emery

This book is going to stay with me for quite a while I think. The first few days after reading it I really got a bit of anxiety looking at mirrors and I think that says something about the book! I really really enjoyed this! It was dark and twisty and felt a bit like a fever dream the entire time. There were so many moments when I thought I knew what was going to happen and then was completely wrong and shocked. I did not want to put this book down the entire time I was reading it. I cannot wait until this is out in the world so I can pick up a physical copy and recommend it to everyone around me!

Thank you to NetGalley for this copy!

This was an incredibly fun book! The art style was very captivating and bright which made it extra engaging to read. It was a very typical alien invasion story with the element of an underdog human teaming up with an alien. I had a really great time reading this and would definitely recommend!

Hearts That Cut is a thrilling sequel to Threads That Bind, which was one of my top reads of 2023! To say that this was my most anticipated read for this year would be an understatement and I'm very happy to say it lived up to my expectations!

This sequel truly was non-stop anxiety for me. Things were constantly happening and it was a really exciting read! The plot took so many turns that caught me off guard and by the last quarter of the book I was gasping and on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The characters only got better in this one! Io is such an interesting character, in my opinion. She feels so real and her reactions / actions never felt completely out of left field. I really liked her time spent with Bianca and watching their relationship develop! The new characters were also great! I would've loved to see more of them. My only complaint is not enough Nico but that's because he was my favourite in the last book.

Overall, this was a really satisfying and fun sequel! I had a great time reading it and I'm thrilled it was as good as the first book for me! Would 100% recommend both of these books.

I absolutely adored this book! It had the perfect balance of serious topics and cute, fluffy moments. I loved both Gabby and Neesha so much! Seeing disability representation in graphic novels in general, but especially sapphic ones, made me very happy! While I don’t have the same condition as Neesha, it made me feel seen as a disabled sapphic person myself! I thought the mental health aspect with Gabby was also great and handled well. Overall, this was a fantastic book and I would definitely recommend!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This graphic novel was about a young girl who finds out she was actually a spy who was being controlled. It was an alright read, but not my favourite. It felt very rushed and was confusing at times. I think a younger reader who is interested in spies and cool female main characters would enjoy this graphic novel more than I did. The art style was interesting though!

Blood & Fury is a fantastic follow up to Chaos & Flame and conclusion to this duology. This was one of my most highly anticipated releases for the year and I am very happy to say it did not disappoint whatsoever.

I came into this book already deeply attached to the characters and this sequel only intensified those attachments. With the cliffhanger of Chaos & Flame, I was eager to see where our characters ended up and how things were going to evolve from those events in book one. Talon was a character that I liked a lot in the first book but in this one he really become one of my favourites. I loved his relationship with Darling but also how dedicated to everything he put his mind to in this book. Darling took on a whole new level of power and purpose in this and I really enjoyed watching her evolve with that added responsibility. Caspian got on my last nerve but it made sense still. Vivian was a new favourite for me and I really loved seeing more of her.

There were multiple moments in this where I physically felt my heart pounding while reading and could not put it down. The action really sucks you in once things start to really pick up. Overall, I think this was an excellent conclusion and I'm sad to no longer be in this world. Highly recommend.

I received this graphic novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This graphic novel was really cool! It was gritty and dark. It hooked my interest from the first page. The storyline is interesting and engaging. The characters are all intriguing and I'd like to learn more about them and their backstories. The art gives the perfect vibe for the story. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this story goes and how it evolves.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was great little intro to gender kind of book. It had a lot of really great and interesting information but didn't go super in depth due to how short it is. I would love to see a longer version! Overall, I thought it would be a good book for people who don't know much on the topic or want to learn more. Would definitely recommend.

I received this book from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review!

Hearts Still Beating is a very interesting and entertaining take on a zombie apocalypse. I was hooked from the very first chapter. The premise of a zombie, or in this books case "tick", being medicated to no longer be a tick is so such an interesting take.

It reminded me a lot of "Warm Bodies" which I also absolutely love! There's the added bonus of this also being a sapphic story! I loved the tension between Mara and Rory. There were so many points where I found myself so strongly rooting for them to cross that invisible line in the sand they had. There was also Rory's family who, while I wished we saw a bit more of, I really enjoyed! The element of a sort of found family is always something I look for in books!

The action scenes were also very exciting to read! I felt myself holding my breath and being on the edge of my seat wanting to read as fast as I could to see what happened next! It was the perfect balance of being action packed but you still have slower, deeper moments to really get to know the characters and their stories.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book!

I received this book from NetGalley and Penguin Teen in exchange for an honest review.

This book is one of the most interesting stories I've read in a while.

Io was a complex and interesting character I really enjoyed reading about. She felt like a real person who had complicated emotions and relationships. All the other characters as well had enough depth and info in the books that I was invested in their stories and wanted to see more of them. I really liked the main pairing especially for “ships” but I'm also interested in some side pairings and am intrigued to see where things go from here.

I've never read anything like this before. The idea of gods, threads, politics, relationships, everything all together just made for an incredibly interesting and exciting plot that kept my attention the entire time. The way the setting was described worked really well for me and I could always vividly see in my mind where they were. The worldbuilding was also great as I felt like we got information spread out throughout the book and I never felt like I was just drowning in info dumping.

It did a good job of really setting the vibe. Like I said before, I could always vividly picture what was going on and there were multiple moments where there were quotes that really hit hard. I liked the POV. I liked being in Io's head and see things from her perspective and what her thought processes were. It might've been cool to get a second POV but I'm not bothered that I didn't. I thought it did a good job of keeping the pacing interesting? I didn't feel like we were going super fast the whole time but also didn't have many moment where I felt like things were slow. It had a good balance.

The conflict always held my attention and I constantly just wanted to know what was going to happen next. It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole thing. The main conflict at the end was also very exciting and I was holding my breath trying to read as fast as I could to see what was going to happen.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes stories about gods, mythologic “powers” and political intrigue. This was a super fun read.

i was not prepared for how quickly i would get insanely attached the all of these characters. i grew up with a very similar family friend dynamic. my parents and their high school / college best friends all had kids around the same time. this book hit me HARD. i haven't talked to those friends in probably years at this point and this book made me realize that so it made me sad. i think that's why i got so attached so fast. but regardless, this was an incredibly cute and enjoyable holiday romance filled with a lot of emotions.

I really didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. This was an assigned reading for school. It was beautiful. Found family is one of my favourite tropes in books and this had a lot of that. I loved every character and it kept me fully interested and invested in their story to the end. It also made me cry multiple times. Especially the ending. It was tragic and hopeful and beautiful all wrapped in one.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. A Curse of Roses takes a portuguese legend about a queen, and makes it into something people need to read. This book tore my heart out. As a queer portuguese person myself, I felt an incredibly strong connection to the main characters and found a lot of comfort there. I, myself, am not a religious person but I grew up with very religious portuguese grandparents so I always had those thoughts at the back of my mind. This book was so hard to read but also so necessary. It gives hope to young queer youth who feel alone and are dealing with similar issues that Yzabel was dealing with. Thinking about a powerful, smart, and kind queen being queer brings so much comfort to me and many other queer youth. I would highly recommend this book to any queer youth struggling with their identity, especially if it's religion based.

Trigger Warnings:
religion-based homophobia, religion-based eating disorders, mentions of abuse, self harm

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This graphic novel was fantastic. The art was stunning and perfectly portrayed the vibe of the story. It was a beautiful story full of emotions and finding yourself. As a queer young person myself, it was emotional to read about. It's so tough to figure out your identity as well as the whole world of the queer community and I think this book portrayed that really well. I loved all the characters so much as well. It was really heartwarming and encouraging to read about. I'd really recommend this to young queer youth, especially POC youth, who are just starting their journey.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Everything about this book was a hit for me. The art style? Stunning. The plot? So interesting. The characters? Intriguing. It truly hit every mark for me when it comes to graphic novels.

The moment I saw the cover for this it went straight to my most anticipated releases list for the year and I’m so glad it didn’t disappoint. I’m very excited to see where the story goes in the next volume as it did feel like this first one was mostly setting up the story.

I’m especially excited to learn more about Sunny and why the demons are hunting him. I’m very intrigued by every character we’ve met so far, honestly! I hope we get more back story on each of the characters and get to know them more in the future. They all are designed in the coolest way possible, I want to be all of them.

PS I have a crush on Samson.

Thank you so much to Bloomsbury Books, Book Influencers and Samantha Shannon for sending me a copy of this book!

I was deeply invested in every single one of the characters. Even the characters we only got a handful of interactions with intrigued me and made me want to learn more about them and hope they’d show up again. The main characters like Paige, Warden, Liss, Julian, Nick, etc all grabbed my heart almost immediately. I’m so invested in all their storylines and where things will go from here. I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface for everyone. The villain characters also did a good job of making me feel intimidated while also just straight up hating their guts every time they were on the page.

I was pleasantly surprised when there wasn’t much romance at all so far. I somewhat went into it thinking we’d get romance fairly quickly and when that didn’t happen it kind of felt like a breath of fresh air. I’m intrigued to see how things will develop in the next books but for now I’m glad it wasn’t really an element here.

The plot, I think, had a good balance of necessary world building and getting to know the characters and actual plot that we’re following. There were so many moments in this that had me catching myself reading ahead because I was so anxious to get to the end of the scene. It kept me fully invested and interested throughout the entire thing. It was fun to have that anxiety of wondering when or if Paige would take things to far or be caught when she was doing things she shouldn’t.

The setting felt very immersive to me. I loved the element of a hidden city right under the general population’s noses. Everything that was described really made me feel like I was there with Paige and walking through these environments. I was able to really picture them in my head which enhanced the reading experience for me.

I’m a sucker for multiple POVs so I kind of wish we got to see someone else’s POV at some point whether that was Warden, Liss, or even Nick. But I also think only seeing everything through Paige’s eyes really added to the mystery of everything that was going on and coming to realizations at the same time as her I think was a good element of the story. I didn’t mind the pacing, it felt like we had a lot of fast parts that were broken up by slower, more mundane parts which I enjoy. It had a good balance.

The conflicts throughout this book had me very anxious and stressed for Paige and, later on, for other characters as well. The last few chapters of the conflict all coming to a head had me on the edge of my seat and had me fully crying at multiple points. I am extremely eager to continue reading this series to see what happens from here.

Overall, I very strongly enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to read more!

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This graphic novel is very interesting. It peaked my interest from the first page. The story line is intriguing and doesn't ever get boring. The characters are also very interesting and mysterious. I found myself wanting to keep reading to learn more about them and their backstories. The art is also stunning. It perfectly matches the vibe of the story and really draws you in. I really enjoyed this. I'd really recommend this to anyone who enjoys sci-fi, mysterious characters, and beautiful artwork.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Just from the cover I knew I was going to love this graphic novel. It's about a trio of teen girls who form a band and society's expectations of girls. It brought back a lot of memories to my days of going to concerts and being rebellious so it had an added nostalgia factor for me. The message was very clear and powerful, in my opinion. It handled various topics that are very important to talk about with young women who are trying to find their place in the world. I loved the emphasis on finding what's right for you and what fits. I love how unapologetically themselves the characters were as well. Overall, this graphic novel was fantastic and I would highly recommend it.

I received this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was really interesting. If you like stories where the main character isn't the most likeable, I'd recommend it! Honestly, I gave this book a 4/5 stars solely because I adored the other characters. Especially Neon. Robert was a very frustrating character. I found myself constantly wanting to scream at him for treating his friends so badly and not listening to what they told him. Regardless, the story kept me interested and I fell in love with majority of the characters!