Ratings/Reviews

Bullet Point Book Review: Sun Tattoo by Luana Ferraz (Wild Flowers, book 2)

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating: ★★★★☆
  • I’m throwing a party because in this book they actually learned to communicate!
  • Except Dylan, Mr. Secret Keeper is still at it… Suspicious. And now that I KNOW he’s keeping big secrets I trust and like him even less.
  • This isn’t a complaint or anything, but I have never read a book where they take this many on-page showers.
  • I love seeing everything from Sam’s perspective!
  • Obsessed with all the coffee shop crew.
  • Simon, I will fight you.

Overall, I found myself enjoying Sun Tattoo even more than Party Trick, which surprised me because it’s very rare for me to like book two better than book one.

Bullet Point Book Review: Party Trick by Luana Ferraz (Wild Flowers, book 1)

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I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating: ★★★★☆
  • The spicy scenes did not disappoint!
  • I want a Hannah.
  • Actually I want a Sam, too, if I’m honest…
  • I don’t trust Dylan. It constantly feels like hes keeping secrets.
  • Everyone in this book needs to learn some communication skills! (Respectfully)
  • I found myself frequently annoyed with one character then another, and yet unable to put the book down, which is what moved this from a solid 3 star book to 4 stars.
  • I really appreciated how realistic all the characters felt.
  • The copy I recieved could have used some proofreading here and there, but I didn’t factor that into my rating as it didn’t detract from my reading experience.
  • Reminded me somewhat of ‘U Up?’ by Catie Disabato (in reading experience, not in the actual plot).

Review: Siri, Who Am I? by Sam Tschida

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My Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Alright, let’s just get it over with… I didn’t enjoy this book at all! If you liked it, maybe don’t read this review.

To start with, the entire premise wound up not making any sense because the first thing that happens is this hospital where she wakes up just like sends her home a couple days later like she didn’t just suffer a mysterious head trauma and lose her memories. No one offered to call the police for her to file a report, she wasn’t assigned a caseworker, they didn’t even ensure she had someone to pick her up or someplace to go. Just: “Oh you don’t know who you are? K, bye!” and off she wanders in her blood stained dress.

And add to that the fact that this girl is obviously stupid or crazy because despite having all her knowledge of the world intact (just not her personal memories), she assumes that every man she meets is her boyfriend and every object she lays eyes on must belong to her even when everything and everyone around her is directly contradicting that.

So, she wanders around for days – in that same dress – pretending she is rich and for some reason refusing to tell anyone in her life that she has had a traumatic injury resulting in memory loss. And all while being incredibly insufferable about…everything, actually.

Honestly, at no point in this whole story does anyone do anything that makes any sense or that an actual person might do! When she finds the location of her accident (a public business) and goes to the police about her assault (but only because she wants access to her empty bank account), they don’t even ask the business for the security footage from that night. No, instead they decide she should be arrested for kiting checks and the only way out is to help them catch a meth kingpin. Of course!

I could go on, because there’s way more, but I’m really just hoping I’ll get amnesia about this whole book and never have to think about it again!

Review: A Heart of Gold by Meara Heenan

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Despite the background of class tension in the community of Whitebirch Lake, sheltered Lucy manages to find love with Ilya, a laborer in her father’s gold mine. But it’s only a matter of time before their secret romance is brought to light, and with so much against their union, will Lucy and Ilya even make it to the altar?

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Genre: historical romance, forbidden romance
Pros: side characters
Cons: pacing

A Heart of Gold was a pretty quick read, but by no means boring. It was full of twists and turns, some of which I saw coming and some which took me completely by surprise.

That being said, I felt the pacing was a bit off in places. There were scenes that felt stretched out too long for their content, and others that seemed like they should have some gravity which wound up taking no time at all.

I also found it a bit odd that there was never any conflict between the romantic leads. This was the first romance I have read where the romantic leads literally never had a serious disagreement. They barely had any disagreements at all actually, with basically all of the conflict coming from outside sources.

The real stars of the show were a few side characters, namely Sadie, Tom, and Lydia. Each book in the Cousins of Whitebirch Lake series is supposed to feature one of the four cousins in the family, and I am super interested to see what happens to both Sadie and Lydia in future books. Whenever we would get a hint of their lives, I was riveted. And though we actually learn very little about Tom, I found myself liking his character so much!

It definitely felt to me like the author is still developing her voice, but overall, this book was a solid first novel. I would recommend it to fans of historical romance, and look forward to seeing what else Heenan puts out.

Mini-Review: Ghosted by Aisha Tritle

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My Rating: ★★★☆☆ – liked it

I received a free eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about a woman with secrets who gets in over her head with what should be just an interesting experiment. What will happen next is anyone’s guess.

If you like books that leave you thinking, “well, that was weird,” then this book is for you! It grabbed my attention right away and didn’t let go. But be warned, this book is also very short, and it will leave you wanting more!

But seriously, what would you do if you could talk to digital ghosts of people you once knew?

Review: The Sign for Home by Blair Fell

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My Rating: ★★★★★ – loved it

I received a free eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Arlo Dilly, a DeafBlind man raised by a strict Jehovah’s Witness family discovers his lost love may not be so lost after-all and embarks on an emotional and literal journey to find her with the help of his new interpreter (gay, atheist Cyril) and an elderly service dog.

The Sign for Home is both fascinating and beautiful, so I want to start out by recommending it to everyone, especially those who want more disability representation in their reading lives.

I admit to not being sure how Fell would pull this novel off, and cringingly anticipating something pretty ableist, but I have never been happier to be proven wrong. This book was obviously deeply researched and written with the utmost respect to the Deaf and DeafBlind communities. After reading, I did some research on Blair Fell and discovered he was an ASL interpreter, which just made me love this book even more.

My favorite part was the last paragraph or so, which made me cry, but I also really loved how the characters had clear flaws, despite being good people overall. Not all writers can harness the nuance needed to portray such distinct three-dimensional characters, but Fell pulled it off beautifully. And I especially loved that their individual character flaws had real consequences for them all.

About three-quarters of the way through this book I found myself simultaneously unable to put it down and also dreading what might happen next. I could see things going wrong in so many ways and just wanted to reach in and grab these characters, who now felt like good friends, and keep them safe.

There’s more I could say about this book, but I don’t want to give too much away and ruin the experience for y’all! The Sign for Home releases April 5, 2022, so add it to your TBRs because this is a must-read!

Review: Victory Lap by K.A. Mielke & Riley Alexis Wood

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I received a free ebook copy of ‘Victory Lap’ from one of the authors in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure where this review is going to go, so I want to start off on the right foot by saying: I loved this book and I’m so glad I read it!

Victory Lap is a YA Contemporary novel featuring dual-protagonists Kiki and Josh. Kiki is a trans girl in her last year of high school, which also happens to be her first year “out”, and Josh is a boy taking a fifth year of high school because he doesn’t know what to do with his life.

This has got to be one of the most inclusive YA novels I’ve ever read, and it was so lovely. If you long for LGBT+ rep in your YA fiction, grab this book ASAP.

The writing flows well and yet the characters’ voices are very distinctive, which I assume is a facet of having two authors, but is very nice to see in a dual-POV novel. In fact, I would say all the characters are very distinctive and feel very real. They also feel very much like people I wish I knew (except for one….they know who they are).

The best part is, this book is so hard to put down once you pick it up! It’s so hard to find a book one just devours eagerly, but this is definitely one.

There are some difficult subjects dealt with that I should mention: There’s some crappy sex with iffy consent and references to self-harm, and obviously the inescapable homophobia and transphobia that is a sad aspect of this reality, and your average teen exposure to drugs and alcohol use. But nothing outside the norm for a YA novel.

Normally I try to end these reviews with a recommendation for who I think should read this book, but honestly in this case I just want everyone to read it. I’ve already bought my own physical copy and I can’t wait to reread this book! Seriously, even if you don’t always read YA, just go read this book.

Thanks to K.A. Mielke for reaching out and putting this excellent book on my radar!

Learn more about Victory Lap at KAMielke.com! There’s even a couple free chapters on the site to see if you like the writing! Victory Lap is available for purchase in eBook, paperback, and hardcover.

Mini-Review: sometimes i fall asleep thinking about you by Catarine Hancock

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Rating: ★★★★☆ – really liked it

I received a free eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll start by saying, this hurt to read. That being said, I really needed to read it.

If you, like me, have been through the messy break-up, and the breakdown afterward, you should read this poetry collection. The poems are beautiful and often raw, and they tell a too familiar story — about being hurt by someone who promised you love.

Mini-Review: Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

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Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok

This review will be brief, seeing as I didn’t manage to actually finish the book. I only got to page 134 of 366 before I gave up. To be clear, this is not a bad book, I just didn’t really vibe with the characters. I saw a lot of potential for steamy drama and adorableness, but the actual characters were not people I wanted to read about personally, so I quit. The writing is solid and the premise is so promising. If you are reading this to decide if you will read the book, I would say go ahead and give it a try if you like fake-dating trope romance novels because there’s a good chance you will love it, it just wasn’t for me.

Review: Some Kind of Animal by Maria Romasco-Moore

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Jo has a secret. Her secret is a twin who lives in the woods. For 15 years no one knew about Lee, until the day she attacks a boy from town. Now the sisters are on the run. How far will they go to protect each other?

It’s hard to know where to start with this review, so I’m just going to jump around a bit, don’t expect a single cohesive thought here.

Some Kind of Animal is primarily a book about running. Running for pleasure and running to stay alive. Running towards a new life and running from the past.

The plot almost seems to be rambling a bit as the book goes on, but I actually found that to be a benefit to the book. Our main character’s life is officially out of control and the writing really makes you feel that. Jo has no idea what’s coming next for her and neither do we.

The story ends on a hopeful note, which can almost make you forget that so much is left unresolved. What will become of the character’s Romasco-Moore has just spent so much time making us care about? Well, I guess that’s up to the reader, because the book certainly isn’t telling!

This is a very strange read, but also a pretty enjoyable read.