11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym – Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

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Finished 08/20/18

There was an interview with Andrews were she said they sent her a copy of her book which had her full name but then went and printed the book under the name VC Andrews. She was told it was a mistake but too late to correct because it had already been printed, later she learned it was done on purpose because her publishers believed it would sell better if people assumed the book was written by a male. That fits perfectly for this prompt.

I’ve always wanted to read this book because it is considered a classic. After finishing the books I was looking at a few of the top reviews on goodreads and they were all scored so low. After reading them I see it was because they initially read this book in middle school because it was a taboo book or seen as trashy. I didn’t read it that way or see it like that. This is categorized as a horror book on goodreads and it definitely reads as one (Andrew’s wiki says her books are Victorian Gothic Horror). These kids were abused, neglected and shut up together for over 3 years with only each other to rely on for their social needs, comfort and platonic/familial love that turned into romantic love. Their life experiences were hindered for them and they became overly dependent with each other. A true psychological horror imo. And a very quick and easy read which was what I essentially wanted.

“When I read, if a book doesn’t hold my interest about what’s going to happen next, I put it down and don’t finish it. So I’m not going to let anybody put one of my books down and not finish it. My stuff is a very fast read.” -V.C. Andrews

title: Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1)

author: Rachel Caine

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Science Fiction -> Dystopia, Historical Fiction

my thoughts: under the cut for possible spoilers.

I love books and I especially love books about books! I really loved reading this and the only thing that knocked it from a 5 to a 4 was the few beginning chapters to get the book going were a tad slow and I really had to push through but it was totally worth it. Such a great read and I’m excited to continue with the series. This book really packs the punches too, you start getting attached to these characters and hoping for the best and then bam! Deaths. Oh man was there death. The book ends in a cliffhanger and from what I saw so do the others in the series, so be aware of that.

Finish date: 08/14/18

40b. A graphic novel – The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

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Finished 08/10/18

I love comics and I love graphic novels. When I saw this book on goodreads I got so excited I ordered it right away and could not wait for it to arrive. The book itself is so pretty! I bought the paperback and the cover is that soft idk velvety (?) covers, you know those smooth but not glossy covers. Anyway this was truly a joy to read. Whimsical and heartfelt throughout the story. I loved the illustrations and the story. I’m very glad I bought this book to add to my collection. I really hope this isn’t the end for Sebastian and Frances.

title: Uprooted

author: Naomi Novik

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Romance

my thoughts: under the cut for possible spoilers.

This book is highly rated on goodreads and I was expecting this magical read. It ended up being overhyped, for me anyway. I guess I’m the odd one out here but I just did not really love this. I barely even liked it really. I felt that everything was just too nicely thought out and plotted specifically for the main character to stand out. It didn’t feel organic, oh here comes this underdog but wait she’s special and no one noticed, a natural at magic no training required. Actually the training is too strict for her, no training needed! Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t necessarily bad but it left me wanting. Wanting for more backstory, more detail, just more. Basically a three for me is I liked it, the end, nothing more. I’m still going to give Spinning Silver a try but my expectations have been lowered.

Wait wait how could I forget! The weird romance that was so forced between the Dragon (who is not a dragon ??) and Agnieszka, yikes! Talk about Stockholm Syndrome. He was terrible to her, abusive really. The book was not graphic at all and then BAM awkward sex scene. Okay this might be more of a 2.5 bumped up to a generous 3. Sorry guys, this book just was not for me.

Finish date: 08/10/18

title: Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)

author: Leigh Bardugo

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Fantasy

my thoughts: under the cut for spoilers.

Amazing! Yet again Bardugo has blown me away with this universe. I’m in love with all the characters and the world Bardugo has built. I’m so happy for Jesper and Wylan, my OTP! Jesper and Kaz is love! My heart absolutely broke for Nina when Matthias died, I definitely shed some tears. I was rooting for a happy ending for them all and was so heartbroken that he died, why?! I’m so excited to start The Grisha Trilogy and to read Bardugo’s other books.

Finish date: 08/09/18

36. A book set in the decade you were born – The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

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Finished 07/12/18

About the prompt: I had a hard time with this prompt because not many books were available to me that fit into this category. After many google searches I found this wonderful book. I was born in the 90s and this book takes place during 1993-1995, perfectly fits the prompt.

About the book: After finishing this book and having just read Aristotle & Dante by Saenz, I’ve re-discovered my love of coming-of-age themed stories. I used to devour these kinds of books during my middle school and high school days. This book was everything that I would have wanted to read back then and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it now. It was a great coming of age story, heartbreaking with an uplifting and hopeful ending. You follow Maggie during her teenage/young adult years, trying to navigate the world as she knows it.

title: The Assassin Game

author: Kirsty McKay

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Mystery, Contemporary

my thoughts: under the cut for spoilers.

This isn’t usually something I read, the first time I read the summary I just wasn’t interested in reading about a bunch of rich kids hazing each other. It was chosen in my book club and I’m trying to expand my genres so I thought I’d give it a shot because why not. I’m honestly glad I did, it was so much better than I expected. Okay so they are a bunch of rich kids with high IQs who want to be a part of this secret society but I really had fun and I could not figure out who was trying to kill their fellow students. All the red herrings! Seriously I was like is it this person or this person, well turned out I wasn’t even close. The only thing that was weird was that **SPOILERS** the summary gave the impression that students were dying and being harmed but no one actually ended up dying. **SPOILERS**

Anyway other than that it was a well written whodunnit.

Finish date: 07/11/18

title: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Lgbtqa+, Contemporary, Romance, Coming-of-Age

my thoughts: under the cut for spoilers.

A coming of age story about two Mexican boys trying to find their place in this confusing and complicated world. Ari and Dante are definitely teenage characters with their thoughts and speech, not in a negative or annoying way but in a realistic way. At first I wasn’t sure if they were going to end up together but I hoped because they just fit. The only reason this was a 4 and not a 5 for me was that Ari didn’t come to the realization that he was in love with Dante on his own but because his parents brought it to his attention. Other than that it was a great coming of age story and I haven’t read many books in this category with boys as the main characters. If you love coming-of-age stories I definitely recommend this book and the author is working on a sequel.

Finish date: 07/08/18

34. A book that’s published in 2018 – Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu

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Finished 07/02/18

I planned to wait until late in the year to choose this book to have more options for books published this year. I couldn’t wait and chose this book in June. Oh boy was it hard to choose a book and the year isn’t even close to being over! There have been many books published this year that I want to read and I’m sure the list will grow. I narrowed it down by what I really wanted to read and what was available at my library via overdrive**.

I chose Batman: Nightwalker because I love Batman and I love reading all the different variations people come up with for his backstory and what not. This was a very easy read, a little under 300 pages. It wasn’t bad but I wasn’t blown away either. It’s possible I still had book hangover after reading Vicious. I think this book was more young adult contemporary with whisperings of superhero fantasy and not necessarily a superhero Batman story. This followed Bruce around as he dipped his toes into vigilante-ism (lol idk if that even fits?). Anyway not necessarily a bad story but I’m glad I borrowed it from the library and didn’t buy it (I almost did).

**Side note, if you like/prefer/don’t mind e-books I 100% recommend OverDrive. If your library is in the system you only need to enter your library card to access your library’s available e-books.

A10. A book recommended by someone else taking the PopSugar Reading Challenge – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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Finished 06/27/18

This book was maybe more of a 3.5 because of the narrator and I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. You can’t do half stars on Goodreads though so I bumped it up to 4stars. The overall feeling I had after finishing the book gave it that extra .5. I cried, I truly felt for Liesel and the pain she went through. This was a quick read for me but the subject matter is very heavy. There were times I had to step away and read a littler book in between to keep my spirits up.