Kay's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 17 Feb 2025 22:33:21 -0800 60 Kay's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Soulmate Equation 58438593
But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond� pairing that could launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.

The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.]]> 360 Christina Lauren 1982171111 Kay 4
River, the gazillionaire founder of this company, would absolutely not be doing sequencing himself randomly one night. Where is the underpaid technician running the sequencing, or at least telling River where they keep the reagents because I promise River has no idea where the DNA extraction buffer is.

What are the DNADuo1 and DNADuo2 machines? Are they the actual sequencing machines, or are the computers for the bioinformatic analysis? I assume they are the actual sequencers, and therefore, it makes little sense they would have only two with the large number of samples they seem to be processing. And that they would let one be down for so long, which would massively slow down their work.

It would probably take at least a full day or two to get results, River would not be able to know by morning from the night before as he claims.

[spoilers removed]

Anyways, alll this to say I really enjoyed this book and thought it was super cute and fun and nerdy and enjoyable]]> 3.96 2021 The Soulmate Equation
author: Christina Lauren
name: Kay
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves:
review:
Random thoughts as someone who works in a DNA sequencing lab

River, the gazillionaire founder of this company, would absolutely not be doing sequencing himself randomly one night. Where is the underpaid technician running the sequencing, or at least telling River where they keep the reagents because I promise River has no idea where the DNA extraction buffer is.

What are the DNADuo1 and DNADuo2 machines? Are they the actual sequencing machines, or are the computers for the bioinformatic analysis? I assume they are the actual sequencers, and therefore, it makes little sense they would have only two with the large number of samples they seem to be processing. And that they would let one be down for so long, which would massively slow down their work.

It would probably take at least a full day or two to get results, River would not be able to know by morning from the night before as he claims.

[spoilers removed]

Anyways, alll this to say I really enjoyed this book and thought it was super cute and fun and nerdy and enjoyable
]]> <![CDATA[My Roommate Is a Vampire (My Vampires, #1)]]> 60041932 True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean...

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.]]> 341 Jenna Levine 0593548914 Kay 2 3.46 2023 My Roommate Is a Vampire (My Vampires, #1)
author: Jenna Levine
name: Kay
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Wreck the Halls 75663742 A sexy, hilarious standalone holiday rom-com about the adult children of two former rock stars who team up to convince their estranged mothers to play a Christmas Eve concert�

Melody Gallard may be the daughter of music royalty, but her world is far from glamorous. She spends her days restoring old books and avoiding the limelight (one awkward tabloid photo was enough, thanks). But when a producer offers her a lot of money to reunite her mother’s band on live tv, Mel begins to wonder if it’s time to rattle the cage, shake up her quiet life� and see him again. The only other person who could wrangle the rock and roll divas.

Beat Dawkins, the lead singer’s son, is Melody’s opposite—the camera loves him, he could charm the pants off anyone, and his mom is not a potential cult leader. Still, they might have been best friends if not for the legendary feud that broke up the band. When they met as teenagers, Mel felt an instant spark, but it’s nothing compared to the wild, intense attraction that builds as they embark on a madcap mission to convince their mothers to perform one last show.

While dealing with rock star shenanigans, a 24-hour film crew, brawling Santas, and mobs of adoring fans, Mel starts to step out of her comfort zone. With Beat by her side, cheering her on, she’s never felt so understood. But Christmas Eve is fast approaching, and a decades-old scandal is poised to wreck everything—the Steel Birds reunion, their relationships with their mothers, and their newfound love.Ěý]]> 351 Tessa Bailey 0063308304 Kay 3 3.34 2023 Wreck the Halls
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Kay
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Insatiable (Insatiable, #1) 6953500
But her bosses are making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.

Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die. (Not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does.)

But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side. It's a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, Lucien's already dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .

If she even has one.]]> 451 Meg Cabot 006173506X Kay 3 3.44 2010 Insatiable (Insatiable, #1)
author: Meg Cabot
name: Kay
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Mansfield Park 45032 488 Jane Austen Kay 4 classics
Fanny price is a very passive heroine. She is shy, and usually sits back, away from the action, formulating her own opinions but not sharing them. She isn’t as feisty and bold as the ever loved Elizabeth Bennett; she is a bit of a wallflower in her home where she is so often overlooked at the poor girl taken in. And I have to admit; she’s pretty boring to modern readers. Often times I wanted her to do something, to protest her situation or that of others, but she was content to just sit and do as asked.

However, at the end of the day, Fanny isn’t afraid to say no to what she doesn’t want to do. She has her own set of morals and values that she holds firm to, and are greatly contrasted with nearly all of the book’s characters, except for her loving cousin Edmund Bertram.

It would be a mistake to judge this book by its protagonist alone; it is about Mansfield Park and all the events and people who surround it, not just about Fanny and her doings. Most of Fanny’s values are derived from Edmund, who stands as the other morally right character in the novel, who can see past the illusions of the Crawfords, for the most part.

The Crawfords, Mary and Henry, are the rich city socialites. Their extravagant lives and actions influence the others at Mansfield Park, throwing everything off balance. It’s easy to despise them, but perhaps even easier to get lost under their spell just as the others have been.

In my opinion, the romance in Mansfield Park was significantly less than Austen’s other works. I’ve looked, and there’s no such Mr. Darcy here. The ending felt rushed to me, particularly in the last couple of characters, and I’m not sure I liked who everyone ended up with. I felt that the book was more on the social dynamic between the people than strictly on the romance.

Of the three Austen novels I’ve read so far, Mansfield Park is my least favorite. My large inability to relate with or even like Fanny Price greatly impacted my enjoyment of the novel. However, I still enjoyed the book.

3.5 stars
]]> 3.86 1814 Mansfield Park
author: Jane Austen
name: Kay
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/12
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: classics
review:
At the young age of ten, Fanny Price is sent to live with her aunts, uncles, and cousins at the grand and wonderful Mansfield Park. It is there where she grows up, surrounded by her harsh Uncle Sir Thomas Bertram, passive Aunt Lady Bertram, cruel and abusive Aunt Norris, her vain and selfish cousins Tom, Maria, Julia, and kind and thoughtful cousin Edmund.

Fanny price is a very passive heroine. She is shy, and usually sits back, away from the action, formulating her own opinions but not sharing them. She isn’t as feisty and bold as the ever loved Elizabeth Bennett; she is a bit of a wallflower in her home where she is so often overlooked at the poor girl taken in. And I have to admit; she’s pretty boring to modern readers. Often times I wanted her to do something, to protest her situation or that of others, but she was content to just sit and do as asked.

However, at the end of the day, Fanny isn’t afraid to say no to what she doesn’t want to do. She has her own set of morals and values that she holds firm to, and are greatly contrasted with nearly all of the book’s characters, except for her loving cousin Edmund Bertram.

It would be a mistake to judge this book by its protagonist alone; it is about Mansfield Park and all the events and people who surround it, not just about Fanny and her doings. Most of Fanny’s values are derived from Edmund, who stands as the other morally right character in the novel, who can see past the illusions of the Crawfords, for the most part.

The Crawfords, Mary and Henry, are the rich city socialites. Their extravagant lives and actions influence the others at Mansfield Park, throwing everything off balance. It’s easy to despise them, but perhaps even easier to get lost under their spell just as the others have been.

In my opinion, the romance in Mansfield Park was significantly less than Austen’s other works. I’ve looked, and there’s no such Mr. Darcy here. The ending felt rushed to me, particularly in the last couple of characters, and I’m not sure I liked who everyone ended up with. I felt that the book was more on the social dynamic between the people than strictly on the romance.

Of the three Austen novels I’ve read so far, Mansfield Park is my least favorite. My large inability to relate with or even like Fanny Price greatly impacted my enjoyment of the novel. However, I still enjoyed the book.

3.5 stars

]]> Summer Breeze 13151687 New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer never fails to imbue her novels with warmth and wisdom. In Summer Breeze, the author of Beachcombers and Heat Wave tells the wonderfully moving story of three women who forge a unique bond one sun-drenched summer on New England’s Dragonfly Lake.
Ěý
Morgan O’Keefe feels trapped in a gilded cage. True, the thirty-year-old mother agreed to put her science career on hold to raise her young son while her husbandĚý pursued his high-powered job. But though Morgan loves many things about staying home with her child, she misses the thrill of working with her colleagues in the lab. She’s restless and in dire need of a change.
Ěý
Fed up with New York City’s hectic pace, Natalie Reynolds takes up her aunt’s offer to move to the Berkshires and house-sit her fabulous lakeside house for a year. Passionate about applying brush to canvas, Natalie is poised to become the artist she has forever longed to be. But life on Dragonfly Lake is never without surprises, and for a novice swimmer like Natalie, the most welcome surprise proves to be the arms of a handsome neighbor pulling her up from the water for a gulp of air.
Ěý
When her mother breaks her leg, Bella Barnaby quits her job in Austin and returns home to help out her large, boisterous family. Among her new duties: manning the counter at the family business, Barnaby’s Barn, an outdated shop sorely in need of a makeover. While attractive architect Aaron has designs on her, Bella harbors long held secret dreams of her own.Ěý
Ěý
Summer on Dragonfly Lake is ripe for romance, temptation, and self-discovery as the lives of these three women unexpectedly intertwine. Summer Breeze illustrates how the best of friends can offer comfort, infuriate, or even—sometimes—open one’s eyes to the astonishing possibilities of life lived in a different way. This captivating novel displays a prestigiously gifted writer at the height of her storytelling powers.]]> 320 Nancy Thayer 0345528719 Kay 3 3.50 2012 Summer Breeze
author: Nancy Thayer
name: Kay
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/09/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Secretly Yours (A Vine Mess, #1)]]> 61109599 A steamy new rom-com about a starchy professor and the bubbly neighbor he clashes with at every turn...

Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family's winery. Now the prodigal hottie has returned to their small town. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she'll finally get that smooch. But the grumpy professor isn't the teenager she remembers and their polar opposite personalities clash spectacularly. One wine-fueled girls' night later, Hallie can't shake the sense that she did something reckless--and then she remembers the drunken secret admirer letter she left for Julian. Oh shit.

On sabbatical from his Ivy League job, Julian plans to write a novel. But having Hallie gardening right outside his window is the ultimate distraction. She's eccentric, chronically late, often literally covered in dirt--and so unbelievably beautiful, he can't focus on anything else. Until he finds an anonymous letter sent by a woman from his past. Even as Julian wonders about this admirer, he's sucked further into Hallie's orbit. Like the flowers she plants all over town, Hallie is a burst of color in Julian's gray-scale life. For a man who irons his socks and runs on tight schedules, her sunny chaotic energy makes zero sense. But there's something so familiar about her... and her very presence is turning his world upside down.]]> 384 Tessa Bailey 0063238985 Kay 3 3.26 2023 Secretly Yours (A Vine Mess, #1)
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Kay
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/09/15
shelves:
review:

]]> Wildfire (Maple Hills, #2) 101145836
Maple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand. Never one to overstay her welcome (or expect much from a man), Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask for her full name.

Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp where they are both counselors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working. Russ hopes if he gets far enough away from Maple Hills, he can avoid dealing with the repercussions of his father’s gambling addiction, while Aurora is tired of craving attention from everyone around her, and wants to go back to the last place she truly felt at home.

Russ knows breaking the camp’s strict “no staff fraternizing� rule will have him heading back to Maple Hills before the summer is over, but unfortunately for him, Aurora has never been very good at caring about the rules. Will the two learn to peacefully coexist? Or did their one night together start a fire they can’t put out?]]> 387 Hannah Grace 1668026279 Kay 4 3.82 2023 Wildfire (Maple Hills, #2)
author: Hannah Grace
name: Kay
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/09/15
shelves:
review:
not at all like a real summer camp lol but cute nonetheless
]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)]]> 31076583 229 Sarah J. Maas 168119631X Kay 2
Let me just disclose the fact that I LOVE the trilogy. I gave all the books 4 or 4.5 stars. Really, I do. I'm not a Sarah J Maas hater, I'm just not here for this "novella."

So what's in a spoiler anyways, because there's pretty much nothing to spoil about this book. I mean, usually there's some tension, you don't know how it's going to turn out, scary ahhh coming for the end, but this was literally 229 pages of absolute fluff, so I'll talk about stuff that happens in the middle/end of this book, but I wouldn't really consider it a spoiler... Now, I've read a couple of reviews saying things like oh, it's just a novella, it's supposed to be fluffy and doesn't need a plot! But I'd just like to take a moment to appreciate the fact that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is shorter than this book. And that book had an incredible plot in 223 pages sooooooo

The book is told through the alternate points of view of Feyre, Rhys, and a few other people like, I think, Mor, Cassian, and Nesta. Buuuut for some reason, Feyre and Rhys got 1st person POV, and everyone else got 3rd person, and it actually bugged the crap out of me. I mean, why? Why? I guess the next three books will probably be third person, but still, why? Just keep it consistent pls and thank you.

Anyways, I'm gonna be real, the only person whose POV I was interested in was Cassian. Cassian was great and I was so down for him and Nesta to have some little romantic spark! (But of course we don't get that because Nesta is being a grade A b*tch and I lowkey started shipping Cassian with this random girl from one chapter in a shop whose name I don't even remember). I don't know when that happened because at the end of ACOWAR I literally loved Feyre and Rhys, but now I'm just tired of them. Yes, they're perfect together and there's absolutely no conflict so please stop beating us over the head with how great they are.

I mean, let's just talk about Rhys for a second. Why is it that all he can do is think of having sex with Feyre?? At this point, does he even like Feyre for anything beyond her sex appeal? (yes i know he obviously does as we see in ACOMAF and ACOWAR but you wouldn't know it from reading this book).

But Feyre was far worse. First of all, she's all about being that High Lady and whoo hoo woman's rights feminism!! eXCEPT... "High Lady of the desk." Why is it that Rhys is all out negotiating making treaties and doing stuff, and Feyre is sitting at home doing paperwork, painting, and shopping?

AND ENOUGH WITH THE SHOPPING!!! I literally don't care about you going shopping. I swear, this book could have been cut in half if we cut out all the unnecessary shopping, talking about "oh no, what am I going to get him???" talking about "ooh I have just the idea for what to get him!!" and all the other baggage that comes with shopping, aPPARENTLY. Also, I'm so sick and tired of Feyre beating us over the head with how wealthy they are, but at the same time being like "oh no, I don't feel right spending so much money!!!" STAWP. Once is enough--you don't need to remind us of it every 20 pages.

ANDDDD... (I guess this is kind of a spoiler but not really so read on at your own risk) I was extremely pissed when Feyre was like ooh ooh ah I want to have a baby!!! In the past she was all about living with her and Rhys for a while, being independent, and not needing to have a baby for a long time, and then here she was just like ah whatever I'm an immortal I'll live forever as evidenced by my friends who are 500+ years old but I still need to have a baby when I'm 21 and settle down being a docile housewife making my house and bringing my husband food on a tray when he comes back from a long day where I was shopping like a Bella Swan wannabee.

(end sort of spoiler)

So one of the most irritating things in this book was with regards to Tamlin. Now, you might already know that I don't hate Tamlin as much as most and feel like SJM deliberately wrecked his character in ACOMAF (I thought he was flawed, bad, but not this completely horrible monster!), and you can read my full blog post in partial defense of him, but I thought the treatment of him here was just horrible. To beat a man while he was already down. Rhys comes and pretty much rubs in his face how he has everything Tamlin ever wanted while Tamlin is already destroyed. It's pretty much the equivalent of someone beating someone up in a fight and then coming back to kick them again while there's nothing they can do about it. It was just low and diminished my like of Rhys.

Also SJM please cool it with the mate and male stuff. I am really not here for gentlemales. Also, why are girls still girls but women have to be females??

At this point it basically seems like I hated the book but alas, that was not the case. It was very problematic and also nothing happened but it was still a bit of a feel good piece of fluff. (The snowball fight in particular was super adorable!!!) It's a really quick read--I think I finished it in two hours or so--and will help if you're craving more of the inner circle!

2 stars]]> 3.77 2019 A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Kay
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2018/07/28
date added: 2024/07/02
shelves: cover-appreciation, faeries, fantasy, sisters
review:
Honestly, everybody's probably said it all but I'm just going to jump on the bandwagon and review this book too. Three months too late, but hey, that's because I've been waiting THREE MONTHS for my library's one copy of the book to pass through seven other people and finally get to me despite putting it on hold back in April...

Let me just disclose the fact that I LOVE the trilogy. I gave all the books 4 or 4.5 stars. Really, I do. I'm not a Sarah J Maas hater, I'm just not here for this "novella."

So what's in a spoiler anyways, because there's pretty much nothing to spoil about this book. I mean, usually there's some tension, you don't know how it's going to turn out, scary ahhh coming for the end, but this was literally 229 pages of absolute fluff, so I'll talk about stuff that happens in the middle/end of this book, but I wouldn't really consider it a spoiler... Now, I've read a couple of reviews saying things like oh, it's just a novella, it's supposed to be fluffy and doesn't need a plot! But I'd just like to take a moment to appreciate the fact that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is shorter than this book. And that book had an incredible plot in 223 pages sooooooo

The book is told through the alternate points of view of Feyre, Rhys, and a few other people like, I think, Mor, Cassian, and Nesta. Buuuut for some reason, Feyre and Rhys got 1st person POV, and everyone else got 3rd person, and it actually bugged the crap out of me. I mean, why? Why? I guess the next three books will probably be third person, but still, why? Just keep it consistent pls and thank you.

Anyways, I'm gonna be real, the only person whose POV I was interested in was Cassian. Cassian was great and I was so down for him and Nesta to have some little romantic spark! (But of course we don't get that because Nesta is being a grade A b*tch and I lowkey started shipping Cassian with this random girl from one chapter in a shop whose name I don't even remember). I don't know when that happened because at the end of ACOWAR I literally loved Feyre and Rhys, but now I'm just tired of them. Yes, they're perfect together and there's absolutely no conflict so please stop beating us over the head with how great they are.

I mean, let's just talk about Rhys for a second. Why is it that all he can do is think of having sex with Feyre?? At this point, does he even like Feyre for anything beyond her sex appeal? (yes i know he obviously does as we see in ACOMAF and ACOWAR but you wouldn't know it from reading this book).

But Feyre was far worse. First of all, she's all about being that High Lady and whoo hoo woman's rights feminism!! eXCEPT... "High Lady of the desk." Why is it that Rhys is all out negotiating making treaties and doing stuff, and Feyre is sitting at home doing paperwork, painting, and shopping?

AND ENOUGH WITH THE SHOPPING!!! I literally don't care about you going shopping. I swear, this book could have been cut in half if we cut out all the unnecessary shopping, talking about "oh no, what am I going to get him???" talking about "ooh I have just the idea for what to get him!!" and all the other baggage that comes with shopping, aPPARENTLY. Also, I'm so sick and tired of Feyre beating us over the head with how wealthy they are, but at the same time being like "oh no, I don't feel right spending so much money!!!" STAWP. Once is enough--you don't need to remind us of it every 20 pages.

ANDDDD... (I guess this is kind of a spoiler but not really so read on at your own risk) I was extremely pissed when Feyre was like ooh ooh ah I want to have a baby!!! In the past she was all about living with her and Rhys for a while, being independent, and not needing to have a baby for a long time, and then here she was just like ah whatever I'm an immortal I'll live forever as evidenced by my friends who are 500+ years old but I still need to have a baby when I'm 21 and settle down being a docile housewife making my house and bringing my husband food on a tray when he comes back from a long day where I was shopping like a Bella Swan wannabee.

(end sort of spoiler)

So one of the most irritating things in this book was with regards to Tamlin. Now, you might already know that I don't hate Tamlin as much as most and feel like SJM deliberately wrecked his character in ACOMAF (I thought he was flawed, bad, but not this completely horrible monster!), and you can read my full blog post in partial defense of him, but I thought the treatment of him here was just horrible. To beat a man while he was already down. Rhys comes and pretty much rubs in his face how he has everything Tamlin ever wanted while Tamlin is already destroyed. It's pretty much the equivalent of someone beating someone up in a fight and then coming back to kick them again while there's nothing they can do about it. It was just low and diminished my like of Rhys.

Also SJM please cool it with the mate and male stuff. I am really not here for gentlemales. Also, why are girls still girls but women have to be females??

At this point it basically seems like I hated the book but alas, that was not the case. It was very problematic and also nothing happened but it was still a bit of a feel good piece of fluff. (The snowball fight in particular was super adorable!!!) It's a really quick read--I think I finished it in two hours or so--and will help if you're craving more of the inner circle!

2 stars
]]> <![CDATA[Under One Roof (The STEMinist Novellas, #1)]]> 59651557 A scientist should never cohabitate with her annoyingly hot nemesis � it leads to combustion.

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn�.

As an environmental engineer, Mara knows all about the delicate nature of ecosystems. They require balance. And leaving the thermostat alone. And not stealing someone else’s food. And other rules Liam, her detestable big-oil lawyer of a roommate, knows nothing about. Okay, sure, technically she’s the interloper. Liam was already entrenched in his aunt’s house like some glowering grumpy giant when Mara moved in, with his big muscles and kissable mouth just sitting there on the couch tempting respectable scientists to the dark side…but Helena was her mentor and Mara’s not about to move out and give up her inheritance without a fight.

The problem is, living with someone means getting to know them. And the more Mara finds out about Liam, the harder it is to loathe him…and the easier it is to love him.]]> 112 Ali Hazelwood 0593437810 Kay 3 3.65 2022 Under One Roof (The STEMinist Novellas, #1)
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Kay
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/06
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:
I'm becoming to see that Ali Hazelwood is only capable of writing one romance (Reylo in a different font)
]]> <![CDATA[The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test, #3)]]> 10838776 Love or life.
Henry or their child.
The end of her family or the end of the world.
Kate must choose.

During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can't stop her--until Cronus offers a deal.

In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he'll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of the council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead.

With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything.

Even if it costs her eternity.]]> 304 Aimee Carter 0373210671 Kay 2 so silly :) 3.94 2013 The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test, #3)
author: Aimee Carter
name: Kay
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:
so silly :)
]]> <![CDATA[Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test, #2)]]> 12637490
Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry's first wife, Persephone.

]]> 304 Aimee Carter 0373210450 Kay 2 3.99 2012 Goddess Interrupted (Goddess Test, #2)
author: Aimee Carter
name: Kay
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:
listennnn Percy Jackson x twilight nostalgia makes me nostalgic so yeah I'm gonna reread all of these objectively very bad books <3
]]> <![CDATA[The Goddess Test (Goddess Test, #1)]]> 9681214 Every girl who had taken the test has died.

Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

If she fails...]]> 293 Aimee Carter 0373210264 Kay 4
4 stars is the rating I gave it yearssssss ago I'm not gonna change that to honor baby kay ]]> 3.81 2011 The Goddess Test (Goddess Test, #1)
author: Aimee Carter
name: Kay
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:
this is so obviously inspired by twilight lmaoo the early 2010s were such a time

4 stars is the rating I gave it yearssssss ago I'm not gonna change that to honor baby kay
]]> Reign (American Royals, #4) 61948564
America's royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing—from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it's exactly what they wanted: a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it's the ultimate dream come true.Ěý

Surely this is all just temporary. Won’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can't really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?

For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne�.if secrets don’t destroy everything first.]]> 415 Katharine McGee 0593710215 Kay 3
]]> 3.86 2023 Reign (American Royals, #4)
author: Katharine McGee
name: Kay
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/07
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:
I'm so obsessed with this series... I can't help it I got issues I can't help it baby


]]> Love on the Brain 59571699 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis—with explosive results.

Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project - a literal dream come true - Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school - archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas... devouring her with those eyes. The possibilities have all her neurons firing.

But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there's only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?]]> 368 Ali Hazelwood 1408725789 Kay 3 3.88 2022 Love on the Brain
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Kay
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Can You Keep a Secret? 33724 374 Sophie Kinsella 0440241901 Kay 3 it was cute 3.82 2003 Can You Keep a Secret?
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Kay
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:
it was cute
]]> The Love Hypothesis 56732449
That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding... six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.]]> 356 Ali Hazelwood 0593336828 Kay 3
But I loved the STEM academia setting!!! I have a stem degree and did STEM academia research so all the talk of pipettes and PCRs and no life and conferences as the backdrop for the romance was so amazing <3 <3]]> 4.11 2021 The Love Hypothesis
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Kay
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:
The grad student-professor in the same department romance gave me the ick... I mean even if he's not directly her professor the power dynamic?? He's a bunch of her friends/colleagues professor?

But I loved the STEM academia setting!!! I have a stem degree and did STEM academia research so all the talk of pipettes and PCRs and no life and conferences as the backdrop for the romance was so amazing <3 <3
]]> Happy Place 61718053
They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends� hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week� in front of those who know you best?

A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.]]> 400 Emily Henry 0593441273 Kay 3
[spoilers removed]]]> 3.95 2023 Happy Place
author: Emily Henry
name: Kay
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:
I really liked it up until the ending lmao

[spoilers removed]
]]> <![CDATA[The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)]]> 26252859
By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.

But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go... an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.]]> 376 Rick Riordan 148473274X Kay 3 4.13 2016 The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Kay
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/20
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Senior Year Adventures, #1)]]> 63035432
Unfortunately, the gods aren’t quite done with him yet. Poseidon breaks the bad news that if Percy expects to get into New Rome University, he will have to fulfill three quests in order to earn the necessary three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus.

The first task is to help Ganymede, Zeus’s cupbearer, retrieve his golden goblet before it falls into the wrong hands. You see, one sip from it can turn a mortal into a god, and Zeus would not be pleased with that result. Can Percy and his friends Grover and Annabeth find the precious cup in time? And if they do, will they be able to resist its special power?

Readers new to Percy Jackson universe and fans who have been awaiting this reunion for more than a decade will delight equally in this latest hilarious take on Greek mythology by the "storyteller of the gods."]]> 288 Rick Riordan 1368098177 Kay 5 4.27 2023 The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Senior Year Adventures, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Kay
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/31
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> One Day in December 38255337 Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.

Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.

Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.

What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780525574682.]]> 393 Josie Silver Kay 2 3.80 2018 One Day in December
author: Josie Silver
name: Kay
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2023/11/19
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Immortal Longings (Flesh and False Gods, #1)]]> 62919356
Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre killed her parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him.

Enter Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat. His childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace, and he’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Thankfully, he’s one of the best jumpers in the kingdom, flitting from body to body at will. His last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.

Calla finds both an unexpected alliance with Anton and help from King Kasa’s adopted son, August, who wants to mend Talin’s ills. But the three of them have very different goals, even as Calla and Anton’s partnership spirals into something all-consuming. Before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for—her lover or her kingdom.]]> 372 Chloe Gong 1668000229 Kay 3 3.52 2023 Immortal Longings (Flesh and False Gods, #1)
author: Chloe Gong
name: Kay
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/01
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves:
review:
i'm starting to think I'm not really a big fan of Chloe Gong, and These Violent Delights was just amazing but all the rest of her books are meh, like how I only like Six of Crows and all the rest of Bardugo's books are meh to me :(
]]> The Coldest Girl in Coldtown 12813630
One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.]]> 419 Holly Black 0316213101 Kay 5 fantasy, sisters
It opens by throwing you right into the super cool premise. It's like an alternate world, but still this same Earth that we live in, where vampires are real and have always been living in the shadows. But that was until an outbreak of vampires occurred and started messing up, well, everything. Now they live in quarantined cities called Coldtowns, which are televised and broadcast for the world to see their magnificent parties. For the whole world (and all the preteen girls) to look at monsters sucking human blood and be like, wow, this is amazing, I totally want to have my blood sucked and be a vampire!!! BUT they ALSO have broadcast shows of VAMPIRE HUNTERS in addition to VAMPIRES and they're both popular and if that doesn't show you how messed up this world is, I don't know what will.

In fact, this paranormal/fantasy read actually felt a lot like a dystopian at times, and it was so creepy and frightening I loved it. It almost seemed to be satirizing our society's infatuation with celebrities, and our desire to be like them no matter what, as well as the need for social validation. Especially with a pair of crazed fangirls vloggers who want nothing more to become vampires and vlog the whole experience. You want to kill me? Cool, just let me make sure the camera's turned on first!!

Tana was...wow. You know, at first I thought she was kind of crazy, and honestly through the entire thing she really want pretty crazy. There were times when I really questioned her actions (which seems to happen with a lot of Holly Black's characters--maybe why I love her books so much!!). But she was also so badass and strong and able to deal with vampires, super powerful, crazy vampires, and I was just like wow I want to be you (except not really because I don't want to live in a world overrun by vampires so just kidding).

The love interest was so good ahhh I'm sorry I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and let's be real, pretty much all vampire books these days have a dark, seductive romance. And I was HERE FOR IT! I thought there was just the right amount of romance--enough to make me so happy apsodljfk but ALSO not to overtake the story and plot.

I loved how all of the characters were sometimes questionable at best, or totally twisted at worst. There is no clear defined good and bad omg they're really fleshed out characters and the entire time I was like okay, someone is going to get betrayed is this too good to be true? (or too bad to be true???)

Honestly, this book almost tinged on horror, and I while I normally won't touch horror with a 39.5 foot pole, I was strangely drawn in and like, yes, give me more of this. The vampires and death really aren't romanticized--at least, not once we get inside of Coldtown itself and see how things really are when the cameras aren't rolling. There are horrifying deaths and injuries and they really give the story its creepy, dark feel.

5 stars

wowow this was creepy i hope you're taking notes @twilight because this is what a good vampire book should be like]]> 3.84 2013 The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
author: Holly Black
name: Kay
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/01
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves: fantasy, sisters
review:
The reason I picked up this book was because Holly Black, aka one of the best authors ever. I literally didn't know anything about it, the plot, anything. And then when I started reading I was like oh shoot vampires! I went through a vampire faze in middle school (didn't we all) and even since reading about sparkly vampires and romanticized vampires that aren't actually evil I was like...okay...this is...kind of sappy and dumb. BUT THEN! I read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and I was like oh this just got real!!!! So the quick summary of this book in my not so humble opinion= VAMPIRES DONE RIGHT.

It opens by throwing you right into the super cool premise. It's like an alternate world, but still this same Earth that we live in, where vampires are real and have always been living in the shadows. But that was until an outbreak of vampires occurred and started messing up, well, everything. Now they live in quarantined cities called Coldtowns, which are televised and broadcast for the world to see their magnificent parties. For the whole world (and all the preteen girls) to look at monsters sucking human blood and be like, wow, this is amazing, I totally want to have my blood sucked and be a vampire!!! BUT they ALSO have broadcast shows of VAMPIRE HUNTERS in addition to VAMPIRES and they're both popular and if that doesn't show you how messed up this world is, I don't know what will.

In fact, this paranormal/fantasy read actually felt a lot like a dystopian at times, and it was so creepy and frightening I loved it. It almost seemed to be satirizing our society's infatuation with celebrities, and our desire to be like them no matter what, as well as the need for social validation. Especially with a pair of crazed fangirls vloggers who want nothing more to become vampires and vlog the whole experience. You want to kill me? Cool, just let me make sure the camera's turned on first!!

Tana was...wow. You know, at first I thought she was kind of crazy, and honestly through the entire thing she really want pretty crazy. There were times when I really questioned her actions (which seems to happen with a lot of Holly Black's characters--maybe why I love her books so much!!). But she was also so badass and strong and able to deal with vampires, super powerful, crazy vampires, and I was just like wow I want to be you (except not really because I don't want to live in a world overrun by vampires so just kidding).

The love interest was so good ahhh I'm sorry I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and let's be real, pretty much all vampire books these days have a dark, seductive romance. And I was HERE FOR IT! I thought there was just the right amount of romance--enough to make me so happy apsodljfk but ALSO not to overtake the story and plot.

I loved how all of the characters were sometimes questionable at best, or totally twisted at worst. There is no clear defined good and bad omg they're really fleshed out characters and the entire time I was like okay, someone is going to get betrayed is this too good to be true? (or too bad to be true???)

Honestly, this book almost tinged on horror, and I while I normally won't touch horror with a 39.5 foot pole, I was strangely drawn in and like, yes, give me more of this. The vampires and death really aren't romanticized--at least, not once we get inside of Coldtown itself and see how things really are when the cameras aren't rolling. There are horrifying deaths and injuries and they really give the story its creepy, dark feel.

5 stars

wowow this was creepy i hope you're taking notes @twilight because this is what a good vampire book should be like
]]> Where the Crawdads Sing 36809135
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.]]> 384 Delia Owens 0735219117 Kay 4 4.35 2018 Where the Crawdads Sing
author: Delia Owens
name: Kay
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/01
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves:
review:

]]> American Mermaid 61354985 A brilliantly funny and razor-tongued debut which follows a writer lured to Los Angeles to adapt her feminist mermaid novel into a big-budget action film, who believes her heroine has come to life to take revenge for Hollywood's violations

Penelope Schleeman, a consistently broke Connecticut high school teacher, is as surprised as anyone when her sensitive debut novel, "American Mermaid"—the story of a wheelchair-bound scientist named Sylvia who discovers that her withered legs are the vestiges of a powerful tail—becomes a bestseller. Penelope soon finds herself lured to LA by promises of easy money to co-write the "American Mermaid" screenplay for a major studio with a pair of male hacks.

As the studio pressures Penelope to change "American Mermaid" from the story of a fierce, androgynous eco-warrior to a teen sex object in a clam bra, strange things start to happen. Threats appear in the screenplay draft; siren calls lure people into danger. When Penelope’s screenwriting partners try to kill Sylvia off entirely in a bitterly false but cinematic end, matters off the page escalate. Is Penelope losing her mind, or is Sylvia among us?

American Mermaid follows a young woman braving a world of casual smiles and ruthless calculation, where she discovers a beating heart in her own fiction--a creature she’ll do anything to protect. By turns both a comic and fabulously insightful tale of two female characters in search of truth, love, and self-acceptance as they move between worlds without giving up their voices.]]> 336 Julia Langbein 0385549679 Kay 3 3.23 2023 American Mermaid
author: Julia Langbein
name: Kay
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/01
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Little Beach Street Bakery (Little Beach Street Bakery, #1)]]> 18213783
And so Polly takes out her frustrations on her favourite hobby: making bread. But what was previously a weekend diversion suddenly becomes far more important as she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, and each loaf becomes better and better. With nuts and seeds, olives and chorizo, with local honey (courtesy of local bee keeper, Huckle), and with reserves of determination and creativity Polly never knew she had, she bakes and bakes and bakes . . . And people start to hear about it.

Sometimes, bread really is life . . . And Polly is about to reclaim hers.]]> 416 Jenny Colgan 0751549215 Kay 2 3.85 2014 Little Beach Street Bakery (Little Beach Street Bakery, #1)
author: Jenny Colgan
name: Kay
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2023/08/01
date added: 2023/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4)]]> 13206900
When Winter develops feelings for the handsome palace guard, Jacin, she fears the evil Queen will crush their romance before it has a chance to begin.

But there are stirrings against the Queen across the land. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even find the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter claim their happily ever afters by defeating Levana once and for all?]]> 827 Marissa Meyer 0312642989 Kay 5
Anyways. Where do I even start with how amazing this book is? With four romances, eight major characters, and ten POVs, you would think that this book would be crazy complicated and hard to follow, right? but NOOO it is fantastic and just perfect!

There is so much character growth from book to book, with Cinder in book one all the way to here, and everyone else we've picked up along the way! I absolutely adored the book Cinder, but this one is just so much more amazing and epic! Cinder is my favorite character so I'm going to talk about how much she's grown from an insecure little mechanic into an incredible revolutionary trying to save the fate of a planet and moon together and fight for her people she's never known! I love Kai as well, and how determined he is to be the best ruler he can be for the Commonwealth, while at the same time falling in love with this wanted fugitive and crossing and double crossing people and also their romance is SO CUTE AOISDKLJF

Scarlet too has really blossomed into someone incredible in this book! I didn't like her as much as the others before, but here she's just so strong! She's an ungifted Earthen surrounded by cruel Lunars, way out of her league, yet she stands her ground an amazing fighter, shooter, and pilot, as well as unlikely friend to Winter! Wolf was maybe my least favorite character and his storyline wasn't as amazing as all the others here, but he was my least favorite of amazing favorites so I still loved him obviously and his desire to be reunited with Scarlet knowing about Levana was so sweet and I'm such a fan!

Cress is so amazing and everyone loves her and I'm absolutely no exception! She's such a naive, sheltered little girl at first, but she overcomes that and fights as an incredible hacker, going into terrifying situations when all she wants to do is curl up in a ball, putting the cause she was dragged into above all else, while still being so cute and sweet and pure! Also THORNE I LOVE YOU MARRY ME! Tbh I actually like Cinder and Kai more than Cress and Thorne, but it's a VERY CLOSE second and I love Thorne the most of all he's so cocky and self assured but also such a sweetie on the inside also there's that scene at the palace you know what I'm talking about that is AMAZING

Finally Winter! The elusive Lunar princess we only get to meet in this book plagued by hallucinations because she refuses to use her gift. I admired her so much, how strictly she was determined to stick to her beliefs and how much she pushed through despite her suffering. Also, I really loved Jacin and I know some people didn't because he seemed a bit grey, not quite as noble as everyone else, more determined to stick with Winter than anything, but tbh this just made me love him and them more and Winter and Jacin's friendship is so pure and I love friends to lovers so much so asoidkljf sofdijkl aosidlkjf oiasljkdf

Also, I didn't even realize the first time how Winter is Snow White (obviously) Jacin is the Huntsman (obviously) and there's still seven dwarfs!!! Cinder, Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, and Iko, who is so awesome showing girls can be badass and strong but also girly and loving fashion and I want Iko as my best friend.

The world building and just the world in general is AMAZING! After three long anticipated books we're finally at Luna and it does not disappoint! The world is so scary and corrupt, especially as I see parts of society reflected from history. Also, the lunar gift?? Mind control?? It's used so much here as a weapon, Lunar against other Lunars, control against other control where you never know who you can trust and it was just so amazing and had me constantly on edge!!

The book is LOOONG. It's over 800 pages, and normally I dislike long books but not this one!!! I! Love! It! Honestly, through the whole thing I was never bored and was constantly flipping pages and flipping pages dying to know what happened next! There was so much action in this as well that it almost felt like multiple books squashed in one with what would be an epic climax only a few pages in, and then another climax, and then another climax, and I swear I never got a chance to breathe I was so nervous and invested in the tale all the way through!!

The final battle is omgholyshoot worthy and it's soooo amazing and worthy of the four book buildup and everything I could ask for. The book is called Winter, and I do love Winter and what we get to see of her, but ultimately it's really Cinder's tale in the end as she goes up against Levana, two powerful Lunar princesses fighting for control.

Anyways, I don't really know how to quite express my love and adoration for this book and this series. Now that I've read all four books twice, maybe I'll start a third reread and make it an annual thing like I do with Harry Potter because it's THAT FREAKING GOOD.

5 stars (can I please give it six?)]]> 4.42 2015 Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Kay
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/01
date added: 2023/09/23
shelves: favorites, retellings, fantasy, princess, royalty
review:
This book is SO FREAKING GOOD. SO GOOD! Honestly, the Harry Potter books are obviously my favorite books but aside from those seven this is EASILY my favorite book possibly even better than some of those and I just love it so much!!! I got this book as a Christmas present even though I've already read it so I got to reread it and now I own it so I can reread it forever and ever and ever for all time and I will never grow old of it and now it sits on my bookshelf looking gorgeous with the other three Lunar Chronicles book in all their beauty and I am totally fangirling bye gtg smell this adios

Anyways. Where do I even start with how amazing this book is? With four romances, eight major characters, and ten POVs, you would think that this book would be crazy complicated and hard to follow, right? but NOOO it is fantastic and just perfect!

There is so much character growth from book to book, with Cinder in book one all the way to here, and everyone else we've picked up along the way! I absolutely adored the book Cinder, but this one is just so much more amazing and epic! Cinder is my favorite character so I'm going to talk about how much she's grown from an insecure little mechanic into an incredible revolutionary trying to save the fate of a planet and moon together and fight for her people she's never known! I love Kai as well, and how determined he is to be the best ruler he can be for the Commonwealth, while at the same time falling in love with this wanted fugitive and crossing and double crossing people and also their romance is SO CUTE AOISDKLJF

Scarlet too has really blossomed into someone incredible in this book! I didn't like her as much as the others before, but here she's just so strong! She's an ungifted Earthen surrounded by cruel Lunars, way out of her league, yet she stands her ground an amazing fighter, shooter, and pilot, as well as unlikely friend to Winter! Wolf was maybe my least favorite character and his storyline wasn't as amazing as all the others here, but he was my least favorite of amazing favorites so I still loved him obviously and his desire to be reunited with Scarlet knowing about Levana was so sweet and I'm such a fan!

Cress is so amazing and everyone loves her and I'm absolutely no exception! She's such a naive, sheltered little girl at first, but she overcomes that and fights as an incredible hacker, going into terrifying situations when all she wants to do is curl up in a ball, putting the cause she was dragged into above all else, while still being so cute and sweet and pure! Also THORNE I LOVE YOU MARRY ME! Tbh I actually like Cinder and Kai more than Cress and Thorne, but it's a VERY CLOSE second and I love Thorne the most of all he's so cocky and self assured but also such a sweetie on the inside also there's that scene at the palace you know what I'm talking about that is AMAZING

Finally Winter! The elusive Lunar princess we only get to meet in this book plagued by hallucinations because she refuses to use her gift. I admired her so much, how strictly she was determined to stick to her beliefs and how much she pushed through despite her suffering. Also, I really loved Jacin and I know some people didn't because he seemed a bit grey, not quite as noble as everyone else, more determined to stick with Winter than anything, but tbh this just made me love him and them more and Winter and Jacin's friendship is so pure and I love friends to lovers so much so asoidkljf sofdijkl aosidlkjf oiasljkdf

Also, I didn't even realize the first time how Winter is Snow White (obviously) Jacin is the Huntsman (obviously) and there's still seven dwarfs!!! Cinder, Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, and Iko, who is so awesome showing girls can be badass and strong but also girly and loving fashion and I want Iko as my best friend.

The world building and just the world in general is AMAZING! After three long anticipated books we're finally at Luna and it does not disappoint! The world is so scary and corrupt, especially as I see parts of society reflected from history. Also, the lunar gift?? Mind control?? It's used so much here as a weapon, Lunar against other Lunars, control against other control where you never know who you can trust and it was just so amazing and had me constantly on edge!!

The book is LOOONG. It's over 800 pages, and normally I dislike long books but not this one!!! I! Love! It! Honestly, through the whole thing I was never bored and was constantly flipping pages and flipping pages dying to know what happened next! There was so much action in this as well that it almost felt like multiple books squashed in one with what would be an epic climax only a few pages in, and then another climax, and then another climax, and I swear I never got a chance to breathe I was so nervous and invested in the tale all the way through!!

The final battle is omgholyshoot worthy and it's soooo amazing and worthy of the four book buildup and everything I could ask for. The book is called Winter, and I do love Winter and what we get to see of her, but ultimately it's really Cinder's tale in the end as she goes up against Levana, two powerful Lunar princesses fighting for control.

Anyways, I don't really know how to quite express my love and adoration for this book and this series. Now that I've read all four books twice, maybe I'll start a third reread and make it an annual thing like I do with Harry Potter because it's THAT FREAKING GOOD.

5 stars (can I please give it six?)
]]> <![CDATA[Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)]]> 36381037
She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.]]> 400 Marissa Meyer Kay 5 retellings, favorites 4.11 2012 Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Kay
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/01
date added: 2023/09/23
shelves: retellings, favorites
review:
this book hits differently during covid 19
]]> Just Another Love Song 53924127
Once upon a time, Sandy Macintosh thought she would have her happily ever after with her high school sweetheart, Hank Tillman. Sandy wanted to be an artist, Hank was the only boy in town who seemed destined for bigger things, and they both had dreams to escape town together. But when Sandy’s plans fell through, she stayed in their small town in Ohio while Hank went off to Boston to follow his dreams to be a musician, with the promise to stay together. Only that plan fell through, too.

Fifteen years later, Sandy runs a successful greenhouse while helping her parents with their bed and breakfast. Everything is perfect…until Hank rolls back into town, now a famous alt-country singer with a son in tow. She’s happy with the life she’s built by herself, but seeing Hank makes her think about what might have been. There aren’t enough cliché love songs in the world to convince Sandy to give Hank another chance, but when the two of them get thrown together to help organize the town’s annual street fair, she wonders if there could be a new beginning for them or if what they had is just a tired old song of the past.]]> 336 Kerry Winfrey 0593333438 Kay 2 3.75 2022 Just Another Love Song
author: Kerry Winfrey
name: Kay
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2023/07/11
date added: 2023/07/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Cursed (Gilded, #2) 59251223
Romance, danger, and Serilda's journey to find her power as a woman, a mother, and a storyteller make this reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin one that Meyer fans—old and new—will treasure.]]> 485 Marissa Meyer Kay 4 3.98 2022 Cursed (Gilded, #2)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Kay
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/02
date added: 2023/07/11
shelves:
review:

]]> The Road Trip 51405046
But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, Dylan, who she's avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.

Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they've totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can't avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship...

Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly... is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?]]> 414 Beth O'Leary 1529409055 Kay 4 3.57 2021 The Road Trip
author: Beth O'Leary
name: Kay
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/24
date added: 2023/07/11
shelves:
review:

]]> The Crown (The Selection, #5) 26074181
Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.]]> 278 Kiera Cass 0062392174 Kay 2 3.61 2016 The Crown (The Selection, #5)
author: Kiera Cass
name: Kay
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/04
date added: 2023/07/11
shelves:
review:

]]> The Heir (The Selection, #4) 22918050
But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.]]> 342 Kiera Cass Kay 3 3.64 2015 The Heir (The Selection, #4)
author: Kiera Cass
name: Kay
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/01
date added: 2023/07/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Foul Lady Fortune (Foul Lady Fortune, #1)]]> 57190453
It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption from her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.

Code name: Fortune.

But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.

To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.]]> 528 Chloe Gong Kay 3
I was so obsessed with These Violent Delights I was really excited for this book but it didn't hit the way I thought it would :(

Idk it was very heavy on the politics and exposition and spy intrigue and I was more excited for romance and bang bang gangsters? Also it's been a hot minute since I read TVD and OVE so maybe I just don't remember enough to keep up?

That being said I expected it to be absolutely mind blowingly amazing and it didn't reach my expectations meaning it was still pretty darn good. This is not a negative review. I just had too high expectations]]> 4.22 2022 Foul Lady Fortune (Foul Lady Fortune, #1)
author: Chloe Gong
name: Kay
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/31
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars

I was so obsessed with These Violent Delights I was really excited for this book but it didn't hit the way I thought it would :(

Idk it was very heavy on the politics and exposition and spy intrigue and I was more excited for romance and bang bang gangsters? Also it's been a hot minute since I read TVD and OVE so maybe I just don't remember enough to keep up?

That being said I expected it to be absolutely mind blowingly amazing and it didn't reach my expectations meaning it was still pretty darn good. This is not a negative review. I just had too high expectations
]]> <![CDATA[Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)]]> 22299763
Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.]]> 561 Leigh Bardugo Kay 5 I can't believe I read this four times lol I'm mad at Netflix season 2 this book >>>>

--

2/2021
I saw a two second clip of kaz brekker in the netflix trailer and I immediately dropped everything to reread this book and it was 100000% worth it askflsjflfsal this book

--

9/2019
OMGGG IT"S LITERALLY EVEN BETTER THE SECOND TIME AOIEJKFSOIDFKLJ
Also the first time I read this before reading the Grisha trilogy but now I reread it after reading the Grisha trilogy and it's so much more rewarding Nikolaiiii and Zoyaaaa my loves

--

6/2018

After finishing this book I have come to the conclusion that there simply must be a option to rate books 6 stars because holy oh gosh what the shit this book was just aoisdjfkaw0iosdljfkwpoealdskjfhw9asoidiljfoaslkdfc

^^wild forehead bashing on the keyboard because I can't do anything else I've lost all feeling and control. Honestly though, I've already given some books 5 stars this year and how can I possibly put this amazing masterpiece on the same level with anything that isn't this amazing masterpiece??? I just can't. Six stars. Fight me.

So can I just start by saying that the cover is absolutely freaking gorgeous. Honestly, without a single question I'll tell you that the Six of Crows duology covers are the best covers out there. Period. I mean, there's the crow, and there's also the crown, and the buildings, but what do you see first? The shape of the crown makes the part of the crow!! It just goes together so perfectly aslkdfj. ALSO. The red pages??? My love. I can't stop stroking them.

But that's not part of the actual book/writing, so let's talk about that. First of all, the world that Bardugo has set up is amazing. Just. Amazing. My only complaint with Six of Crows, and the reason I gave it 4.5 instead of 5 stars was because the world building didn't feel fully developed and since I haven't read the Grisha trilogy, I was really confused and frustrated at points. Here--no. Since this is the second book and the world has already been set up, I was able to get thrown right into it and understand it; the different peoples and their thoughts on Grisha, parem, etc were all so complex and amazing! (note to self: must read Grisha trilogy pronto)

Crooked Kingdom throws us right back into the action, a little after Six of Crows ended with Nina struggling to recover from parem, Wylan still looking like Kuwei, Inej still kidnapped, and the weakened Dregs doing everything they can to get her back. And I was honestly so stressed out and worried that something would happen to Inej?? T-e-r-r-i-f-i-e-d.

And that wasn't the only time that I was freaked out and worried for everyone. Pretty much the entire book I was on edge, terrified that something would happen. And things did happen!! I mean, with the stakes so high, of course there would be casualties and setbacks, and right now it's a hard call to decide which is more stressful--staying up all night reading this book, or staying up all night cramming for a math final. But this is the kind of stress that I welcome and embrace so okay.

I feel like every time the Dregs set up a plan to carry out a heist or mission my heart started beating 10000x faster. Because it's Kaz, and he's Dirtyhands, so it just has to work right?? Because if it doesn't work, then the sht it going to hit the fan and people might die!! But then I would see that I still had 300 pages left so there was no way it could be the climax and that meant that something was going to go wrong and that would just freak me out even moree!

So anyways, all of the heists and missions were freaking insane. There were parts where I was like: that's it, they're done for. This book isn't going to have a happy ending. And even the Dregs thought that they were screwed?? Even Kaz thought they might be screwed and when Kaz Brekker of all people thinks that...well...just pray for a return of his scheming face, that's what I do.

Also the way that Leigh Bardugo writes this is sooo good but also sooo cruel??? I loved the multiple perspectives. I really did. But at times when one character got screwed at the end of a chapter, and then we switched to someone else's POV who was somewhere else and I was just like read faster read faster what happened. And some information is withheld from the reader, or from the character that is currently narrating and it's just so stressful?? [spoilers removed]

But all that aside, what really makes this book stand out just like Six of Crows is the incredible characters. Usually I don't really like multiple POVs. I prefer books with just one narrator!! But this book had 6 main narrators (yes, Wylan gets his voice heard and that made me so happy because tbh I don't know why we didn't get him in SoC he's perfect) and I absolutely loved it anyways--and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!--so that's just how good it is.

The character backstories continued to be amazing in shaping these incredible, three dimensional characters. Nobody was just as simple as they seemed. Wylan's backstory just absolutely broke my heart ahhhh! And we got to hear more about Kaz which was so perfect so many feelings just because he's Kaz. I love Kaz.

Speaking of Kaz...I love him. Did I mention that? I'm just so amazed by him, and the fact that he's always two steps ahead of everyone. There were times when I was like, no way, he's screwed and he's gonna die now but then...but then he went and was Kaz!! But also I love how he's not just the archetype of a murderer or whatever--he has such a sad backstory that really made him who he is!! And the fact that he finds it hard to get close to people but you can tell that he's started caring about this crew is just too much for my heart.

I still love Inej! Inej amazed me so much--she was so strong and fiercely loyal even when facing torture. And she was such a loyal friend to Nina and everyone too. And I loved how we got to see into her mind as she did terrifying things like walking a tightrope!! Inej really really gets a chance to shine in this book, she really meets her match and she's one of the most badass people ever, no questions asked.

Kaz and Inej together!! Who have I ever shipped harder than I ship Kaz and Inej, honestly. I love how they're both so hard and cruel on the outside (well, Kaz more than Inej haha) but then they care for each other, how they've both been so mistreated by life that they're terrified to get close to anyone but then they still love each other it's just too much for my heart.

I think Jesper might be creeping onto the list of people I want as my best friend, like Kenji from Shatter Me because he was just too fun. Wylan too! I didn't get too attached to him in the last book, but I just adored him here! And while they were both great on their own, together they just, I don't know, give me life. They're so sweet and so funny and so fun but also so loyal and care about each other so much and rpwol;kjdsw09arpoesldk

I was so amazed and in awe of Nina in this one! I was so freaked out for her at the end of SoC after she had the parem, and it definitely affected her here. But then she was able to keep pushing and keep doing great things!! And I was so excited to meet the Grisha from her past ahhh.

And Nina and Matthias together are just too much [spoilers removed]. They had their moments that were so funny (Nina being fabulous of course) and their moments that were so wrenching and their moments that were so moving and just all of their moments. Nina and Matthias are hate-to-love/forbidden romance done right so I hope you're taking notes to all the authors who do it poorly.

Anyways, I'm in a gigantic book hangover from Crooked Kingdom. I've been ranting and raving about it to all my friends and family nonstop since I finished it and I think they all hate me now but whatever. I canNOT remember the last time I was so emotionally moved by a book. Also, it's always been so much easier to write negative, rant reviews than positive reviews but CLEARLY that was because I never came across anything as perfect as Crooked Kingdom before.

5 stars.]]> 4.58 2016 Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Kay
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/28
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves: cover-appreciation, fantasy, favorites
review:
3/2023
I can't believe I read this four times lol I'm mad at Netflix season 2 this book >>>>

--

2/2021
I saw a two second clip of kaz brekker in the netflix trailer and I immediately dropped everything to reread this book and it was 100000% worth it askflsjflfsal this book

--

9/2019
OMGGG IT"S LITERALLY EVEN BETTER THE SECOND TIME AOIEJKFSOIDFKLJ
Also the first time I read this before reading the Grisha trilogy but now I reread it after reading the Grisha trilogy and it's so much more rewarding Nikolaiiii and Zoyaaaa my loves

--

6/2018

After finishing this book I have come to the conclusion that there simply must be a option to rate books 6 stars because holy oh gosh what the shit this book was just aoisdjfkaw0iosdljfkwpoealdskjfhw9asoidiljfoaslkdfc

^^wild forehead bashing on the keyboard because I can't do anything else I've lost all feeling and control. Honestly though, I've already given some books 5 stars this year and how can I possibly put this amazing masterpiece on the same level with anything that isn't this amazing masterpiece??? I just can't. Six stars. Fight me.

So can I just start by saying that the cover is absolutely freaking gorgeous. Honestly, without a single question I'll tell you that the Six of Crows duology covers are the best covers out there. Period. I mean, there's the crow, and there's also the crown, and the buildings, but what do you see first? The shape of the crown makes the part of the crow!! It just goes together so perfectly aslkdfj. ALSO. The red pages??? My love. I can't stop stroking them.

But that's not part of the actual book/writing, so let's talk about that. First of all, the world that Bardugo has set up is amazing. Just. Amazing. My only complaint with Six of Crows, and the reason I gave it 4.5 instead of 5 stars was because the world building didn't feel fully developed and since I haven't read the Grisha trilogy, I was really confused and frustrated at points. Here--no. Since this is the second book and the world has already been set up, I was able to get thrown right into it and understand it; the different peoples and their thoughts on Grisha, parem, etc were all so complex and amazing! (note to self: must read Grisha trilogy pronto)

Crooked Kingdom throws us right back into the action, a little after Six of Crows ended with Nina struggling to recover from parem, Wylan still looking like Kuwei, Inej still kidnapped, and the weakened Dregs doing everything they can to get her back. And I was honestly so stressed out and worried that something would happen to Inej?? T-e-r-r-i-f-i-e-d.

And that wasn't the only time that I was freaked out and worried for everyone. Pretty much the entire book I was on edge, terrified that something would happen. And things did happen!! I mean, with the stakes so high, of course there would be casualties and setbacks, and right now it's a hard call to decide which is more stressful--staying up all night reading this book, or staying up all night cramming for a math final. But this is the kind of stress that I welcome and embrace so okay.

I feel like every time the Dregs set up a plan to carry out a heist or mission my heart started beating 10000x faster. Because it's Kaz, and he's Dirtyhands, so it just has to work right?? Because if it doesn't work, then the sht it going to hit the fan and people might die!! But then I would see that I still had 300 pages left so there was no way it could be the climax and that meant that something was going to go wrong and that would just freak me out even moree!

So anyways, all of the heists and missions were freaking insane. There were parts where I was like: that's it, they're done for. This book isn't going to have a happy ending. And even the Dregs thought that they were screwed?? Even Kaz thought they might be screwed and when Kaz Brekker of all people thinks that...well...just pray for a return of his scheming face, that's what I do.

Also the way that Leigh Bardugo writes this is sooo good but also sooo cruel??? I loved the multiple perspectives. I really did. But at times when one character got screwed at the end of a chapter, and then we switched to someone else's POV who was somewhere else and I was just like read faster read faster what happened. And some information is withheld from the reader, or from the character that is currently narrating and it's just so stressful?? [spoilers removed]

But all that aside, what really makes this book stand out just like Six of Crows is the incredible characters. Usually I don't really like multiple POVs. I prefer books with just one narrator!! But this book had 6 main narrators (yes, Wylan gets his voice heard and that made me so happy because tbh I don't know why we didn't get him in SoC he's perfect) and I absolutely loved it anyways--and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!--so that's just how good it is.

The character backstories continued to be amazing in shaping these incredible, three dimensional characters. Nobody was just as simple as they seemed. Wylan's backstory just absolutely broke my heart ahhhh! And we got to hear more about Kaz which was so perfect so many feelings just because he's Kaz. I love Kaz.

Speaking of Kaz...I love him. Did I mention that? I'm just so amazed by him, and the fact that he's always two steps ahead of everyone. There were times when I was like, no way, he's screwed and he's gonna die now but then...but then he went and was Kaz!! But also I love how he's not just the archetype of a murderer or whatever--he has such a sad backstory that really made him who he is!! And the fact that he finds it hard to get close to people but you can tell that he's started caring about this crew is just too much for my heart.

I still love Inej! Inej amazed me so much--she was so strong and fiercely loyal even when facing torture. And she was such a loyal friend to Nina and everyone too. And I loved how we got to see into her mind as she did terrifying things like walking a tightrope!! Inej really really gets a chance to shine in this book, she really meets her match and she's one of the most badass people ever, no questions asked.

Kaz and Inej together!! Who have I ever shipped harder than I ship Kaz and Inej, honestly. I love how they're both so hard and cruel on the outside (well, Kaz more than Inej haha) but then they care for each other, how they've both been so mistreated by life that they're terrified to get close to anyone but then they still love each other it's just too much for my heart.

I think Jesper might be creeping onto the list of people I want as my best friend, like Kenji from Shatter Me because he was just too fun. Wylan too! I didn't get too attached to him in the last book, but I just adored him here! And while they were both great on their own, together they just, I don't know, give me life. They're so sweet and so funny and so fun but also so loyal and care about each other so much and rpwol;kjdsw09arpoesldk

I was so amazed and in awe of Nina in this one! I was so freaked out for her at the end of SoC after she had the parem, and it definitely affected her here. But then she was able to keep pushing and keep doing great things!! And I was so excited to meet the Grisha from her past ahhh.

And Nina and Matthias together are just too much [spoilers removed]. They had their moments that were so funny (Nina being fabulous of course) and their moments that were so wrenching and their moments that were so moving and just all of their moments. Nina and Matthias are hate-to-love/forbidden romance done right so I hope you're taking notes to all the authors who do it poorly.

Anyways, I'm in a gigantic book hangover from Crooked Kingdom. I've been ranting and raving about it to all my friends and family nonstop since I finished it and I think they all hate me now but whatever. I canNOT remember the last time I was so emotionally moved by a book. Also, it's always been so much easier to write negative, rant reviews than positive reviews but CLEARLY that was because I never came across anything as perfect as Crooked Kingdom before.

5 stars.
]]> The One (The Selection, #3) 18635016
When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.]]> 323 Kiera Cass 0062059998 Kay 4 4.14 2014 The One (The Selection, #3)
author: Kiera Cass
name: Kay
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/23
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> The Elite (The Selection, #2) 16248068
America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away.]]> 336 Kiera Cass 0062059963 Kay 3 3.94 2013 The Elite (The Selection, #2)
author: Kiera Cass
name: Kay
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/08
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Selection (The Selection, #1)]]> 10507293
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.]]> 336 Kiera Cass 0062059939 Kay 4 favorites 4.07 2012 The Selection (The Selection, #1)
author: Kiera Cass
name: Kay
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/02
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)]]> 1162543 "Don't be afraid," I murmured. "We belong together."
I was abruptly overwhelmed by the truth of my own words.
This moment was so perfect, so right, there was no way to doubt it.
His arms wrapped around me,
holding me against him....
It felt like every nerve ending in my body was a live wire.
"Forever," he agreed.

WHEN YOU LOVED THE ONE WHO WAS KILLING YOU, IT LEFT YOU NO OPTIONS. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

TO BE IRREVOCABLY IN LOVE WITH A VAMPIRE is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

NOW THAT BELLA HAS MADE HER DECISION, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

THE ASTONISHING, BREATHLESSLY anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.]]> 756 Stephenie Meyer 031606792X Kay 3 unhinged. iconic. 3.74 2008 Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Kay
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/28
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves:
review:
unhinged. iconic.
]]> <![CDATA[Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)]]> 428263 "BELLA?"
Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, just like he had in the parking lot, and kissed me again.
This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine - like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

READERS CAPTIVATED BY Twilight AND New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga.]]> 629 Stephenie Meyer 0316160202 Kay 4 3.73 2007 Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Kay
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/20
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)]]> 49041 There is an alternate cover edition for ISBN13 9780316160193 here.

I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there had never been a wound in the first place.

I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough.... But this was no dream, and, unlike the nightmare, I wasn't running for my life; I was racing to save something infinitely more precious. My own life meant little to me today.

FOR BELLA SWAN THERE IS ONE THING more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning....

LEGIONS OF READERS ENTRANCED BY THE New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bell and Edward. In New Moon, Stephanie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.]]> 563 Stephenie Meyer 0316160199 Kay 3 3.61 2006 New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Kay
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/15
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Midnight Sun (The Twilight Saga, #5)]]> 53287484 When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward’s version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting beautiful, mysterious Bella is both the most intriguing and unnerving event he has experienced in his long life as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he let himself fall in love with Bella when he knows that he is endangering her life?

In Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer transports us back to a world that has captivated millions of readers and, drawing on the classic myth of Hades and Persephone, brings us an epic novel about the profound pleasures and devastating consequences of immortal love.]]> 662 Stephenie Meyer 031670704X Kay 4 3.72 2020 Midnight Sun (The Twilight Saga, #5)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Kay
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/11
date added: 2023/02/11
shelves:
review:
listen... I read the leaked draft back in the day. Then I grew up and started hating on Twilight because it was cool or whatever and thought I would never read this book when it came out in 2020. Then... I don't know, life is cyclical, here I am
]]> The Song of Achilles 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 Kay 5 4.30 2011 The Song of Achilles
author: Madeline Miller
name: Kay
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/02
date added: 2023/01/05
shelves:
review:
screaming crying sobbing this is so good <3
]]> <![CDATA[Beth and Amy (The March Sisters, #2)]]> 53812766 Little Women by New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra.

Amy March is more like her older sister Jo than she’d like to admit. An up-and-coming designer in New York’s competitive fashion industry, ambitious Amy is determined to get out of her sisters� shadows and keep her distance from their North Carolina hometown. But when Jo’s wedding forces Amy home, she must face what she really wants� and confront the One Big Mistake that could upend her life and forever change her relationship with Jo.

Gentle, unassuming Beth grew up as the good girl of the family. A talented singer-songwriter, she’s overcome her painful anxiety to tour with country superstar Colt Henderson. But life on the road has taken its toll on her health and their relationship. Maybe a break to attend her sister’s wedding will get her out of her funk. But Beth realizes that what she’s looking for and what she needs are two very different things.�

With the March women reunited, this time with growing careers and families, they must once again learn to lean on one another as they juggle the changes coming their way.]]> 348 Virginia Kantra 0593100379 Kay 3 3.84 2020 Beth and Amy (The March Sisters, #2)
author: Virginia Kantra
name: Kay
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/29
date added: 2022/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> In a Holidaze 50892287 Alternate cover edition can be found here

One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners..

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.
]]> 307 Christina Lauren 198212394X Kay 3 3.65 2020 In a Holidaze
author: Christina Lauren
name: Kay
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/26
date added: 2022/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fairy Godmothers, Inc. (Fairy Godmothers, Inc., #1)]]> 53498670
If love is the source of all the magic in the universe, and the town of Ever After, Missouri, is the epicenter of enchantment, then the locals are in dire need of a reboot. At least according to resident fairy godmothers Petunia, Jonquil, and Bluebonnet. Their solution? Blow a bit of fairy dust in the direction of those in need of romance...what could possibly go wrong?

SOME KIND OF AWFUL...
Lucky Fujiki's first name is a cosmic joke. Her luck is so bad, even the number seven steers clear of her. But when her adorable godmothers ask for a favor, Lucky can't say no--even if she can already feel the bad juju waiting to strike. And her mission is even worse than she imagined: to promote Ever After as a wedding destination by faking a marriage to her first love and long-time ex, Ransom Payne--he of the Embarrassing Incident that neither of them will ever live down...

OR ALL KINDS OF WONDERFUL?
Ransom Payne has spent years building an impressive new reputation for himself, and now his godmothers want him to pretend to wed the one girl he'd like most to forget? Sure, weddings in Ever After could be a huge boon for his chocolate business, but risking more up-close-and-personal time with Lucky? Considering the stakes, it's a curse he'll have to bear, at the risk of being humiliated--or perhaps, bewitched...]]> 320 Saranna DeWylde 1420153145 Kay 3 3.26 2020 Fairy Godmothers, Inc. (Fairy Godmothers, Inc., #1)
author: Saranna DeWylde
name: Kay
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/31
date added: 2022/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Malibu Rising 55404546 Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them... and what they will leave behind.]]> 369 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1524798657 Kay 4 #1 mick riva hater 4.02 2021 Malibu Rising
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Kay
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/28
date added: 2022/08/28
shelves:
review:
#1 mick riva hater
]]> Rivals (American Royals, #3) 59447047
Relationships will be tested.
Princess Samantha is in love with Lord Marshall Davis—but the more serious they get, the more complicated things become. Is Sam destined to repeat her string of broken relationships…and this time will the broken heart be her own?

Strangers will become friends.
Beatrice is representing America at the greatest convocation of kings and queens in the world. When she meets a glamorous foreign princess, she gets drawn into the inner circle…but at what cost?

And rivals will become allies.
Nina and Daphne have spent years competing for Prince Jefferson. Now they have something in common: they both want to take down manipulative Lady Gabriella Madison. Can these enemies join forces, or will old rivalries stand in the way?]]> 400 Katharine McGee 0593429702 Kay 3 3.74 2022 Rivals (American Royals, #3)
author: Katharine McGee
name: Kay
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/24
date added: 2022/08/24
shelves:
review:
someone tell me why I keep reading this series lol
]]> People We Meet on Vacation 54985743 Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?]]> 400 Emily Henry 1984806750 Kay 5 &lt;3 3.85 2021 People We Meet on Vacation
author: Emily Henry
name: Kay
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/20
date added: 2022/08/24
shelves:
review:
<3
]]> Counting Down with You 49399658 A reserved Bangladeshi teenager has twenty-eight days to make the biggest decision of her life after agreeing to fake date her school’s resident bad boy.
How do you make one month last a lifetime?

Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep her head down, get through high school without a fuss, and follow her parents� rules—even if it means sacrificing her dreams. When her parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks, Karina expects some peace and quiet. Instead, one simple lie unravels everything.

Karina is my girlfriend.

Tutoring the school’s resident bad boy was already crossing a line. Pretending to date him? Out of the question. But Ace Clyde does everything right—he brings her coffee in the mornings, impresses her friends without trying, and even promises to buy her a dozen books (a week) if she goes along with his fake-dating facade. Though Karina agrees, she can’t help but start counting down the days until her parents come back.

T-minus twenty-eight days until everything returns to normal—but what if Karina no longer wants it to?]]> 464 Tashie Bhuiyan 1335209972 Kay 3 to-read 4.01 2021 Counting Down with You
author: Tashie Bhuiyan
name: Kay
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/20
date added: 2022/08/24
shelves: to-read
review:
it was cute but I thought I would like it more :(
]]> <![CDATA[Tokyo Dreaming (Tokyo Ever After, #2)]]> 58724940 engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true.

Only...

Her parents� engagement hits a brick wall. The Imperial Household Council refuses to approve the marriage citing concerns about Izumi and her mother’s lack of pedigree. And on top of it all, her bodyguard turned boyfriend makes a shocking decision about their relationship. At the threat of everything falling apart, Izumi vows to do whatever it takes to help win over the council. Which means upping her newly acquired princess game.

But at what cost? Izumi will do anything to help her parents achieve their happily ever after, but what if playing the perfect princess means sacrificing her own? Will she find a way to forge her own path and follow her heart?

Return to Tokyo for a royal wedding in Emiko Jean's Tokyo Dreaming, the sequel to the Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Tokyo Ever After]]> 336 Emiko Jean 125076663X Kay 3 3.70 2022 Tokyo Dreaming (Tokyo Ever After, #2)
author: Emiko Jean
name: Kay
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/30
date added: 2022/08/13
shelves:
review:

]]> The Blue Castle 95693
Valancy Stirling is 29, unmarried, and has never been in love. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she finds her only consolation in the "forbidden" books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle--a place where all her dreams come true and she can be who she truly wants to be. After getting shocking news from the doctor, she rebels against her family and discovers a surprising new world, full of love and adventures far beyond her most secret dreams.]]> 218 L.M. Montgomery 0553280511 Kay 4 4.29 1926 The Blue Castle
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Kay
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1926
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/06
date added: 2022/08/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[We Can't Keep Meeting Like This]]> 55710755 A wedding harpist disillusioned with love and a hopeless romantic cater-waiter flirt and fight their way through a summer of weddings.

Quinn Berkowitz and Tarek Mansour’s families have been in business together for years: Quinn’s parents are wedding planners, and Tarek’s own a catering company. At the end of last summer, Quinn confessed her crush on him in the form of a rambling email—and then he left for college without a response.

Quinn has been dreading seeing him again almost as much as she dreads another summer playing the harp for her parents� weddings. When he shows up at the first wedding of the summer, looking cuter than ever after a year apart, they clash immediately. Tarek’s always loved the grand gestures in weddings—the flashier, the better—while Quinn can’t see them as anything but fake. Even as they can’t seem to have one civil conversation, Quinn’s thrown together with Tarek wedding after wedding, from performing a daring cake rescue to filling in for a missing bridesmaid and groomsman.

Quinn can’t deny her feelings for him are still there, especially after she learns the truth about his silence, opens up about her own fears, and begins learning the art of harp-making from an enigmatic teacher.

Maybe love isn’t the enemy after all—and maybe allowing herself to fall is the most honest thing Quinn’s ever done.]]> 336 Rachel Lynn Solomon 1534440275 Kay 4 3.50 2021 We Can't Keep Meeting Like This
author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
name: Kay
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/13
date added: 2022/08/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1)]]> 40832169 In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.]]> 496 Brigid Kemmerer 1681195100 Kay 0 to-read 4.04 2019 A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1)
author: Brigid Kemmerer
name: Kay
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> One Last Stop 54860443
But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train.

Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.

Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a magical, sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.]]> 418 Casey McQuiston 1250244498 Kay 4 3.90 2021 One Last Stop
author: Casey McQuiston
name: Kay
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/23
date added: 2022/07/23
shelves:
review:

]]> The Party Crasher 57996835 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love Your Life comes a humorous and heartwarming novel about family, set against the backdrop of the most fabulous party you've ever snuck into.

It's been over two years since Effie's beloved parents got divorced, destroying the image of the happy, loving childhood she thought she had. Since then, she's become estranged from her father and embarked on a feud with his hot (and much younger) girlfriend, Krista. And now, more earth-shattering news: Greenoaks, the rambling Victorian country house Effie called home her whole life, has been sold.

When Krista decides to throw a grand "house cooling" party, Effie is originally left off the guest list--and then receives a last-minute "anti-invitation" (maybe it's because she called Krista a gold-digger, but Krista totally deserved it, and it was mostly a joke anyway). Effie declines, but then remembers a beloved childhood treasure is still hidden in the house. Her only chance to retrieve it is to break into Greenoaks while everyone is busy celebrating. As Effie sneaks around the house, hiding under tables and peeping through trapdoors, she realizes the secrets Greenoaks holds aren't just in the dusty passageways and hidden attics she grew up exploring. Watching how her sister, brother, and dad behave when they think no one is looking, Effie overhears conversations, makes discoveries, and begins to see her family in a new light. Then she runs into Joe--the love of her life, who long ago broke her heart, and who's still as handsome and funny as ever--and even more truths emerge.

But will Effie act on these revelations? Will she stay hidden or step out into the party and take her place with her family? And truthfully, what did she really come back to Greenoaks for? Over the course of one blowout party, Effie realizes that she must be honest with herself and confront her past before she'll ever be able to face her future.]]> 349 Sophie Kinsella 0593449177 Kay 4 3.69 2021 The Party Crasher
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Kay
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/20
date added: 2022/07/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Caraval (Caraval #1) 35674677 Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality. It's more than just a game or a performance. It's the closest you'll ever find to magic in this world . . .

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett's father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

But this year, Scarlett's long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval's mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season's Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . beware of getting swept too far away.]]> 418 Stephanie Garber 1250095263 Kay 0 to-read 4.06 2016 Caraval (Caraval #1)
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Kay
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dial A for Aunties (Aunties, #1)]]> 53310061 What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family?

You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It's the biggest job yet for the family wedding business�"Don't leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!"—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie's perfect buttercream flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy's great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?]]> 299 Jesse Q. Sutanto 0593336739 Kay 4 3.68 2021 Dial A for Aunties (Aunties, #1)
author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
name: Kay
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/30
date added: 2022/07/14
shelves:
review:

]]> When You Get the Chance 54306966
There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?]]> 308 Emma Lord 1250783348 Kay 5 to-read 3.88 2022 When You Get the Chance
author: Emma Lord
name: Kay
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/14
date added: 2022/07/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All the Tides of Fate (All the Stars and Teeth, #2)]]> 52345987
No one can know about the curse in her bloodline. No one can know that she’s lost her magic. No one can know the truth about the boy who holds the missing half of her soul.

To save herself and Visidia, Amora embarks on a desperate quest for a mythical artifact that could fix everything―but it comes at a terrible cost. As she tries to balance her loyalty to her people, her crew, and the desires of her heart, Amora will soon discover that the power to rule might destroy her.]]> 368 Adalyn Grace 1250307813 Kay 3 3.76 2021 All the Tides of Fate (All the Stars and Teeth, #2)
author: Adalyn Grace
name: Kay
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/11
date added: 2022/07/14
shelves:
review:

]]> The Ivies 48896122 Enroll in this boarding school thriller about a group of prep school elites who would kill to get into the college of their dreams...literally.

Everyone knows the Ivies: the most coveted universities in the United States. Far more important are the Ivies. The Ivies at Claflin Academy, that is. Five girls with the same mission: to get into the Ivy League by any means necessary. I would know. I'm one of them. We disrupt class ranks, club leaderships, and academic competitions...among other things. We improve our own odds by decreasing the fortunes of others. Because hyper-elite competitive college admissions is serious business. And in some cases, it's deadly.

Alexa Donne delivers a nail-biting and timely thriller about teens who will stop at nothing to get into the college of their dreams. Too bad no one told them murder isn't an extracurricular.
]]> 312 Alexa Donne 0593303709 Kay 3 3.67 2021 The Ivies
author: Alexa Donne
name: Kay
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/29
date added: 2022/07/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Loveless 42115981 It was all sinking in. I’d never had a crush on anyone. No boys, no girls, not a single person I had ever met. What did that mean?

Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush � but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day.

As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her â€teenage dreamâ€� is in sight.

But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. With new terms thrown at her � asexual, aromantic � Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever.

Is she destined to remain loveless? Or has she been looking for the wrong thing all along?

This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance.]]> 433 Alice Oseman 000824412X Kay 4 4.19 2020 Loveless
author: Alice Oseman
name: Kay
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/23
date added: 2022/06/23
shelves:
review:

]]> A Show for Two 58543750
� Finally win the Golden Ivy student film competition,
� Get into her dream school across the country,
� Leave New York City behind once and for all,

Mina's ticket to winning the competition falls into her lap when indie film star—and known heartbreaker—Emmitt Ramos enrolls in her high school under a secret identity to research his next role. When Mina sets out to persuade Emmitt to join her cause, he offers her a deal instead: he'll be in her short film� if she acts as a tour guide to help him with a photography contest.

As Mina ventures across the five boroughs with Emmitt by her side, the city she grew up in starts to look different and more like home than it ever has before. With the competition deadline looming, Mina's dreams—which once seemed impenetrable—begin to crumble, and she’s forced to ask herself: Is winning worth losing everything?]]> 416 Tashie Bhuiyan 1335424563 Kay 5 &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 4.5 stars 3.89 2022 A Show for Two
author: Tashie Bhuiyan
name: Kay
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/06/20
date added: 2022/06/20
shelves:
review:
<3 <3 <3 4.5 stars
]]> <![CDATA[The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender]]> 18166936
Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.

In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naĂŻve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.

That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.]]> 301 Leslye Walton 0763665665 Kay 4 to-read 4.03 2014 The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
author: Leslye Walton
name: Kay
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/19
date added: 2022/06/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Pho Love Story 54238295 fifth favorite employee. Not ideal.

If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She loves art and dreams pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.

For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.

But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.

Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families� age-old feud about their competing, neighboring restaurants.]]> 402 Loan Le 153444193X Kay 2 3.64 2021 A Pho Love Story
author: Loan Le
name: Kay
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2022/06/18
date added: 2022/06/19
shelves:
review:

]]> Once Upon a K-Prom 55811853 What would you do if the world's biggest K-pop star asked you to prom? Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sandhya Menon, this hilarious and heartfelt novel brings the glamour and drama of the K-pop world straight to high school.

Elena Soo has always felt overshadowed. Whether by her more successful older sisters, her more popular twin brother, or her more outgoing best friend, everyone except Elena seems to know exactly who they are and what they want. But she is certain about one thing - she has no interest in going to prom. While the rest of the school is giddy over corsages and dresses, Elena would rather spend her time working to save the local community center, the one place that's always made her feel like she belonged.

So when international K-pop superstar Robbie Choi shows up at her house to ask her to prom, Elena is more confused than ever. Because the one person who always accepted Elena as she is? Her childhood best friend, Robbie Choi. And the one thing she maybe, possibly, secretly wants more than anything? For the two of them to keep the promise they made each other as kids: to go to prom together. But that was seven years ago, and with this new K-pop persona, pink hair, and stylish clothes, Robbie is nothing like the sweet, goofy boy she remembers. The boy she shared all her secrets with. The boy she used to love.

Besides, prom with a guy who comes with hordes of screaming fans, online haters, and relentless paparazzi is the last thing Elena wants - even if she can't stop thinking about Robbie's smile...right?

]]> 338 Kat Cho Kay 4 pls why can't this be my life 3.75 2022 Once Upon a K-Prom
author: Kat Cho
name: Kay
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/12
date added: 2022/06/18
shelves:
review:
pls why can't this be my life
]]> <![CDATA[You've Reached Sam (You've Reached Sam #1)]]> 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 Kay 3 3.64 2021 You've Reached Sam (You've Reached Sam #1)
author: Dustin Thao
name: Kay
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/10
date added: 2022/06/18
shelves:
review:
I liked it but I feel like it was overhyped...
]]> Solitaire 20618110 Alternate cover of ISBN 9780007559220

In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story.

My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year � before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people � I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.

Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden.

I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden.
I really don’t.

This incredible debut novel by outstanding young author Alice Oseman is perfect for fans of John Green, Rainbow Rowell and all unflinchingly honest writers.]]> 392 Alice Oseman Kay 3 3.97 2014 Solitaire
author: Alice Oseman
name: Kay
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2022/05/18
date added: 2022/06/18
shelves:
review:
Not gonna lie I'm here because I love heartsotopper lol
]]> <![CDATA[Loveboat Reunion (Loveboat, Taipei, #2)]]> 57924359 tumultuous past.

Hearts were broken, revenge was plotted—but at least they're friends now. They left the drama behind them back in Taipei—at their summer program, Loveboat—forever.

Now that fall is here, they're focusing on what really matters. Sophie is determined to be the best student Dartmouth’s ever had. Xavier just wants to stay under his overbearing father’s radar, collect his trust fund when he turns eighteen, and concentrate on what makes him happy.

But the world doesn’t seem to want either to succeed. Sophie’s college professor thinks her first major project is “too feminine.� Xavier’s father gives him an ultimatum: finish high school or be cut off from his inheritance.

Then Sophie and Xavier find themselves on a wild, nonstop Loveboat reunion, hatching a joint plan to take control of their futures. Can they succeed together . . . or are they destined to combust?]]> 432 Abigail Hing Wen 0062957309 Kay 3 to-read 3.76 2022 Loveboat Reunion (Loveboat, Taipei, #2)
author: Abigail Hing Wen
name: Kay
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/08
date added: 2022/06/18
shelves: to-read
review:
I really do want to support the whole save the family business storyline but that goes against my eat the rich beliefs lmao
]]> <![CDATA[Here's to Us (What If It's Us, #2)]]> 55424906
Arthur is in New York for a dream internship on Broadway, with a boyfriend back at home that he couldn't be happier with. But when he comes upon Ben cuddled up with a mystery boy, he starts to wonder if his feelings for Ben ever truly went away.

Even as the boys try to focus on their futures, they can't seem to help running into each other in the present. Is the universe forcing them to question if they’re actually meant to be?

Possibly not. After all, things didn’t work the first time around.
Possibly yes. After all, the sparks are still flying.
Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and raise a glass.

Here’s to celebrating old friends!
Here’s to embracing new beginnings!
Here’s to believing in second chances!]]> 448 Becky Albertalli 0063071657 Kay 3 4.01 2021 Here's to Us (What If It's Us, #2)
author: Becky Albertalli
name: Kay
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/28
date added: 2022/06/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What If It's Us (What If It's Us, #1)]]> 36341204
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.

But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?

Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.

Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.

But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?

What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?

What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?

But what if it is?]]> 437 Becky Albertalli 0062795252 Kay 4 3.81 2018 What If It's Us (What If It's Us, #1)
author: Becky Albertalli
name: Kay
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/24
date added: 2022/06/18
shelves:
review:

]]> The Tiger Flu 39070352
Kirilow is a doctor apprentice whose lover Peristrophe is a "starfish," a woman who can regenerate her own limbs and organs, which she uses to help her clone sisters whose organs are failing. When a denizen from Salt Water City suffering from a mysterious flu comes into their midst, Peristrophe becomes infected and dies, prompting Kirilow to travel to Salt Water City, where the flu is now a pandemic, to find a new starfish who will help save her sisters. There, Kirilow meets Kora, a girl-woman desperate to save her family from the epidemic. Kora has everything Kirilow is looking for, except the will to abandon her own family. But before Kirilow can convince her, both are kidnapped by a group of powerful men to serve as test subjects for a new technology that can cure the mind of the body.

Bold, beautiful, and wildly imaginative, The Tiger Flu is at once a female hero's saga, a cyberpunk thriller, and a convention-breaking cautionary tale--a striking metaphor for our complicated times.]]> 330 Larissa Lai 1551527316 Kay 3 3.51 2018 The Tiger Flu
author: Larissa Lai
name: Kay
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/16
date added: 2022/03/21
shelves:
review:

]]> Lagoon 18753656
Told from multiple points of view and crisscrossing narratives, combining everything from superhero comics to Nigerian mythology to tie together a story about a city consuming itself.

â€There was no time to flee. No time to turn. No time to shriek. And there was no pain. It was like being thrown into the stars.’]]> 306 Nnedi Okorafor 1444762753 Kay 3 3.61 2014 Lagoon
author: Nnedi Okorafor
name: Kay
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/08
date added: 2022/03/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Downstairs Girl 33224061 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781524740955.

From the founding member of We Need Diverse Books comes a powerful novel about identity, betrayal, and the meaning of family.

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie." When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.]]> 374 Stacey Lee Kay 4 3.92 2019 The Downstairs Girl
author: Stacey Lee
name: Kay
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/07
date added: 2022/03/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1)]]> 46756 Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.]]> 389 Margaret Atwood Kay 3 eeeeh creepy 4.01 2003 Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Kay
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2022/02/21
date added: 2022/02/21
shelves:
review:
eeeeh creepy
]]> Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1) 60929
The Oankali survive by genetically merging with primitive civilizations—whether their new hosts like it or not. For the first time since the nuclear holocaust, Earth will be inhabited. Grass will grow, animals will run, and people will learn to survive the planet’s untamed wilderness. But their children will not be human. Not exactly.]]> 248 Octavia E. Butler 0446603775 Kay 4 very creepy 4.15 1987 Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1)
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Kay
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/14
date added: 2022/02/21
shelves:
review:
very creepy
]]> The Left Hand of Darkness 18423 The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend most of their time without a gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.]]> 304 Ursula K. Le Guin Kay 3 4.11 1969 The Left Hand of Darkness
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Kay
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1969
rating: 3
read at: 2022/01/31
date added: 2022/01/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Frankenstein: The 1818 Text 35031085 This is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9780143131847.

Mary Shelley's seminal novel of the scientist whose creation becomes a monster.

This edition is the original 1818 text, which preserves the hard-hitting and politically charged aspects of Shelley's original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by author and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson.]]> 260 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 0143131842 Kay 4 4.02 1818 Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Kay
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1818
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/12
date added: 2022/01/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights, #2)]]> 44084762 Shanghai is under siege in this captivating and searingly romantic sequel to These Violent Delights, which New York Times bestselling author Natasha Ngan calls “deliciously dark.�

The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.

After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will step in to usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.

Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it’s his fault for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he’s determined to set things right—even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure.

Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.]]> 494 Chloe Gong 1529344565 Kay 5 Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As I closed the last page of this book, there were tears running down my face, and I never cry at books. I exaggerate and say I do, but truly I can’t remember the last book that made me cry real tears–certainly it wasn’t this year, maybe not last year either. Even These Violent Delights didn’t make me cry, didn’t reduce me to the emotional wreck I was after reading this absolute masterpiece.

It’s been a year since I read These Violent Delights, but from the first page of Our Violent Ends, it was so easy to fall back into the enchanting world that Chloe wrote. This book picks up a few months after the intense climax of the previous book, where we are thrown right back into the struggles the characters are going through, the blood feud that is bloodier than ever before. At first, due to Juliette’s lie at the end of the last book, there is a reversal of Roma and Juliette, where Roma is hard and vengeful, and Juliette is the one filled with guilt.

It was really intriguing to see the characters act so differently at first than they did in the previous book, and to turn the pages to see how they could find their way back to each other after such intense betrayal and deception. It also gave for some incredible character growth and development, and I loved seeing the characters try to grapple with all the lies and deception, and most of all, wondering if they could possibly love each other with all the responsibilities of their respective gangs and the blood feud.

Ever since the first book I’ve been a simp for Roma just as he is a simp for Juliette and that certainly didn’t change here! It broke my heart seeing Roma’s vengeful and twisted actions that he was pushed to, but also it made me love him so much more (what can I say I like my morally grey bois lol), and I loved seeing the hints of the soft boi peak out, still hoping, despite everything, for a better life. Juliette, of course, is still my queen. She was dealing with so much more in this book, particularly as the events of the blood feud and civil unrest escalated drastically, she was forced to really question herself and her place, and she truly has so much character development!

And of course I’m a sucker for Roma and Juliette’s explosive romance! Chloe is truly delivering with the friends to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies to �? There was so much tension and yearning from their painful mutual history, and their love story was truly at the core of this book, influencing everything, drawing these two back to each other no matter what else happened. There were scenes of them literally attacking each other with words, weapons, kisses, and truly I cannot tell you which of the three I loved more because every moment these two were on the page together I was just fizzling!

The side characters were all fantastic too! I especially loved Benedict and Marshall so much they truly stole every scene they were in! Kathleen too was an absolute favorite, and Rosalind got some incredible development as well! Although most of the book is told from Roma and Juliette’s perspectives, I also loved all the scenes from the side characters, and they truly didn’t feel like side characters, but the heroes of their own stories as well!

The setting of 1920s Shanghai is still done so well and I could truly close my eyes and picture myself in that bustling, glittering city. I felt like I was there smelling the scents, hearing the conversations, climbing on the rooftops and looking down along with the characters. The international multiculturalism is also so immersive and impressively written, with the characters switching with ease between Mandarin, Shanghainese, English, Russian, and French in ways that completely made sense based on with whom and where they were speaking, and woven into the text so perfectly as to add that layer of authenticity without confusing the reader.

This book really fits a plethora of genres, but at heart it felt like such a historical novel, a love letter to Shanghai of the time. The impact of the politics and history of 1920s Shanghai, and even broader China, became increasingly relevant, as the feud between the Scarlet Gang and White Flowers was woven into, then even took a back seat to, the greater real world conflicts in China with Nationalists and Communists leading up to civil war. I had pretty much no knowledge of this history before reading this book, and I was truly gripped. It was a bit confusing to me, but also very interesting and I got the gist of it from this book (and then a wikipedia rabbit hole after), and it really heightened the stakes, so Roma and Juliette weren’t just worried about losing their respect in their gangs, but losing their lives, their families, their city.

The emphasis on the politics definitely gave the book a darker and more serious feel than the first book (which was already dark and serious, mind), with much higher stakes. While the first book was a mystery with Roma and Juliette running around working together to solve the monster, this book felt a bit like a political war epic, with fewer moments of levity and more hard hitting events. Personally, I liked the first book just slightly more, but I would say objectively this book might be even better written than that one, and honestly, they’re both 5 star reads to me anyways.

And that brings me to the� “violent ends.� I had my hopes up because I loved all the characters so much, held on to hope even though the title is literally “our violent ends,� and I knew how Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet ends� The last hundred pages or so I couldn’t stop turning the pages more and more quickly, eyes glued to the page, heart racing, getting more and more stressed each time I caught a reference to a plot point from the disastrous end of Romeo and Juliet. The last quarter of this book was truly a masterpiece, full of easter eggs and similar events to the original play, yet different enough to really establish itself as an incredible story in its own right and keep readers on their toes, unsure where the twists would lead next.

Personally, I think the ending of Romeo and Juliet is stupid (so much miscommunication! if Juliet has just stopped monologuing five minutes earlier none of this would have happened!). The ending of Our Violent Ends, on the other hand, though it made me sob, was truly a masterpiece, a romantic, heart wrenching, dramatic conclusion that everything was building to for two books, that I won’t stop thinking about anytime soon.

Shakespeare could never. ]]> 4.29 2021 Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights, #2)
author: Chloe Gong
name: Kay
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/06
date added: 2022/01/01
shelves:
review:
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As I closed the last page of this book, there were tears running down my face, and I never cry at books. I exaggerate and say I do, but truly I can’t remember the last book that made me cry real tears–certainly it wasn’t this year, maybe not last year either. Even These Violent Delights didn’t make me cry, didn’t reduce me to the emotional wreck I was after reading this absolute masterpiece.

It’s been a year since I read These Violent Delights, but from the first page of Our Violent Ends, it was so easy to fall back into the enchanting world that Chloe wrote. This book picks up a few months after the intense climax of the previous book, where we are thrown right back into the struggles the characters are going through, the blood feud that is bloodier than ever before. At first, due to Juliette’s lie at the end of the last book, there is a reversal of Roma and Juliette, where Roma is hard and vengeful, and Juliette is the one filled with guilt.

It was really intriguing to see the characters act so differently at first than they did in the previous book, and to turn the pages to see how they could find their way back to each other after such intense betrayal and deception. It also gave for some incredible character growth and development, and I loved seeing the characters try to grapple with all the lies and deception, and most of all, wondering if they could possibly love each other with all the responsibilities of their respective gangs and the blood feud.

Ever since the first book I’ve been a simp for Roma just as he is a simp for Juliette and that certainly didn’t change here! It broke my heart seeing Roma’s vengeful and twisted actions that he was pushed to, but also it made me love him so much more (what can I say I like my morally grey bois lol), and I loved seeing the hints of the soft boi peak out, still hoping, despite everything, for a better life. Juliette, of course, is still my queen. She was dealing with so much more in this book, particularly as the events of the blood feud and civil unrest escalated drastically, she was forced to really question herself and her place, and she truly has so much character development!

And of course I’m a sucker for Roma and Juliette’s explosive romance! Chloe is truly delivering with the friends to lovers to enemies to lovers to enemies to �? There was so much tension and yearning from their painful mutual history, and their love story was truly at the core of this book, influencing everything, drawing these two back to each other no matter what else happened. There were scenes of them literally attacking each other with words, weapons, kisses, and truly I cannot tell you which of the three I loved more because every moment these two were on the page together I was just fizzling!

The side characters were all fantastic too! I especially loved Benedict and Marshall so much they truly stole every scene they were in! Kathleen too was an absolute favorite, and Rosalind got some incredible development as well! Although most of the book is told from Roma and Juliette’s perspectives, I also loved all the scenes from the side characters, and they truly didn’t feel like side characters, but the heroes of their own stories as well!

The setting of 1920s Shanghai is still done so well and I could truly close my eyes and picture myself in that bustling, glittering city. I felt like I was there smelling the scents, hearing the conversations, climbing on the rooftops and looking down along with the characters. The international multiculturalism is also so immersive and impressively written, with the characters switching with ease between Mandarin, Shanghainese, English, Russian, and French in ways that completely made sense based on with whom and where they were speaking, and woven into the text so perfectly as to add that layer of authenticity without confusing the reader.

This book really fits a plethora of genres, but at heart it felt like such a historical novel, a love letter to Shanghai of the time. The impact of the politics and history of 1920s Shanghai, and even broader China, became increasingly relevant, as the feud between the Scarlet Gang and White Flowers was woven into, then even took a back seat to, the greater real world conflicts in China with Nationalists and Communists leading up to civil war. I had pretty much no knowledge of this history before reading this book, and I was truly gripped. It was a bit confusing to me, but also very interesting and I got the gist of it from this book (and then a wikipedia rabbit hole after), and it really heightened the stakes, so Roma and Juliette weren’t just worried about losing their respect in their gangs, but losing their lives, their families, their city.

The emphasis on the politics definitely gave the book a darker and more serious feel than the first book (which was already dark and serious, mind), with much higher stakes. While the first book was a mystery with Roma and Juliette running around working together to solve the monster, this book felt a bit like a political war epic, with fewer moments of levity and more hard hitting events. Personally, I liked the first book just slightly more, but I would say objectively this book might be even better written than that one, and honestly, they’re both 5 star reads to me anyways.

And that brings me to the� “violent ends.� I had my hopes up because I loved all the characters so much, held on to hope even though the title is literally “our violent ends,� and I knew how Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet ends� The last hundred pages or so I couldn’t stop turning the pages more and more quickly, eyes glued to the page, heart racing, getting more and more stressed each time I caught a reference to a plot point from the disastrous end of Romeo and Juliet. The last quarter of this book was truly a masterpiece, full of easter eggs and similar events to the original play, yet different enough to really establish itself as an incredible story in its own right and keep readers on their toes, unsure where the twists would lead next.

Personally, I think the ending of Romeo and Juliet is stupid (so much miscommunication! if Juliet has just stopped monologuing five minutes earlier none of this would have happened!). The ending of Our Violent Ends, on the other hand, though it made me sob, was truly a masterpiece, a romantic, heart wrenching, dramatic conclusion that everything was building to for two books, that I won’t stop thinking about anytime soon.

Shakespeare could never.
]]> From Little Tokyo, with Love 55115173 Author Sarah Kuhn reinvents the modern fairy tale in this novel of a girl whose search for a storybook ending takes her to unexpected places in both her beloved LA neighborhood and her own guarded heart.

If Rika's life seems like the beginning of a familiar fairy tale--being an orphan with two bossy cousins and working away in her aunts' business--she would be the first to reject that foolish notion. After all, she loves her family (even if her cousins were named after Disney characters), and with her biracial background, amazing judo skills and red-hot temper, she doesn't quite fit the princess mold.

All that changes the instant she locks eyes with Grace Kimura, America's reigning rom-com sweetheart, during the Nikkei Week Festival. From there, Rika embarks on a madcap adventure of hope and happiness--searching for clues that Grace is her long-lost mother, exploring Little Tokyo's hidden treasures with cute actor Henry Chen, and maybe...finally finding a sense of belonging.

But fairy tales are fiction and the real world isn't so kind. Rika knows she's setting herself up for disappointment, because happy endings don't happen to girls like her. Should she walk away before she gets in even deeper, or let herself be swept away?]]> 432 Sarah Kuhn 0593327489 Kay 3 to-read 3.66 2021 From Little Tokyo, with Love
author: Sarah Kuhn
name: Kay
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/28
date added: 2021/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Let it Snow 13310960 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

The New York Times bestseller!

Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses.

]]> 365 John Green Kay 4 3.67 2008 Let it Snow
author: John Green
name: Kay
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/30
date added: 2021/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories]]> 20309175 336 Stephanie Perkins 1250059305 Kay 3 3.67 2014 My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
author: Stephanie Perkins
name: Kay
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/25
date added: 2021/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Meg and Jo (The March Sisters, #1)]]> 45899334 New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra comes a heartwarming modern novel inspired by the timeless classic Little Women.


The March sisters—reliable Meg, independent Jo, shy Beth and stylish Amy—have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought her career in journalism would come crashing down, leaving her struggling to stay afloat in a gig economy as a prep cook-slash-secret food blogger.


Meg appears to have the life she always planned—the handsome husband, the adorable toddlers, the house in a charming subdivision. But sometimes getting everything you ever wanted isn’t all it’s cracked up to be...


When their mother’s illness forces the sisters home to North Carolina for the holidays, they’ll rediscover what really matters.


One thing’s for sure—they’ll need the strength of family and the power of sisterhood to remake their lives and reimagine their dreams.

]]> 400 Virginia Kantra 0593100352 Kay 4 3.65 2019 Meg and Jo (The March Sisters, #1)
author: Virginia Kantra
name: Kay
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/28
date added: 2021/12/28
shelves:
review:
one of these days I should really actually read little women
]]> Gilded (Gilded, #1) 56614597
Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda's outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her... for a price.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.

Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times-bestselling author, returns to the fairytale world with this haunting retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.]]> 502 Marissa Meyer 1250618843 Kay 4 3.5 3.86 2021 Gilded (Gilded, #1)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Kay
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/22
date added: 2021/12/22
shelves:
review:
3.5
]]> <![CDATA[The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily (Dash & Lily, #2)]]> 26258306
With only twelve days left until Christmas—Lily’s favorite time of the year—Dash, Lily’s brother Langston, and their closest friends must take Manhattan by storm to help Lily recapture the unique holiday magic of a glittering, snow-covered New York City in December.]]> 215 Rachel Cohn 0399553800 Kay 3
]]> 3.43 2016 The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily (Dash & Lily, #2)
author: Rachel Cohn
name: Kay
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/17
date added: 2021/12/17
shelves:
review:
full disclosure I watched dash and lily on Netflix and read this sequel without even bothering to read book one I know that makes me a bad reader but you know what the Netflix show was really cute and I'm not ashamed


]]> Super Fake Love Song 51256637 From the bestselling author of Frankly in Love comes a contemporary YA rom-com where a case of mistaken identity kicks off a string of (fake) events that just may lead to (real) love.

When Sunny Dae—self-proclaimed total nerd—meets Cirrus Soh, he can’t believe how cool and confident she is. So when Cirrus mistakes Sunny’s older brother Gray’s bedroom—with its electric guitars and rock posters—for Sunny’s own, he sort of, kind of, accidentally winds up telling her he’s the front man of a rock band.

Before he knows it, Sunny is knee-deep in the lie: He ropes his best friends into his scheme, begging them to form a fake band with him, and starts wearing Gray’s rock-and-roll castoffs. But no way can he trick this amazing girl into thinking he’s cool, right? Just when Sunny is about to come clean, Cirrus asks to see them play sometime. Gulp.

Now there’s only one thing to do: Fake it till you make it.

Sunny goes all in on the lie, and pretty soon, the strangest things start happening. People are noticing him in the hallways, and he’s going to football games and parties for the first time. He’s feeling more confident in every aspect of his life, and especially with Cirrus, who’s started to become not just his dream girl but also the real deal. Sunny is falling in love. He’s having fun. He’s even becoming a rocker, for real.

But it’s only a matter of time before Sunny’s house of cards starts tumbling down. As his lies begin to catch up with him, Sunny Dae is forced to wonder whether it was all worth it—and if it’s possible to ever truly change.]]> 368 David Yoon 1984812238 Kay 2 3.54 2020 Super Fake Love Song
author: David Yoon
name: Kay
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2021/12/14
date added: 2021/12/14
shelves:
review:
this walked a fine line between cute and cringe
]]> Kate in Waiting 48579405 From bestselling YA rom-com queen Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Love, Simon), comes a new novel about daring to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight in love, life and, yes, theatre.

Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker are not codependent. Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.

But when Kate and Andy's latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script. Matt Olsson is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson.

Turns out, communal crushes aren't so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson's friendship.]]> 387 Becky Albertalli 0062643835 Kay 3 pretty cute 3.5 3.80 2021 Kate in Waiting
author: Becky Albertalli
name: Kay
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/13
date added: 2021/12/14
shelves:
review:
pretty cute 3.5
]]> <![CDATA[Tokyo Ever After (Tokyo Ever After, #1)]]> 54860605 literally a princess.

In a whirlwind, Izzy travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight.

Izzy soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself—back home, she was never “American� enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s “Japanese� enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairytale, happily ever after?

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250766601.]]> 336 Emiko Jean Kay 3 to-read 3.87 2021 Tokyo Ever After (Tokyo Ever After, #1)
author: Emiko Jean
name: Kay
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/11
date added: 2021/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:
2.5 I just wanna know if my girl took off her whole last two months of high school or something and then showed up at graduation like yoo people remember me?
]]> <![CDATA[The Darkest Part of the Forest]]> 20958632
Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries� seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does�

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?]]> 328 Holly Black 0316213071 Kay 5 favorites, faeries 3.87 2015 The Darkest Part of the Forest
author: Holly Black
name: Kay
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/15
date added: 2021/11/15
shelves: favorites, faeries
review:
I (re)read a book I'm proud of myself
]]> <![CDATA[All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth, #1)]]> 38325332
She will reign.

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer � the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.

When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.

But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder � and more peril � than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected� or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.

I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.]]> 380 Adalyn Grace 1250307791 Kay 4 3.66 2020 All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth, #1)
author: Adalyn Grace
name: Kay
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/10/02
date added: 2021/10/02
shelves:
review:
I am always down for mermaids pirates princesses and sea adventures!!!
]]> <![CDATA[Pride and Premeditation (Jane Austen Murder Mystery, #1)]]> 53914898
Except the man accused of the crime already has a lawyer on his side: Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prestigious Pemberley Associates law firm. Lizzie is determined to solve the murder before Darcy can so that she can show the world that a woman can be just as good as a man. (The fact that Darcy is an infuriating snob doesn’t help.) But there’s still a killer on the loose, and as the case gets more complicated, Lizzie and Darcy may have to start working together to avoid becoming the next victims themselves.



Running Time => 8hrs. and 30mins.

©2021 Tirzah Price (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers]]> 368 Tirzah Price 006288980X Kay 4 3.5 3.74 2021 Pride and Premeditation (Jane Austen Murder Mystery, #1)
author: Tirzah Price
name: Kay
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/15
date added: 2021/09/15
shelves:
review:
3.5
]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo]]> 32620332
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the �80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]> 389 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1501139231 Kay 5 4.39 2017 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Kay
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/11
date added: 2021/09/12
shelves:
review:
it's worth the hype everyone is right and I'm sorry it took me so long to read
]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue]]> 50623864
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 448 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387565 Kay 4 it was beautiful &lt;3 4.16 2020 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Kay
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/03
date added: 2021/09/06
shelves:
review:
it was beautiful <3
]]> The Late Bloomers' Club 36952311
Nora, the owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, is perfectly happy serving up apple cider donuts, coffee, and eggs-any-way-you-like-em to her regulars, and she takes great pleasure in knowing exactly what’s “the usual.� But her life is soon shaken when she discovers she and her free-spirited, younger sister Kit stand to inherit the home and land of the town’s beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson.

Kit, an aspiring–and broke–filmmaker thinks her problems are solved when she and Nora find out Peggy was in the process of selling the land to a big-box developer before her death. The people of Guthrie are divided–some want the opportunities the development will bring, while others are staunchly against any change–and they aren’t afraid to leave their opinions with their tips.

Time is running out, and the sisters need to make a decision soon. But Nora isn’t quite ready to let go of the land, complete with a charming farmhouse, an ancient apple orchard and the clues to a secret life that no one knew Peggy had. Troubled by the conflicting needs of the town, and confused by her growing feelings towards Elliot, the big-box developer’s rep, Nora throws herself into solving the one problem that everyone in town can agree on–finding Peggy’s missing dog, Freckles.

When a disaster strikes the diner, the community of Guthrie bands together to help her, and Nora discovers that doing the right thing doesn’t always mean giving up your dreams.]]> 325 Louise Miller 1101981237 Kay 3 3.73 2018 The Late Bloomers' Club
author: Louise Miller
name: Kay
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2021/09/02
date added: 2021/09/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked, #1)]]> 52735921 Two sisters.
One brutal murder.
A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself...
And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe - witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family's renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin...desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister's killer and to seek vengeance at any cost—even if it means using dark magic that's been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked—princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia's side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women's murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems...]]> 372 Kerri Maniscalco 0316428469 Kay 4 ~intense~ 3.87 2020 Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked, #1)
author: Kerri Maniscalco
name: Kay
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/29
date added: 2021/08/29
shelves:
review:
~intense~
]]> Circe 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 Kay 4 4.22 2018 Circe
author: Madeline Miller
name: Kay
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/22
date added: 2021/08/22
shelves:
review:
im a Percy Jackson kid at heart all grown up <3
]]> The Heir and the Spare 25517283
In this modern day fairytale, Evie is on a path to figure out who her mom really was, while discovering for herself what the future will hold. Charged with her late mother’s letters, Evie embarks on a quest into her past. The first item on the list is to attend Oxford, her mom’s alma mater. There, Evie stumbles upon a real life prince charming, Edmund Stuart the second Prince of England, who is all too happy to be the counterpart to her damsel in distress.

Evie can’t resist her growing attraction to Edmund as they spend more time together trying to unravel the clues her mother left behind. But, when doubts arise as to whether or not Edmund could ever be with an untitled American, what really ends up unraveling is Evie’s heart. When Evie uncovers all the facts about her mom’s former life, she realizes her mom’s past can open doors she never dreamed possible, doors that can help her be with Edmund. But, with everything now unveiled, Evie starts to crack under the pressure of new family responsibilities and the realization that her perfect prince may want her for all the wrong reasons.]]> 288 Emily Albright 1440590109 Kay 2
it was entertaining though ]]> 3.45 2015 The Heir and the Spare
author: Emily Albright
name: Kay
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2021/08/20
date added: 2021/08/20
shelves:
review:
published novel or wattpad fic that somehow found its way into my library? whose to say

it was entertaining though
]]> <![CDATA[Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom, #1)]]> 57789637
“Epic, romantic, and enthralling from start to finish.”—Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series

“An all-consuming work of literary fantasy that is breathtaking both for its beauty and its suspense."—BookPage, starred review

A captivating and romantic debut epic fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm.

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic, of loss and sacrifice—where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.]]> 503 Sue Lynn Tan 0063031302 Kay 0 to-read 4.08 2022 Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom, #1)
author: Sue Lynn Tan
name: Kay
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea, #1)]]> 56978089
When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life.

But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.]]> 374 Judy I. Lin 1250767083 Kay 0 to-read 3.81 2022 A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea, #1)
author: Judy I. Lin
name: Kay
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Our Way Back to Always 56950476
With her older sister having given up a scholarship to Princeton to have a baby and work at the local botanica, all of their mother's expectations are now riding on Lou's shoulders. She's retaking her SAT's, signed up for way too many AP classes, and her sights set on colleges with fancy names like Duke and Vanderbilt. But when she finds the bucket list she and Sam wrote together as kids, before Sam's father was diagnosed with cancer, she's shocked to see that she hasn't accomplished any of the goals she'd set for herself. Go to a party? Nope. Pull the greatest prank of all time? Still no. Learn how to be a really good kisser? Definitely not.

Torn between the future that her mother, sister, and younger self planned for her, Lou sets out to finish the list, and in a stroke of destiny or fate, Sam decides to tag along. Still trying to stay afloat amid the grief of losing his father, Sam himself is staring down a future that feels all too close, and is coming far too fast. But with the bucket list to guide them, Sam and Lou might just be able to find a way through the future, and also a way back to each other.]]> 368 Nina Moreno 0759557470 Kay 0 to-read 3.85 2021 Our Way Back to Always
author: Nina Moreno
name: Kay
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>