We left by the side exit, and our breath rose in waves and mingled with the swirling mist. It was a pale lemon morning, the air so cold it felt like you could crunch it. The grass was crispy with sparkling frost, and the blossoms trembled with drops of dew that caught the sunlight and quivered.
– Anbara Salam, Belladonna
Next year I’d have to go back to staring at her from behind during class, hoping that the force of my interest alone would be enough to charm her. Like being watched by a sentient potato.
– Anbara Salam, Belladonna
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
First Lines:
The first time, November 6 to be exact, I wake up at two a.m. with a tingling in my head like tiny fireflies dancing behind my eyes. I smell smoke.
Rating: ★★★★☆ – really liked it
I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Isabella is everything Bridget is not, and Bridget loves her more than anything. When the two friends travel to an Italian academy together, Bridget hopes this will be their chance.
The pacing of this book might be called slow by some, but I would call it leisurely. The story is rolled out for you at a steady, dreamy pace that will pull you deeply into the main character’s heart and mind.
Belladonna is a very character driven book about obsessive love. If you’re looking for something with a very active plot, this book is not for you. But if your favorite thing about a book is getting to know the characters, you will probably love this.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
This was an interesting historical fiction, with a main character, Rune, that I cared and rooted for pretty much immediately.
It was hard to read in places, knowing that these witch hunts really did occur and the horrors that Rune faces are from our actual history, but that’s part of what makes the story so good.
There are two POV characters, but the focus is clearly more on Rune than Laurentz. His POV really only exists to clue the reader in on some things that Rune had no way of learning in her own story arc.
My only complaint is the ending. It felt rushed and pretty confusing. It really felt like some chapters were missing or something. I think if she had drawn out the ending more, dropped a little more foreshadowing about some things revealed in the ending, and possibly left out that whole thing with the villagers coming back (I won’t expand on that because spoilers) then the ending would have felt more satisfying. As it is, I was left wanting despite enjoying the majority of the book.
There is a sequel, but Forest of Whispers can be read as a standalone. Overall the book was enjoyable and I recommend it to people who want a quick little witchy read.
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
First Lines:
Strangers never walk down this road, the sisters thought in unison as the man trudged toward them.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
(Six of Crows, book 1)
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ – did not like it
Review: No
Format: Print
Reading Dates: December 28 – May 2
Read Count: <1 (DNF)
Favorite Thing: None
Least Favorite Thing: Boring
I tried so hard to finish this book, but I only got 67% of the way through. Whatever I got more than half so I’m counting this towards my goal of 75 books for the year.
The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
(Rizzoli & Isles, book 2)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review: No
Format: eBook
Reading Dates: May 5 – 9
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Rizzoli got hers lol
Least Favorite Thing: “The Dominator”? Really?
Why did I read this book when I didn’t even like the first one? Why will I probably read the next one?
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Rating: ★★★★★ – it was amazing
Review: No
Format: Print
Reading Dates: May 12 – 20
Read Count: 4
Favorite Thing: Eleanor
Least Favorite Thing: Planchette lol
New theory – The house is not simply “evil” but lonely.
I can’t believe I read this book again. It was probably too soon to reread a book that I already read three times in 2019, but I couldn’t stop myself.
My Posts About The Haunting of Hill House
A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
(A Song of Ice and Fire, book 4)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: May 7 – 25
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: Alayne and Arya’s parts
Least Favorite Thing: He fucking ATE HER FACE that is NASTY god…
I feel nauseated just remembering that scene that was so unnecessary Mr. Martin.
My Posts About A Feast for Crows
On Fortune’s Wheel by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 2)
Rating: ★★★★★ – it was amazing
Review: No
Format: Print
Reading Dates: May 1 – 28
Read Count: 6-ish
Favorite Thing: The beautiful ending
Least Favorite Thing: I can’t have a least favorite thing, I love this series too much
I swear rereading these books never gets old, I just love Voigt’s writing voice so much!
My Posts About On Fortune’s Wheel
One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul
Rating: ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review: No
Format: Audiobook
Reading Dates: May 27 – 29
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: How she spoke so openly about her anxiety
Least Favorite Thing: She calls her boyfriend “Ham Hock” in the whole book and that’s all I could picture whenever she brought him up, a ham hock lol
I borrowed this audiobook from my library, but I’m thinking I may add the physical copy to my list to buy so I can reread and annotate at a later date.
My Posts About One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter
Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes by Cory O’Brien
Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review: No
Format: Print
Reading Dates: May 21 – 29
Read Count: 1
Favorite Thing: The retellings of myths I already knew
Least Favorite Thing: Occasionally felt like he was trying too hard…
Woo this means I have read two non-fiction books in one month and also that my Video Wrap-Up is accurate! Hurray!
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
First Lines:
i have always been broken.
this is something i’ve known forever, for at least as long as i can remember.
it doesn’t bother me anymore, this knowing, this fact that can’t be danced around.
I received a free eARC copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Real Rating: 4.5 stars! Check out my video review as well 🙂
Content Warnings: bullying (on page), anxiety (we see a few anxiety attacks on page), sexual assault (we witness a near miss), animal abuse (you don’t see the abuse, but you see the aftermath briefly)
I want this to be a spoiler-free review so I won’t talk more in-depth about those trigger warnings here, but if you feel like you need more details to know whether you should read this book, please feel free to reach out, I’d be more than happy to discuss it further.
The Anti-Virginity Pact comes out June 16th (2020). I don’t preorder books for my own reasons, but I will absolutely be buying this book the second it’s available.
The story centers on a girl named Meredith, a preacher’s daughter and a relative nobody at her high school. She’s dealing with some inner conflict because she doesn’t believe in god and doesn’t really want to, which makes dealing with her family more difficult. As a joke with a friend, Mare signs a pact to lose her virginity by the end of senior year. This would be just fine, except that the local mean girl finds out and spreads the details all around the school. Now Mare is infamous and becomes the focus of a lot of bullying and sexual harassment. Also threatened by the Pact, is her budding romance and her family dynamic. And as if all that weren’t enough to deal with, Mare is really worried about one of the dogs at the animal shelter she works for.
Don’t worry, this book isn’t all doom and gloom, though. Mare’s struggles only serve to highlight what a kind-hearted, passionate, brave person our main character is. There are a lot of funny and adorable parts to this book that offset the hard parts nicely. And we all know that can be a hard balance to strike. The difference between “logical conflict” and “everything that can go wrong, does go wrong” is a finer line than one would think.
I connected to this story really well, which is rare for me within the YA Contemporary genre. Usually I find it too difficult to get into the POV character’s mind and even harder to care about their life, but this book drew me in immediately. I identified with Mare’s inner life and cared quite strongly about her highs and lows. I believe this is because it was so well written.
One of my favorite parts about this book is how realistic the relationships are. From the budding romance to the sibling relationship, it all just seems so real. I felt like I had experienced something identical or very similar to every relationship Mare had and I deeply appreciate that in a book.
I also really loved the writing style. Katie Wismer has a really excellent, and potentially distinctive, writing voice. (Which happens to be one of my favorite things in a writer.) I look forward to seeing future books from her so I can compare.
My favorite part was the end, but don’t take that the wrong way. I don’t mean like “oh I’m so glad it ended” I just mean that the way she wrapped things up felt so good. Like not everything was perfect or tied up with a little bow, but it was a satisfying ending. The kind of ending where you put down the book and just breathe a deep sigh because you feel so good, you know?
Overall, my thoughts on this book are very positive. I do a favorite and least favorite for every book I read, and I couldn’t even think of a least favorite for this book, that’s how much I liked it.
I definitely recommend this if you like YA Fiction, but even if you aren’t a YA reader, I think you could enjoy this book, it was that good.
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
First Lines:
I’d been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.
Darkestwings Reads