets The Mandalorian, with dragons!

The fiercely independent nation of Quanbao is isolated, reclusive, and something of a mystery to the rest of the world. It is rumored that there, dragons are not feared as is right and proper but instead loved and worshiped.

Yeva is perhaps a strange emissary to these people. Not only because their face has never been seen in public, but because they are a hero born to a birthright that makes them suited for their task—hunting dragons.

And so the dragon hunter must woo Quanbao's queen—the Lady Sookhee—to understand what secrets she is hiding. A woman reasonably suspicious of Yeva's intentions, and the imperial might of the throne she represents, Sookhee bears the burden of the safety of her entire people. How can she trust this stranger newly arrived to her court, a weapon forged in blood and fire, to understand what her people need and how best to safeguard their future?

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 176 Neon Yang 1250357349 �. 0 to-read 3.97 2025
author: Neon Yang
name: �.
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> 211960914 In this nuanced queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a clash between industry and nature.

After her best friend dies in a coal mine, Benethea “Bennie� Mattox sacrifices her job, her relationship, and her reputation to uncover what’s killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in a dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it’s right—but also because she hopes this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs. Instead, she brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can’t remember her true name, or how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she’s a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire Mountain, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her a century and half into the future. And now, the choices Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of the town itself.]]> 416 Linda H. Codega 1645661792 �. 0 to-read 3.46 2025
author: Linda H. Codega
name: �.
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/08
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]]> 199928276 A recently deceased woman meets “the one� in the afterlife waiting room, scoring a second chance at life (and love!) if she can find him on Earth before ten days are up�.

If she wasn’t dead already, Delphie would be dying of embarrassment. Not only did she just die by choking on a microwaveable burger, she’s also now standing in her "sparkle and shine" nightie in front of the hottest man she’s ever seen. And he’s smiling at her.

As they start to chat, everything else becomes background noise. That is, until someone comes running through a door yelling something about a huge mistake and sends the dreamy stranger back down to Earth. And here Delphie was thinking her luck might be different in the afterlife.

When Delphie is offered a deal in which she can return to Earth and reconnect with the mysterious man, she jumps at the opportunity to find her possible soulmate and a fresh start. But to find him in a city of millions, Delphie is going to have to listen to her heart, learn to ask for help, and perhaps even see the magic in the life she’s leaving behind. . . .]]> 369 Kirsty Greenwood 0593816137 �. 0 to-read 4.05 2024
author: Kirsty Greenwood
name: �.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/06
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]]> 222911480
But when fate intertwines her path with that of Chihiro Akiyama, everything changes. Charged with mentoring him as a second staff assistant, Minami's world is suddenly thrown into disarray. Is she merely training her replacement, risking the stability she clings to? Or could Chihiro be the unexpected spark that ignites a flame within her heart?

As they navigate the intricacies of their professional relationship, Minami finds herself drawn to Chihiro in ways she never imagined. Will their connection transcend the confines of the office, blossoming into something beautiful and unforeseen? In this story of serendipitous encounters and unforeseen romance, Minami will discover that love has a way of finding us when we least expect it.]]> 245 Michiko Su �. 0 to-read 5.00
author: Michiko Su
name: �.
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/05
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]]> 220161226 What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost? Combining the magic of Under the Whispering Door with the high-stakes culinary world of Sweetbitter, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure through food and grief.

Konstantin Duhovny is a haunted man. His father died when he was ten, and ghosts have been hovering around Kostya ever since. Kostya can’t exactly see the ghosts, but he can taste their favorite foods. Flavors of meals he’s never eaten will flood his mouth, a sign that a spirit is present. Kostya has kept these aftertastes a secret for most of his life, but one night, he decides to act on what he’s tasting. And everything changes.

Kostya discovers that he can reunite people with their deceased loved ones—at least for the length of time it takes for them to eat a dish that he’s prepared. He thinks his life’s purpose might be to offer closure to grieving strangers, and sets out to learn all he can by entering a particularly fiery ring of Hell: the New York culinary scene. But as his kitchen skills catch up with his ambitions, Kostya is too blind to see the catastrophe looming in the Afterlife. And the one person who knows Kostya must be stopped also happens to be falling in love with him.

Set in the bustling world of New York restaurants and teeming with mouthwatering food writing, Aftertaste is a whirlwind romance, a heart-wrenching look at love and loss, and a ghost story about all the ways we hunger—and how far we’d go to find satisfaction.

Lavelle’s debut is a multi-course tasting menu of a book that will sate, delight, excite, comfort, and inspire even the pickiest of readers.]]> 400 Daria Lavelle 1668061597 �. 0 to-read 4.23 2025
author: Daria Lavelle
name: �.
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/04
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]]> 217453570 From a dazzling new talent, the story of a newly divorced young mother forced to reckon with the secrets of her own childhood when she brings her daughters back to the big house where she was raised.

Every parent exists inside of two families simultaneously � the one she was born into, and the one she has made.

Ten-year-old Margaret hides beneath a blackberry bush in her family’s verdant backyard while her brother hunts for her in a game of flashlight tag. Hers is a childhood of sunlit swimming pools and Saturday morning pancakes and a devoted best friend, but her family life requires careful maintenance. Her mother can be as brittle and exacting as she is loving, and her father and brother assume familiar, if uncomfortable, models of masculinity. Then late one summer, everything changes. After a series of confusing transgressions, the simple pleasures of girlhood, slip away.

Twenty-five years later, Margaret hides under her parents� bed, waiting for her young daughters to find her in a game of hide and seek. She’s newly divorced and navigating her life as a co-parent, while discovering the pleasures of a new lover. But some part of her is still under the blackberry bush, punched out of time. Called upon to be a mother to her daughters, and a daughter to her mother, she must reckon with the echoes and refractions between the past and the present, what it means to keep a child safe, and how much of our lives are our own, alone.

Warm and generous, unflinchingly human, and ultimately joyful and empowering, SLEEP is about the cycles of motherhood and childhood, the cost of secrets and the burden of love, and what’s on the other side of the world, rich in possibility.]]> 272 Honor Jones 0593851986 �. 0 to-read 4.09 2025
author: Honor Jones
name: �.
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/04
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]]> 217245618
In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she'd like to call the child, Cora hesitates...

Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora's and her young son's lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.

With exceptional sensitivity and depth, Knapp draws us into the story of one family, told through a prism of what-ifs, causing us to consider the "one . . . precious life" we are given. The book’s brilliantly imaginative structure, propulsive storytelling, and emotional, gut-wrenching power are certain to make The Names a modern classic.]]> 336 Florence Knapp 0593833902 �. 0 to-read 4.35 2025
author: Florence Knapp
name: �.
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/04
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]]> 211004179 For fans of Jordan Peele’s films, Stranger Things, and The Other Black Girl, Listen To Your Sister is a laugh-out-loud, deeply terrifying, and big-hearted speculative horror novel from electrifying debut talent Neena Viel.

Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good-natured sixteen-year-old recklessness, is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie–but now the ink is dry on the paperwork and in classic middle-child fashion, he’s off doing his own thing. And through it all, The Nightmare never stops haunting Calla: recurring images of her brothers dying that she is powerless to stop.

When Jamie’s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives–and reality–hang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened.]]> 352 Neena Viel 1250906326 �. 0 to-read 3.27 2025
author: Neena Viel
name: �.
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/04
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]]> 212994452 'A modern-day Mrs. Caliban, BLOB is a book that looks at identity and desire in profoundly interesting ways'
Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

A hilarious and moving debut novel about a young woman who decides to turn a sentient blob into her perfect boyfriend...

The daughter of a Taiwanese father and white mother, Vi Liu has never quite fit into her Midwestern college town. Now at twenty-three, after getting dumped and dropping out of college, Vi works as a front desk attendant at a hotel where she refills cucumber water samovars and fends off overtures of friendship from her bubbly blond coworker, Rachel. But when Vi decides to accompany Rachel to a local drag show, her life changes forever. In the alley outside the bar, next to a trash can, is a blob with beady black eyes. Unable to leave it behind, Vi picks up the creature and, in a moment of drunken desperation, takes it home with her.

As her pet blob becomes sentient, Vi realizes it obeys her commands and she decides to mold the blob into her ideal partner. She feeds it sugary cereal and a stream of pop culture, and soon the creature transforms into a movie-star handsome white man. But as Vi's desire to be loved unconditionally threatens to spiral out of control, she is forced to confront her lonely childhood, the ex-boyfriend who has unfriended her, and the racial marginalization that has defined her relationships. Ultimately, Vi embarks on a journey of self-discovery and learns that it's impossible to control those you love.

Blending the familiar with the fantastical, BLOB tells a witty, heartfelt story of what it means to be human.

'An inventive, utterly unique debut'
Kimberly King Parsons, author of Black Light]]> 256 Maggie Su 0063358646 �. 0 to-read 3.42 2025
author: Maggie Su
name: �.
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/04
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]]> 65213381
When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.]]> 416 Isabel Ibañez 1250803373 �. 0 to-read 3.83 2023
author: Isabel Ibañez
name: �.
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 18774964
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.]]> 337 Fredrik Backman 1476738017 �. 0 to-read 4.35 2012
author: Fredrik Backman
name: �.
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/03
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]]> 62047984
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? This piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 319 R.F. Kuang 000853277X �. 0 to-read 3.69 2023
author: R.F. Kuang
name: �.
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/02
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]]> 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach �. 0 to-read 4.11 2024
author: Alison Espach
name: �.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/02
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]]> 123257687
ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem and terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer―naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain―and his entire nefarious empire―out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.]]> 342 Hannah Nicole Maehrer 1649375808 �. 0 to-read 3.88 2023
author: Hannah Nicole Maehrer
name: �.
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54870201
But then, in an instant, their lives are changed forever.

In the aftermath, Eve’s world is upended. As stunning secrets are revealed, she begins to wonder if she really knew her friends as well as she thought. And when someone from the past comes back into her life, Eve’s future veers in a surprising new direction...

They say every love story starts with a single moment. What if it was just last night?]]> 393 Mhairi McFarlane 0063036851 �. 0 to-read 3.96 2021
author: Mhairi McFarlane
name: �.
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199798179 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all:

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge�: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as �1847� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,� “Spotify,� and “the collapse of the British Empire.� But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.]]> 339 Kaliane Bradley 1668045141 �. 0 to-read 3.54 2024
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: �.
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60784641 From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.]]> 279 Rachel Hawkins 125028001X �. 0 to-read 3.59 2023
author: Rachel Hawkins
name: �.
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62926992
Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it’s like to grow up without parents who loved her. In a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy found her solace in books, namely the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher’s aide, she is able to share her love of reading with bright, young students, especially seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, who was left orphaned after the tragic death of his parents. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.

But be careful what you wish for. . . .

Just when Lucy is about to give up, Jack Masterson announces he’s finally written a new book. Even better, he’s holding a contest at his home on the real Clock Island, and Lucy is one of the four lucky contestants chosen to compete to win the one and only copy.

For Lucy, the chance of winning the most sought-after book in the world means everything to her and Christopher. But first she must contend with ruthless book collectors, wily opponents, and the distractingly handsome (and grumpy) Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island books. Meanwhile, Jack “the Mastermind� Masterson is plotting the ultimate twist ending that could change all their lives forever.

. . . You might just get it.]]> 304 Meg Shaffer 0593598830 �. 0 to-read 4.02 2023
author: Meg Shaffer
name: �.
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61387386 In the vein of The Pisces and The Vegetarian, Chlorine is a debut novel that blurs the line between a literary coming-of-age narrative and a dark unsettling horror tale, told from an adult perspective on the trials and tribulations of growing up in a society that puts pressure on young women and their bodies... a powerful, relevant novel of immigration, sapphic longing, and fierce, defiant becoming.

Ren Yu is a swimmer. Her daily life starts and ends with the pool. Her teammates are her only friends. Her coach, her guiding light. If she swims well enough, she will be scouted, get a scholarship, go to a good school. Her parents will love her. Her coach will be kind to her. She will have a good life.

But these are human concerns. These are the concerns of those confined to land, those with legs. Ren grew up on stories of creatures of the deep, of the oceans and the rivers. Ones that called sailors to their doom. Ones that dragged them down and drowned them. Ones that feasted on their flesh. Ones of the creature that she's always longed to become: mermaid.

Ren aches to be in the water. She dreams of the scent of chlorine--the feel of it on her skin. And she will do anything she can to make a life for herself where she can be free. No matter the pain. No matter what anyone else thinks. No matter how much blood she has to spill.]]> 256 Jade Song 0063257602 �. 4
I was very much hooked onto the book from the beginning. Song's writing style was beautiful and artistic without using too extravant of words and sentences for a teenage girl. The book was easy to follow and relate to, with dialogue I feel is fitting for kids or teenagers or Asian parents. The only complaint I admit I have with the writing is the amount of times Song repeats the word 'chlorine' or how it forced their skin to peel, crack, and/or flush pink. Yes, Chlorine is the title of the book. No, it does not need to be repeated as many times as it was.

The plot of Chlorine follows Ren as she ages from a young child to a teenager. The book is considered a coming-of-age, yet I feel like we skip so much of Ren's life. One chapter, she's seven years old in a hideous bathing suit, and the next, she's thirteen with her period. I wish we got to see more of Ren's childhood, how she improved with her swimming, how her relationship with her mother evolved from watching TV together to hardly talking anymore. I want to know more about how Ren feels about her father, her coach, the kids on her swim team. I want to know more about how Ren later got to the state she ended up.

Ren's relationships all seem so poor. She's been on the same swim team with these other kids for years, yet they still don't encourage her, support her, be there for her. They blame her when she messes up, won't cheer her on, and even push her to do something she feels relunctant about. Ren's only real friend is Cathy. Despite this, Ren doesn't even treat her right. Pushing her away, yelling at her, avoiding her, I don't get how Cathy can feel the way she does about Ren. Cathy has done so much, sacrificed so much, has never really done Ren wrong, but Ren continues to be selfish, say rude things, and Cathy is still literal heart eyes for Ren. "I would have been able to measure the angles of your muscles, obtuse and right and acute, far better than any rhombus on my geometry worksheets. Acute, acute, cute." Girl... Now what is that thought? And why this thought towards a girl who can't treat you right? Also the way Cathy lusts about Ren's muscles ("As I swam, I wished I could praise how your body looked in red, and I wished I could say hello to [her vagina]. I wished I could leave the pool and join you in the locker room, where we'd strip ourselves bare.") when she is what? Fourteen? Now that's bizarre.

Overall, I do find this a very enjoyable read. Fast-paced and horrifying, I think the book was written beautifully. Ren's feelings, yearning, and obsession felt so strong and real. It's terrifying to know how subtle the horror in this novel is up until the climax, horrifying to know how nothing in this novel is really quite fantasy.]]> 3.67 2023
author: Jade Song
name: �.
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: 2024-reads, horror, poc-mc, 4-stars, wlw, sport
review:
Coming-of-age, queer, and Chinese-American elements? This book was written with me in mind, I fear. (Small spoilers ahead).

I was very much hooked onto the book from the beginning. Song's writing style was beautiful and artistic without using too extravant of words and sentences for a teenage girl. The book was easy to follow and relate to, with dialogue I feel is fitting for kids or teenagers or Asian parents. The only complaint I admit I have with the writing is the amount of times Song repeats the word 'chlorine' or how it forced their skin to peel, crack, and/or flush pink. Yes, Chlorine is the title of the book. No, it does not need to be repeated as many times as it was.

The plot of Chlorine follows Ren as she ages from a young child to a teenager. The book is considered a coming-of-age, yet I feel like we skip so much of Ren's life. One chapter, she's seven years old in a hideous bathing suit, and the next, she's thirteen with her period. I wish we got to see more of Ren's childhood, how she improved with her swimming, how her relationship with her mother evolved from watching TV together to hardly talking anymore. I want to know more about how Ren feels about her father, her coach, the kids on her swim team. I want to know more about how Ren later got to the state she ended up.

Ren's relationships all seem so poor. She's been on the same swim team with these other kids for years, yet they still don't encourage her, support her, be there for her. They blame her when she messes up, won't cheer her on, and even push her to do something she feels relunctant about. Ren's only real friend is Cathy. Despite this, Ren doesn't even treat her right. Pushing her away, yelling at her, avoiding her, I don't get how Cathy can feel the way she does about Ren. Cathy has done so much, sacrificed so much, has never really done Ren wrong, but Ren continues to be selfish, say rude things, and Cathy is still literal heart eyes for Ren. "I would have been able to measure the angles of your muscles, obtuse and right and acute, far better than any rhombus on my geometry worksheets. Acute, acute, cute." Girl... Now what is that thought? And why this thought towards a girl who can't treat you right? Also the way Cathy lusts about Ren's muscles ("As I swam, I wished I could praise how your body looked in red, and I wished I could say hello to [her vagina]. I wished I could leave the pool and join you in the locker room, where we'd strip ourselves bare.") when she is what? Fourteen? Now that's bizarre.

Overall, I do find this a very enjoyable read. Fast-paced and horrifying, I think the book was written beautifully. Ren's feelings, yearning, and obsession felt so strong and real. It's terrifying to know how subtle the horror in this novel is up until the climax, horrifying to know how nothing in this novel is really quite fantasy.
]]> 40611543
Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin.

But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.

From debut author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves.

A William C. Morris Award Finalist; A New York Public Library Best Book for Teens of 2017; A Junior Library Guild Selection]]> 353 Akemi Dawn Bowman �. 4 4.17 2017
author: Akemi Dawn Bowman
name: �.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: 2024-reads, sad, poc-mc, 4-stars, art
review:

]]> 45872054
As Nannerl's hope grows dimmer with each passing year, the talents of her beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. His brilliance begins to eclipse her own, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true—but his help may cost her everything.

In her first work of historical fiction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu spins a lush, lyrically told story of music, magic, and the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister.]]> 313 Marie Lu 1524739014 �. 4 4-stars, 2024-reads, music 3.72 2020
author: Marie Lu
name: �.
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: 4-stars, 2024-reads, music
review:

]]> 199531773
Two years ago, Riley visited the abandoned and allegedly haunted religious reform school Dominic House with his boyfriend, Ethan, and his best friends, Colton and Vee.

Ethan never came out. Colton’s leg will never quite heal, Vee is branded as hysterical, and Riley has horrific scars as a reminder of that night.

Now, at eighteen, Riley hasn’t exactly moved on, but he’s kept away from all things paranormal.

Until legendary ghost chaser Jordan Jones shows up with an offer: return to Dominic House with her to film an episode of her Spirit Seekers TV show.

Riley may have vowed never to return, but he has unfinished business at Dominic House. With a reluctant Colton and Vee at his side, Riley is determined to find out what happened to Ethan once and for all.

But as the night wears on, Riley realizes he isn’t just revisiting the most terrifying night of his life� he’s reliving it.

With an eerily elegant voice, dual timelines that slowly unravel a chilling ghost story, themes of religious trauma, and secrets in every corner, Trespass Against Us is the kind of horror story that will keep you up long into the night.]]> 304 Leon Kemp 0063324857 �. 4 3.85 2024
author: Leon Kemp
name: �.
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, horror, queer, 4-stars, cute-couple-alert
review:

]]> 195790528
They've also stolen millions from banks, jewelry stores, and art galleries. Under the cover of saving the city, they've used their knowledge and specialist equipment to become the most successful heist crew on the East Coast.

Andy Nearland is the newest member of the unit, and she's helping them prepare for their largest heist yet -- New York's largest private storage facility, an expensive treasure trove for the rich and famous. She's also an undercover operative, and keeping her true motives hidden proves more and more dangerous as the day of the heist approaches.

Devil's Kitchen is a fast-paced, heart racing thriller from Candice Fox, "a bright new star in crime fiction." (James Patterson)]]> 336 Candice Fox 1250345758 �. 4 2024-reads, 4-stars 3.80 2024
author: Candice Fox
name: �.
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, 4-stars
review:

]]> 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry �. 3 4.21 2024
author: Emily Henry
name: �.
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, romance-the-good-kind, 3-stars, painfully-mid
review:

]]> 195703882 Crying in H-Mart meets My Sister, the Serial Killer in this feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.

Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying� yet enticing.

In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Salivatingly blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. George has already overstayed his welcome in her family’s claustrophobic apartment. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescending toward Ji-won and her sister as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. No, George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.

For no matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won’s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.

A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, Monika Kim’s The Eyes Are the Best Part is a story of a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other, marking a bold new voice in horror that will leave readers mesmerized and craving more.]]> 278 Monika Kim 1645661237 �. 4 3.82 2024
author: Monika Kim
name: �.
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: horror, poc-mc, 2024-reads, 4-stars
review:

]]> 87365806 The Honeys meets The Secret History in a work of dark academia like no other -- a boarding school thriller about a queer teen from Mississippi who finds himself swept into a world of old money, privilege, and the secret society at the heart of it all.

When Cal Ware wins a scholarship to an elite New England boarding school, he's thrilled to leave his past behind. Back home in Mississippi, he was the poor, queer kid who never fit in. But at Essex Academy, he'll be able to reinvent himself. Or so he hopes...

But at Essex, Cal's classmates only see his cheap clothes and old iPhone. They mock his accent, and can't believe he's never left the country, or heard of The Hamptons. Cal, at his breaking point, is about to give up and return to Mississippi when he learns about a secret society on campus -- the key to becoming Essex royalty.

Cal knows he's not exactly secret society material, but to his surprise, he finds an unlikely champion in the handsome, charismatic, and slightly dangerous Luke Kim. As they get swept up in the mystery and glamour of the Rush process, Cal finds himself falling in love for the first time.

But as the initiation rituals grow riskier -- and increasingly nefarious -- Cal must decide how far he's willing to go, and how much of himself he's willing to sacrifice, to save everything and everyone he cherishes most. Because nothing at Essex -- not even Cal's first love -- is quite what it seems.]]> 377 Derek Milman 1339009935 �. 1 3.50
author: Derek Milman
name: �.
average rating: 3.50
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2024/10/17
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, queer, what-did-i-just-read, strongly-disliked, academia, 1-star, mlm
review:

]]> 127280964
Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It’s Gabe and Pippa Gerard’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge.

Until one day, he doesn’t. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate . . . lie? As the perfect façade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.]]> 352 Sally Hepworth �. 3 3.70 2022
author: Sally Hepworth
name: �.
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/15
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, thrillers, 3-stars
review:

]]> 59512586 She doesn't belong to him...she belongs to the crown.

Prince Tristan Faasa was never destined for the throne. That was always his brother, Michael. The same brother responsible for both Tristan's tormented childhood and the scar that mars his face. When their father dies, Michael is set to assume the throne, and Tristan is set to steal it. The leader of a secret rebellion, Tristan will stop at nothing to end his brother's reign. But when Michael's new betrothed, Lady Sara Beatreaux arrives, Tristan finds himself in the middle of a new kind of war. The kind that begs the question of what's more important, the crown or the woman about to wear it.

Sara has one plan. Marry the King and eradicate the Faasa line, even at the risk of her own peril. But she never expects the Scarred Prince. He's dangerous. Forbidden. And one of the men she's been sent to kill. But the line between hatred and passion has never seemed so thin, and as secrets come to light, Sara grows unsure of whom she can trust—torn between vengeance and the villain she was never supposed to love.

Scarred is a DARK Royal Romance and a complete standalone within The Never After Series (A series of fractured fairy tales inspired by our favorite villains). It is not a retelling or fantasy. It contains subject matter which may be triggering for some. Reader discretion is advised. ]]> 447 Emily McIntire �. 3 3.87 2022
author: Emily McIntire
name: �.
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: what-did-i-just-read, romance-the-bad-kind, 2023-reads, 3-stars
review:

]]> 60310757 Welcome to the Centennial.

Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. The Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance to break the curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler has something to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the curses, one ruler must die.

Isla Crown is the young ruler of Wildling—a realm of temptresses cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with. They are feared and despised, and are counting on Isla to end their suffering by succeeding at the Centennial.

To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and betray…even as love complicates everything.]]> 416 Alex Aster 1419760866 �. 2 3.84 2022
author: Alex Aster
name: �.
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, what-did-i-just-read, 2-stars
review:

]]> 57945316 From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?]]> 544 R.F. Kuang 0063021420 �. 2 4.17 2022
author: R.F. Kuang
name: �.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/31
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, strongly-disliked, academia, poc-mc, 2-stars, what-did-i-just-read
review:

]]> 58784475 In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.]]> 401 Gabrielle Zevin 0735243344 �. 4 2024-reads, sad, 4-stars 4.12 2022
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: �.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, sad, 4-stars
review:

]]> 58874675 From Ryan La Sala, the wildly popular author of Reverie, comes a twisted and tantalizing horror novel set amidst the bucolic splendor of a secluded summer retreat.

Mars has always been the lesser twin, the shadow to his sister Caroline's radiance. But when Caroline dies under horrific circumstances, Mars is propelled to learn all he can about his once-inseparable sister who'd grown tragically distant.

Mars's genderfluidity means he's often excluded from the traditions -- and expectations -- of his politically-connected family. This includes attendance at the prestigious Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy where his sister poured so much of her time. But with his grief still fresh, he insists on attending in her place.

What Mars finds is a bucolic fairytale not meant for him. Folksy charm and sun-drenched festivities camouflage old-fashioned gender roles and a toxic preparatory rigor. Mars seeks out his sister's old friends: a group of girls dubbed the Honeys, named for the beehives they maintain behind their cabin. They are beautiful and terrifying -- and Mars is certain they're connected to Caroline's death.

But the longer he stays at Aspen, the more the sweet mountain breezes give way to hints of decay. Mars’s memories begin to falter, bleached beneath the relentless summer sun. Something is hunting him in broad daylight, toying with his mind. If Mars can't find it soon, it will eat him alive.]]> 344 Ryan La Sala 133874531X �. 4 2023-reads, queer, 4-stars 3.79 2022
author: Ryan La Sala
name: �.
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2023-reads, queer, 4-stars
review:

]]> 55987278 How far would you go for happily ever after?

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings... until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy...]]> 408 Stephanie Garber 1250268397 �. 2
the writing style felt so childish to me. the amount of telling and not showing was ridiculous, i almost could not stand it. i genuinely feel like a middle schooler could form some better sentences than garber. there is way too much dialogue, i’m sorry. look, i understand stories need dialogue and people speak, but why was every sentence the characters spoke so short and basic? why was every sentence in the book that WASN’T dialogue filled with fantasy words that somehow did not contribute to the confusing world building? why was every sentence that happened to be evangeline’s thought a question like the past three sentences i just typed out?

once upon a broken heart is a little over 400 pages, and yet everything was so fast-paced. 77 pages in, our beloved mc evangeline is already traveling to another kingdom for this mega awesome ball she is to attend, like she wasn’t just a normal girl 50 pages ago. what has happened to slow burn? what has happened to intensely wanting more because we readers feel like we haven’t been given enough? what has happened to the yearning as we kick our feet and cry over two characters just briefly touching hands? (i say this because jacks is already purring at evangline on page 14). there could’ve been so much potential with the world building and plot and writing style and� characters?

no, the characters are not saveable. evangeline HAS to be one of the most annoying characters i have ever read in a book or watched in a movie. i’ll even go as far as to say i’ve never met anyone more annoying and i’ve met plently of annoying people in my lifespan. it doesn’t help that whenever i rant about her, it is a MOUTHFUL to say that entire four syllable name. why is the perfect female mc known as evangeline fox so annoying? maybe because she is naive and joyful and believes in happily ever after, which i truthfully do not have a problem with. after all, happy people exist in this world too. but please, evangeline’s naivety had me actually rolling my eyes. she trusts people way too easily when it is genuinely so obvious her stepsister is not a nice person. oh yeah, they also don’t even have much of a relationship before evangeline decides to bring her along on a trip just because her mother called her own daughter a wilted ribbon! did i mention evangeline’s parents have died and she’s stuck with her evil stemother??? and that she has “rose gold� hair and it’s so rare and quirky? (small spoiler), but evangeline is also part of a prophecy!!! literally such an awesome and original character!

jacks is not much better, i fear. his entire personality is hot (in terms of looks), cold (in terms of personality), and apples. i wish i was joking about the last part, but every time he makes an appearance, he’s either a) eating an apple, b) throwing an apple up and down, or c) wishing he were doing one of the two. he even SMELLS like apples (i think). i genuinely do not understand how people find this golden/blue haired (because he randomly changes hair colors 1/4th into the book!) icy eyed man attractive in any way, shape, or form. “oh, he’s just a poor broken hearted soul�.� boo hoo. he is a man who uses people for his own personal gain.

can i also mention how jacks calls evangeline “little fox� because her last name is fox? is this not eyebrow raising for anyone else? have we normalized men calling women “little [insert animal here]� in books to the point where it’s not WEIRD? being called liitle [last name] is very weird. even more weird when evangeline refers to herself as “little fox�.

this book was by no means good. i lost interest after two chapters and continued reading purely for the laughs and giggles. and with that, i do admit i had a fun time reading this� especially with some of the odd quotes that had me with tears in my eyes:

“are you feeling sorry for me?� jacks laughed, harsh and mocking. “don’t, little fox. it would be a mistake for you to tell yourself that i’m not a monster.�

“you’ve kept me waiting, wife.� he dragged a flower petal up and down his oiled chest.

“and then, as if he weren’t a monster as well, jacks slid an arm underneath her cape and wrapped it around evangeline’s waist, holding her possessively tight as he drawled, “stop flashing your fangs. i’m the only one who gets to bite her.� jacks nipped at evangeline’s ear, cold and sharp.�

1.5 stars.]]> 4.06 2021
author: Stephanie Garber
name: �.
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: what-did-i-just-read, 2024-reads, romance-the-bad-kind, strongly-disliked, 2-stars
review:
idek why i had such high expectations of this book. maybe it was the pretty(ish) cover or the fact that this book has higher than a 4 star rating on goodreads. maybe it was just me yearning for an ACTUALLY good romance book, and once upon a broken heart was certainly not that.

the writing style felt so childish to me. the amount of telling and not showing was ridiculous, i almost could not stand it. i genuinely feel like a middle schooler could form some better sentences than garber. there is way too much dialogue, i’m sorry. look, i understand stories need dialogue and people speak, but why was every sentence the characters spoke so short and basic? why was every sentence in the book that WASN’T dialogue filled with fantasy words that somehow did not contribute to the confusing world building? why was every sentence that happened to be evangeline’s thought a question like the past three sentences i just typed out?

once upon a broken heart is a little over 400 pages, and yet everything was so fast-paced. 77 pages in, our beloved mc evangeline is already traveling to another kingdom for this mega awesome ball she is to attend, like she wasn’t just a normal girl 50 pages ago. what has happened to slow burn? what has happened to intensely wanting more because we readers feel like we haven’t been given enough? what has happened to the yearning as we kick our feet and cry over two characters just briefly touching hands? (i say this because jacks is already purring at evangline on page 14). there could’ve been so much potential with the world building and plot and writing style and� characters?

no, the characters are not saveable. evangeline HAS to be one of the most annoying characters i have ever read in a book or watched in a movie. i’ll even go as far as to say i’ve never met anyone more annoying and i’ve met plently of annoying people in my lifespan. it doesn’t help that whenever i rant about her, it is a MOUTHFUL to say that entire four syllable name. why is the perfect female mc known as evangeline fox so annoying? maybe because she is naive and joyful and believes in happily ever after, which i truthfully do not have a problem with. after all, happy people exist in this world too. but please, evangeline’s naivety had me actually rolling my eyes. she trusts people way too easily when it is genuinely so obvious her stepsister is not a nice person. oh yeah, they also don’t even have much of a relationship before evangeline decides to bring her along on a trip just because her mother called her own daughter a wilted ribbon! did i mention evangeline’s parents have died and she’s stuck with her evil stemother??? and that she has “rose gold� hair and it’s so rare and quirky? (small spoiler), but evangeline is also part of a prophecy!!! literally such an awesome and original character!

jacks is not much better, i fear. his entire personality is hot (in terms of looks), cold (in terms of personality), and apples. i wish i was joking about the last part, but every time he makes an appearance, he’s either a) eating an apple, b) throwing an apple up and down, or c) wishing he were doing one of the two. he even SMELLS like apples (i think). i genuinely do not understand how people find this golden/blue haired (because he randomly changes hair colors 1/4th into the book!) icy eyed man attractive in any way, shape, or form. “oh, he’s just a poor broken hearted soul�.� boo hoo. he is a man who uses people for his own personal gain.

can i also mention how jacks calls evangeline “little fox� because her last name is fox? is this not eyebrow raising for anyone else? have we normalized men calling women “little [insert animal here]� in books to the point where it’s not WEIRD? being called liitle [last name] is very weird. even more weird when evangeline refers to herself as “little fox�.

this book was by no means good. i lost interest after two chapters and continued reading purely for the laughs and giggles. and with that, i do admit i had a fun time reading this� especially with some of the odd quotes that had me with tears in my eyes:

“are you feeling sorry for me?� jacks laughed, harsh and mocking. “don’t, little fox. it would be a mistake for you to tell yourself that i’m not a monster.�

“you’ve kept me waiting, wife.� he dragged a flower petal up and down his oiled chest.

“and then, as if he weren’t a monster as well, jacks slid an arm underneath her cape and wrapped it around evangeline’s waist, holding her possessively tight as he drawled, “stop flashing your fangs. i’m the only one who gets to bite her.� jacks nipped at evangeline’s ear, cold and sharp.�

1.5 stars.
]]> 55817097 He has a heart of ice...but for her, he'd burn the world.

Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can’t escape.

Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart.

But when he’s forced to look after his best friend’s sister, he starts to feel something in his chest:

A crack.
A melt.
A fire that could end his world as he knew it.

***

Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can’t remember.

But despite her broken past, she’s never stopped seeing the beauty in the world…including the heart beneath the icy exterior of a man she shouldn’t want.

Her brother’s best friend.
Her neighbor.
Her savior and her downfall.

Theirs is a love that was never supposed to happen—but when it does, it unleashes secrets that could destroy them both…and everything they hold dear.

Twisted Love is a brother’s best friend/opposites attract romance with a hint of suspense. It's book one in the Twisted series but can be read as a standalone.

WARNING: This book contains a possessive, morally gray alphahole; explicit sexual content, and profanity. No cheating or menage, but if you're looking for a traditionally sweet, loveable hero, this is not the book for you. Recommended for 18+. ]]> 360 Ana Huang �. 1 3.74 2021
author: Ana Huang
name: �.
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: what-did-i-just-read, 2023-reads, romance-the-bad-kind, strongly-disliked, poc-mc, 1-star
review:

]]> 57361474 People don’t just disappear without a trace....

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find....

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times best-selling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.]]> 356 Mary Kubica 077831166X �. 3 4.10 2021
author: Mary Kubica
name: �.
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2023-reads, thrillers, 3-stars
review:

]]> 57850265
Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects-a pig-develops human speech; a man who, after recovering from his own coma, plans a block party for his neighbours who have also woken up to find that they alone have survived their families; and a widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet.

From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. This is a story of unshakable hope that crosses literary lines to give us a world rebuilding itself through an endless capacity for love, resilience and reinvention. Wonderful and disquieting, dreamlike and all too possible.]]> 293 Sequoia Nagamatsu 0063072645 �. 4 2024-reads, sad, 4-stars 3.81 2022
author: Sequoia Nagamatsu
name: �.
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/07
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, sad, 4-stars
review:

]]> 53961784
As co-owners of Eastport’s beloved waterfront bakery, The Chocolate Moose, Jake and Ellie know their customers expect them to cream the competition. But they’re really just in it for fun, hoping to get Jake’s daughter-in-law baking again. Those plans collapse when fearsome local curmudgeon Alvin Brown is murdered, and every crumb of evidence points to Tiptree family friend—and all-around sweet guy—Billy Sewell.

Billy’s sisters beg Jake and Ellie to prove his innocence. After all, lots of folks had gone sour on Alvin--the only thing the retired lawyer liked better than bilking widows was swindling orphans, and several victims of his long-ago schemes still lived in Eastport. But just as the ladies begin sifting through the suspects, a series of grassfires blaze across the island, cutting off access to the mainland. Could someone be trying to hide the truth about Alvin’s murder?

Now, Jake and Ellie will need all their courage—and an extra dash of that down-east Maine stubbornness—to sniff out the real killer before anyone else gets burned . . .]]> 304 Sarah Graves 1496729218 �. 2 3.88 2021
author: Sarah Graves
name: �.
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, strongly-disliked, what-did-i-just-read, 2-stars
review:

]]> 53086843
Heartbroken, Julie skips his funeral, throws out his things, and tries everything to forget him and the tragic way he died. But a message Sam left behind in her yearbook forces back memories. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail.

And Sam picks up the phone.

In a miraculous turn of events, Julie’s been given a second chance at goodbye. The connection is temporary. But hearing Sam’s voice makes her fall for him all over again, and with each call it becomes harder to let him go. However, keeping her otherworldly calls with Sam a secret isn’t easy, especially when Julie witnesses the suffering Sam’s family is going through. Unable to stand by the sidelines and watch their shared loved ones in pain, Julie is torn between spilling the truth about her calls with Sam and risking their connection and losing him forever.]]> 296 Dustin Thao 1250762030 �. 2 2024-reads, sad, 2-stars
First of all, there is like.. No plot. Girl finds out she can call with her dead boyfriend over the phone. That’s genuinely it. There are glimpses of Julie, the MC’s, life, but it’s honestly nothing crazy spectacular or interesting.

I also find it so hard to get into the characters, like all we know about MC Julie is that she likes to write.. and she really misses her boyfriend, Sam. That’s it. The entire book is mainly about Julie without Sam, how Julie is no one without Sam, and to be honest, she really isn’t! Everything about her is entirely based on Sam. And speaking of Sam, we don’t know much about him either. I feel it’s because we only get to know Sam through Julie’s thoughts and through the phone calls, but to be honest, he kind of has no real personality. We find he’s kind(?) and cares about Julie and his friends/family, but there’s really nothing much to him at all. And when the main characters of the book fall flat� the side characters do too. The only character I didn’t have too much of a problem with is Mika, but even then, she just feels kind of.. there.

This book was entertaining, and is definitely emotional. I think it describes grief and coping with the loss of a loved one well, but I feel it could be written and expressed in a better way. An overhyped book, in my opinion.]]> 3.64 2021
author: Dustin Thao
name: �.
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/03
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, sad, 2-stars
review:
I had high expectations as two of my good friends recommended this book to me,, one of them being incredibly excited about it when I mentioned this book. The cover art is also absolutely stunning, which further excited me into reading it. However.. I’m greatly disappointed.

First of all, there is like.. No plot. Girl finds out she can call with her dead boyfriend over the phone. That’s genuinely it. There are glimpses of Julie, the MC’s, life, but it’s honestly nothing crazy spectacular or interesting.

I also find it so hard to get into the characters, like all we know about MC Julie is that she likes to write.. and she really misses her boyfriend, Sam. That’s it. The entire book is mainly about Julie without Sam, how Julie is no one without Sam, and to be honest, she really isn’t! Everything about her is entirely based on Sam. And speaking of Sam, we don’t know much about him either. I feel it’s because we only get to know Sam through Julie’s thoughts and through the phone calls, but to be honest, he kind of has no real personality. We find he’s kind(?) and cares about Julie and his friends/family, but there’s really nothing much to him at all. And when the main characters of the book fall flat� the side characters do too. The only character I didn’t have too much of a problem with is Mika, but even then, she just feels kind of.. there.

This book was entertaining, and is definitely emotional. I think it describes grief and coping with the loss of a loved one well, but I feel it could be written and expressed in a better way. An overhyped book, in my opinion.
]]> 79330990 Devastating grief has a way of overshadowing love�

Nineteen-year-old Leah Jones is struggling to cope after she and her twenty-nine-year-old brother Oliver lose their parents in a horrific car accident. Leah was in the car and is plagued by nightmares, intense grief and numbness—her life as she knew it is over.
Oliver hates leaving Leah at a time like this, but the only way he can support them both is if he transfers to Sydney for work. He implores his best friend Axel Nguyen to let her move in with him in their hometown of Byron Bay and watch over her while he's away.
Oliver, Axel and Leah have known each other since childhood. For Axel, seeing Leah so broken and devastated is a punch to the gut. He promises himself he'll do anything to bring the light back into her eyes, no matter what it takes. He would be shocked to learn that Leah is in love with him.
Little by little, as he does everything in his power to bring Leah back to the sparkling, energetic beauty he's known, he falls in love with her, too, even though he feels that he's betraying Oliver's trust. Before he can tell him, Oliver finds out about Leah and Axel's relationship and is outraged. He insists Axel prove his love by letting her go so she can fully experience life at college. Axel agrees to break both of their hearts and stoically breaks up with Leah so she can start a new life, not realizing the repercussions that will affect them both for years to come.]]> 420 Alice Kellen �. 1
this book was an absolute monstrosity. sure, the cover and title were pretty but this book was absolutely horrible.

obviously, first off, the age gap. 19 and 29?? really?? not to mention leah has had a crush on axel since she was 16 which is WILD, also considering how her friend knows and literally ENCOURAGES? her? like hello? your (16 year old) friend is crushing on a 26 y/o?? it baffles me how during this story, leah goes to school, she hangs out with friends, etc. and axel has a full blown JOB. crazy.

it also stuns me how for a good entire 3/4 of the book, axel still sees leah as a little sister, and then all of a sudden, after one night, woahh, she’s suddenly a woman, he falls in love!

axel is also so ridiculously insensitive. yes, he’s impatient, but does he really have to push someone who’s literally been through a traumatic experience? not to mention he physically restrains leah when she tries to avoid something triggering? he keeps making leah go out and do things bc it will “heal� her, even though he is by no means a professional, and even her therapist was saying she needs time to herself to heal. yet, lo and behold, it works. leah is healed. this whole book was giving the guy cures the girl of her mental health problems.

axel is so selfish and clearly does not care about anyone, whether it be his family or friends. he really doesn’t. even when he says he’s doing what’s best for leah� is he really?

this was so ridiculous i can’t believe i finished all 400+ pages. i don’t recommend.]]> 3.55 2019
author: Alice Kellen
name: �.
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2019
rating: 1
read at: 2024/06/09
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: what-did-i-just-read, 2024-reads, romance-the-bad-kind, strongly-disliked, 1-star
review:
disclaimer that there are small spoilers in this review.

this book was an absolute monstrosity. sure, the cover and title were pretty but this book was absolutely horrible.

obviously, first off, the age gap. 19 and 29?? really?? not to mention leah has had a crush on axel since she was 16 which is WILD, also considering how her friend knows and literally ENCOURAGES? her? like hello? your (16 year old) friend is crushing on a 26 y/o?? it baffles me how during this story, leah goes to school, she hangs out with friends, etc. and axel has a full blown JOB. crazy.

it also stuns me how for a good entire 3/4 of the book, axel still sees leah as a little sister, and then all of a sudden, after one night, woahh, she’s suddenly a woman, he falls in love!

axel is also so ridiculously insensitive. yes, he’s impatient, but does he really have to push someone who’s literally been through a traumatic experience? not to mention he physically restrains leah when she tries to avoid something triggering? he keeps making leah go out and do things bc it will “heal� her, even though he is by no means a professional, and even her therapist was saying she needs time to herself to heal. yet, lo and behold, it works. leah is healed. this whole book was giving the guy cures the girl of her mental health problems.

axel is so selfish and clearly does not care about anyone, whether it be his family or friends. he really doesn’t. even when he says he’s doing what’s best for leah� is he really?

this was so ridiculous i can’t believe i finished all 400+ pages. i don’t recommend.
]]> 55338939 A thrilling debut, reminiscent of new fan favorites like One of Us Is Lying and the beloved classics by Agatha Christie, that will leave readers guessing until the explosive ending.

“Welcome to dinner, and again, congratulations on being selected. Now you must do the selecting.�

What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it’s a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill...or else everyone dies.

Amber Prescott is determined to get her classmates and herself out of the room alive, but that might be easier said than done. No one knows how they’re all connected or who would want them dead.

As they retrace the events over the past year that might have triggered their captor’s ultimatum, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something.

And with the clock ticking down, confusion turns into fear, and fear morphs into panic as they race to answer the biggest question: Who will they choose to die?]]> 396 Diana Urban 0062908227 �. 1 3.53 2020
author: Diana Urban
name: �.
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: thrillers, strongly-disliked, 2023-reads, 1-star
review:

]]> 40755416
It’s the brightest day of summer and it’s dark outside. It’s dark in your house, dark in your room, and dark in your heart. You feel like the darkness is going to split you apart.

That’s how it feels for Tiger. It’s always been Tiger and her mother against the world. Then, on a day like any other, Tiger’s mother dies. And now it’s Tiger, alone.

Here is how you learn to make friends with the dark.]]> 421 Kathleen Glasgow 1101934751 �. 3 sad, 2023-reads, 3-stars 4.07 2019
author: Kathleen Glasgow
name: �.
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: sad, 2023-reads, 3-stars
review:

]]> 52766407 The Hating Game meets Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by way of Morgan Matson in this unforgettable romantic comedy about two rival overachievers whose relationship completely transforms over the course of twenty-four hours.

Today, she hates him.

It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.

Tonight, she puts up with him.

When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.

As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.

Tomorrow � maybe she’s already fallen for him.]]> 364 Rachel Lynn Solomon 1534440240 �. 3 4.04 2020
author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
name: �.
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: romance-the-good-kind, 2024-reads, 3-stars, painfully-mid
review:

]]> 40097951
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.]]> 336 Alex Michaelides 1250301696 �. 4 4.18 2019
author: Alex Michaelides
name: �.
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2023-reads, thrillers, 4-stars
review:

]]> 35487745
All of us were refugees of the nuclear family . . .

Twenty-three-year-old artist Andrea Morales escaped her Midwestern Catholic childhood—and the closet—to create a home and life for herself within the thriving but insular lesbian underground of Portland, Oregon. But one drunken night, reeling from a bad breakup and a friend’s betrayal, she recklessly crosses enemy lines and hooks up with a man. To her utter shock, Andrea soon discovers she’s pregnant—and despite the concerns of her astonished circle of gay friends, she decides to have the baby.

A decade later, when her precocious daughter Lucia starts asking questions about the father she’s never known, Andrea is forced to reconcile the past she hoped to leave behind with the life she’s worked so hard to build.

A thoroughly modern and original anti-romantic comedy, Stray City is an unabashedly entertaining literary debut about the families we’re born into and the families we choose, about finding yourself by breaking the rules, and making bad decisions for all the right reasons.]]> 432 Chelsey Johnson 0062666681 �. 2 3.78 2018
author: Chelsey Johnson
name: �.
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/18
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2024-reads, queer, strongly-disliked, 2-stars
review:

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