Book review: Exes and O's by Amy Lea

 Book description:

    Tara has been broken up with 10 times. She has been called a crazy ex-girlfriend. Her grandmother gave her the idea of trying to get back together with one of her exes. While trying to connect with her exes she is slowly falling in love with her roommate, Trevor.

Book review:

    Honestly, I've read better romances and I've read worse. I do think she is kinda clingy and crazy.  Her keeping her exes stuff was weird. I could have gone without the spicy scenes. I don't know how to feel about the transcripts of her tiktok videos. I just don't think this book was doing anything for me but I'm not going to yuck someone else's yum.

Book review: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

 Book description:

    For Wren and Lewis, their first year of marriage is their last. Lewis gets diagnosed with a rare disease that will turn him into a great white shark. While his body develops, he struggles to do the things he wished he would've done earlier. Wren also struggles with her own feelings, and tries to find a way they can stay together.

Book review:

    I wasn't prepared to love this book. I wasn't prepared for all the feelings I felt. This book felt like a warm hug but not in the typical way that is hard to explain. I liked how short the chapters were. This is one of the best books I've read this year and in my life. I'll probably reread this book multiple times. Also, I kept thinking of the question, would you still love me if I were a worm, while reading this book.

Book review: True Biz by Sara Novic

 Book description:

    Charlie is deaf and has never met another deaf person and will finally go to a deaf school. Austin has just had a sister who was born hearing even though his family has been deaf for generations. February is headmistress of a deaf school and is trying to keep her marriage together. Their stories intertwine as they try to navigate the world.

Book review:

    I really like this book. This is my 2nd time reading it and enjoyed it as much as I did reading it the first time. I think this is one of the few books that does multiple pov's well. The ending is a bit rushed but it doesn't really change my opinion of the book. It does take a sec to figure out who is talking and when they are talking at parts because there isn't quotation marks. I would recommend this book to people.

Book review: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

 Book description:

    Mahit arrives at the center of the Teixcalaanli Empire to find her predecessor dead. No one will tell her how he died, accident or not. Mahit must find out who killed him and try not die herself, all while trying to serve as ambassador.

Book review:

    This book didn't really capture my interest until basically she had brain surgery and did a blood ritual. The book was well written all the way through. I probably would have liked it better if I wasn't listening to the audiobook. I might just have to stop listening to sci-fi for a while and just physically read it. It did end fast in my opinion but overall for me it was a mid read.

Book review: Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

 Book description:

    Days away from returning home to Earth, Claire and her crew pick up a strange distress signal. They decide to go and investigate. What they discover is the long lost luxury space-liner, The Aurora. Bringing it back would set them up for life but they soon discover something isn't right.

Book review:

    I might have liked it better maybe if I hadn't listened to the audiobook. The narrator seemed like she was doing like a distressed scream thing like every other sentence. I felt like the romance, if you can even call it that, between Claire and the medic guy was unnecessary and could have been cut and it would have been the same story. Everyone was questioning Claire's mental state, including me. The vibes of this book was that of a woman being diagnosed with hysteria but in a sci-fi setting.

Book review: The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

 Book description:

    Kyoshi has finally been accepted as avatar. With her mentors gone, she struggles to keep the peace. A threat from the spirit world emerges. She and her friends must join forces with each other and the four nations to take care of it.

Book description:

    I should have read the first one again because there were details that I couldn't remember from the first book (Rise of Kyoshi). I feel like this book would have benefited from more of a dual POV with Yun. The first book also set us up so well to see a Kyoshi from the Last Airbender show but Kyoshi lost so much character development that she got in the first book. So all in all I was disappointed in this book and probably won't be reading the rest of the avatar books from this author.

Book review: Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

 Book description:

    Siri is the youngest and isn't as important as her siblings. Until one day she is sent to marry the God King in her sisters place. When she gets there she finds out how close her people and the Hallandrens are to war. She has to figure out if there is any way for her to stop war from breaking out.

Book review:

    I don't know why it took me so long to pick this book up. This is one of the few books of his that I haven't read. I kept wanting to get back to Siri's point of view because that was my favorite point of view. I would have loved a few chapters with Susebron's point of view. I should have seen the reveal of who was behind the war plot earlier. Now I want to read all the cosmere books again and see if I can connect them a bit better.

Book review: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

 Book description:

    When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, Malala spoke out for her right for an education. On October 9, 2012 she was shot in the head on the way back home from school. Few expected her to survive. Malala survived and continues to fight for girls rights for education.

Book review:

    I appreciate this book because Malala explains more about the conditions living in the Middle Eastern area after 9/11 and I learned more than I did in school because most of what we were taught was Middle East attacked U.S., terrorism bad, and Taliban bad. I'm glad that I wasn't the only one that was thinking growing up why they were taking so long to find a few people.

Book review: London on My Mind by Clara Alves

 Book description:

    Dayana has always wanted to go to London. But now she isn't so sure. After her mother dies she has to leaver her home in Rio de Janeiro to live her estranged father. She struggles to forgive her father for walking out on her, and struggles to get along with her stepsister and stepmother. She can't even see One Direction live because they've been broken up forever. Then she meets the girl from her dreams running from Buckingham Palace.

Book review:

    I liked this book even more that I thought that I would. The whole time I was thinking that it could've first been wattpad fan fiction that had been polished up. The only One Direction fan fiction trope that wasn't in there was Dayana being sold to One Direction. This is a good book if you need a light fluffy queer romance or as a palate cleanser between more serious books.

Book review: Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

 Book review:

    In a AU America, magic is an everyday thing. It is based on where your ancestors are from. Elatsoe can raise the ghosts of dead animals, which is a skilled that has been passed down through her Lipen Apache family. Her cousin has just been murdered and she must find out who killed him and why before his killer has gotten away.

Book review:

    It was different that this book kinda lets the main character get the murderer right near the beginning and she just to figure out why he was murdered and exactly how he was murdered. It isn't very often where I want a whole series of these books and have Elatsoe's investigating side job take off.

Book review: Masquerade by O. O. Sangoyami

 Book description:

    Ododo's hometown of Timbuktu has been taken over and is now part of Yorubaland. Ododo and the other blacksmiths are already shined by society but gets worse under Yorubaland rule. Then she is abducted and is taken to the capital of Sangote. She finds out her kidnapper is the man who visited her blacksmith guild. She realizes that the man she had met is the king of Yorubaland and wants to make her his wife. She must find where she belongs before she loses everything.

Book review:

    This was marketed to me as a fantasy retelling of Persephone set in Africa. Come to find out it is historical fiction retelling of Persephone set in Africa. It was well written and I enjoyed it some after finding out it was actually historical fiction. One of the few things I didn't really enjoy is that she is described as this great strategist that is catching things the king and the generals aren't noticing or considering but can't tell when the people around her are trying to manipulate her or giving her lies or half truths.

Book review: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

 Book description:

    Emily just finished and published her encyclopedia of faeries. She is now working on her new project: a map of faerie realms. While she is preparing for research, Wendall's mother has sent someone to poison him. They head to the Austrian Alps to try to find a gateway to Wendall's home and try to find a cure for him.

Book review:

    I somehow didn't realize in the first book that this book had told us this is set in the early 1900's, so that threw me for a loop. I initially didn't like her niece or her boss for a while but once I knew their reasonings and their justifications for things I was willing to give them a bit of grace. I can't wait for the next book because I want Emily and Wendall to just get together already.

Book review: Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

 Book description:

    Emily Wilde is a curmudgeonly professor at Cambridge and she is working on an encyclopedia of faerie lore. She doesn't like people and would rather spend time with her dog. When she arrives at Hrafnsvik, she has no intention of befriending the locals. Her academic rival and friend, Wendall, decides to join her at the last moment. As she is uncovering secrets of the Hidden Ones, she discovers that Wendall isn't all he claims to be.

Book review:

    I was hesitant to pick this book up because of the hype and usually when something is hyped, especially in the fantasy romance side, it comes with smut which I don't like and I was surprised it didn't have any. What I liked about Emily is that she doesn't pick up social cues and not in a 'ha ha I'm so quirky way'. And Wendall even though he rivals Emily in a academic way genuinely want to be her friend and work with her and she has to learn how to accept his help and that he does want to help.

Book review: Circe by Madeline Miller

 Book description:

    Circe is born of Helios. She isn't powerful like her parents. She does have the ability of witchcraft. She is banished to a deserted island. Even though she is banished, she comes in contact with many Greek legends.

Book review:

    I understand that this book is usually described as a feminist book but I don't really consider it one. I found Circe passive and a bit whiney. She usually when something happens she feels guilty for small things, is kinda passive when bad things happens or throws a fit when bad things happen, and only throws a fit when things don't go the way she wants it to. I personally wanted her to shut up half the time and have someone else tell her story for her.

Book review: The Perfect Guest by Ruth Irons

 Book description:

    When Dinah and her university friends go on vacation at Riverdean, she becomes obsessed with the owners, and stays an extra night. She will do anything to meet them and becomes friends.

Book review:

    The whole time I was hoping for everyone's downfall. I did not like a single person we were introduced to. Like even Cam, who in my opinion was the best of them, was not a likable person.
There was so many times where I got 2nd had embarrassment from Dinah that it was just unbearable.