Loren

I had way too much fun reading this! This is the first book I've ever read in the LitRPG genre, and now I need to venture out and find some more! 
Thank you Berkley Pub for the arc copy! 

I want people to read this just because of how absurd this whole book is, and I need people to experience the absurdity. 
This was such a superficial surface level story on what it means to be perceived as black, and what is blackness. With this “unforgettable twist” being that they are turning the black people in this utopia WHITE, so they may no longer deal with the “struggles” and “hardships” of being black. What a joke, and it didn't hold the shock value she thought it would give AT ALL.
This book was just a damn mess, and just didn't make any sense. Throughout the book we read that the Black experience in America is nothing but a traumatic experience. There are no instances of joy or peace. 
Jasmyn was completely INSUFFERABLE as a MC. Wanting to portray herself as the “holier than thou” “morally better” “activist” black woman, and just came off as insulting and judgmental. Jasmyn would judge people for not watching videos of violence against black people, she judged people on the levels of their blackness in comparison to hers. And then at the end when's she pleading for her life before they turn her white. She starts going off on how her blackness is not skin deep. It's in her memories, it's in her blood, and her culture.. 
As I'm writing this I still can't figure out the why... and I just can't get over the fact that this book just feels anti-black. AND I can't believe Nicola Yoon sat down and HAND WROTE this.

This is my new favorite in the Kings of Sin series. 

:/

Atlas (noun) 

capitalized : one who bears a heavy burden

Whenever I read a book by Renée Watson I'm always left just reflecting on my life as a black girl, and the little experiences that I've gone through turning out not to be a unique experience to just me, but just an experience unique to the black girl as a whole. 

This is an amazing collection of poems on the black girl experience. I highly recommend this to those who need that reassurance, that extra push in life, and need to feel seen in their experiences. 

Thank you Penguin Teen for the early copy!

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The Dividing Sky brought me back to the Dystopian era of the 2010s, and I want to go back and never leave!
We are thrust into this world where everyone works to live and lives for Life Corp. 
The world building chefs kiss, our characters, and all the challenges they face against the corporation played in my mind like a movie. 
I'm telling you... the comeback for YA dystopian books starts right here. 

Thank you @jtewwrites for the e-arc! 

Married At First Sight show x Friends to lovers trope???

Count me in! 

I definitely need more stories like this. 

Overall the story was very entertaining! Suvi and Blaze were definitely meant to be. Some parts for me were a bit cringy, but it straightened it self out after a bit! 

I would love a continuation of their story growing their family, and their relationship. 

Updated to 4 stars! 

Thank you to Penguin Teen for a finished copy to read and review! 

Although this was not the ending I was hoping for this was overall a solid ending to the Beasts of Prey Trilogy. After such a strong build up from Book 1 to Book 2 I was hoping that this final book was going to knock me off my feet. 

You might be asking yourself... “Why did you rate it 4 stars if it's not what you expected?” It's 4 stars because of the experience I had while reading, and at the end of the day the pros outweighed the cons.  

I loved all of these characters! I loved the imagery I can create while reading. I listened to audiobook in the car, and when I tell you I was cackling at things that Ekon did, and the dynamic the group had between each other! I had a time reading and listening to this book. 

I did want to list out my “cons” 
 
Cons: -The romance between Koffi and Ekon felt rushed/strained. Honestly didn't really expected to break threw to a romantic relationship at all. Yes, I know they had feelings for each other, BUT after everything that transpired it felt like Ekon was holding more of the romantic feelings to Koffi. -The epic final fight scene that was being built up for the last 2 books was meh. To compare it to something. The Fantastic 4 movie from 2015 the final fight scene with the bad guy... that's how this felt. Just lacking. -Mekena and Safia felt like as the story progressed they became inferior side characters. Because wdym they're in a secret relationship????
At the end of everything I did enjoy this entire series. Did everything transpire how I hope it did... no, BUT all together this was a fantastic trilogy that I will always recommend :)

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• THIS IS A REVIEW FOR THE INDIE PUBLISHED VERSION* 
  
  This is why I don't read arcs until a month or so before because there's no one to warn me of the incoming headache 🤣
  
  Here all the reasons you should wish it was September right now. 
  1. Enemies to Lovers 🌝
  2. FROCED PROXIMITY 🌝
  3. Enchanted Library 📚
  4. The flippin plot twist ending that gave me a headache in which I stared blankly and tried to figure out when I was Bamboozled 🧍🏾‍♀️
  
  Let me say I got this book early because Amazon had a glitchy glitch (the author is fully aware, and it's all fixed now!) and shipped it early. 
  
  Anyways... a lovely debut book! The only thing on my wishlist are the parts while she was in the library had ... more? Like not a movie montage but just fuller descriptions of her time in there? Because the concept of an enchanted fae library that only a human can enter is top tier fantasy, and I wanted more from it. I hope that makes sense!
  
  I can't wait for whatever is next, and HOPEFULLY the wait is not too long 🫠
  
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Why did it take me so long to read this!! Even though I didn't have the best time in March I'm happy that I completed this book. I've had it sitting on my bookshelf for almost 2 years now, and it was worth it the whole time!

Going into this I didn't know there was going to be three POVs with one set in the past, and surprisingly it didn't feel like a garbled mess? The world building and storytelling was so clear that I could envision everything like an ongoing movie in my head. Normally with traditions, myths, Gods, and monsters bundled up in a book I find myself getting very confused and mixing up things. 

Ekon and Koffi are my absolute faves. Their character development and depth did not falter while I was reading. Ekon had his moments but I digress 🌝. 

Don't even get me started on the plot twists and turns at the end. My mouth was hanging open, and I paused reading a bought the sequel for next day delivery because that cliffhanger???? Yea I need to know what happens next IMMEDIATELY.

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Thank you so much to randomhousekids and netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc. 
I got approved and finished the book in the same day! 
I truly have a soft spot for books written in verse. There's something very powerful and beautiful about books written in verse, and Bright Red Fruit is THEE perfect example of this. 
Samira was a great character. I sympathized and empathized with her character wholeheartedly. Being a young girl who is yearning for love, and once given an inkling of such latches on for better or worse. Shutting out those who are her backbone thinking she is mature enough to understand the complexity of being manipulated, and used by a man much older than her. I felt those moments where the desperation for the attention, to be seen, and to placed as special superseded her rationality. 
We also get to read Samira's poetry, my favorite one that I keep going back to is ‘What I've Learned' it's a heart wrenching piece that we see Samira truly reflect on her position on love as it pertains to her experience. Ugh it was amazing. 
My absolute favorite part of reading was the parallels of Samira's story being told with bits and pieces of the story of Persephone (bright red fruit! Get it? It's a pomegranate!!). 
YES! It was so beautifully done. The comparisons of how both are seen and how their actions are scrutinized , the relationships between both of their mothers, and the men they fell for.  
I'm going to also read Safia Elhillo's other books Home is Not A Country, and Girls That Never Die. I have high hopes for them since this was so good.

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Main character is annoying, and unjustifiably rude. No point in continuing since I don't even like the plot. 

Thank you Berkley Pub for the free book! 

I didn't like this book at all... which is super unfortunate because I had high hopes! I went to a PWI where the MLK bust was defaced with a MAGA hat, so the similarities between the book and reality was very familiar for me. I'm a sucker for books like that. 

I wanna start off with a sentence from the very last page of the book. clears throat “Wooddale isn't all bad,...” SAVANNAH WHAT. THIS GIRL WAS RACIALLY TARGETED, AND MICRO AGGRESSED FROM THE MOMENT SHE STEP ON CAMPUS. If that sentence would have shown up any earlier I would have immediately DNF'd it. Holy crap... 

Honestly that's all I gotta say about this book. I sped read through just to get it over with. I was all in for the concept, but execution overall fell short for me. I'm hoping in the future I can pick up another book by this author, and have a more positive experience. 

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Thank you BerkleyPub for the free copy! 

The beginning started off so strong with the thriller portion of the book! I immediately was super into the story, but I wish this leaned more into the thriller aspect of the book, than the supernatural/paranormal. Take out the supernatural portions of this story, and It would have been a great small town murder mystery/thriller!

Overall, even with the supernatural aspect this was a good read! 

I have been reading some good books lately 🕺🏾✨

If you have ANY friends to lovers recs GIVE THEM TO ME NOW. I did not expect to love this book so much. Kenya and Cam 🥹 love them so so much. 

I have so many good feelings that I can't really express in a review. Just know that I loved it, and the FLOW, the flow of this story was so good. Idk why they stood out to me but it was top tier.

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DNF @ 75%

I couldn't understand the overall story about the war. I didn't want to DNF yet but I was starting to force myself to finish. 

It's not the book it's me! 

This book is very dark. VERY DARK. Please read all the content warnings, shoot, read the reviews before delving into this one. 

I think up to the part I got to, the story is very complex and it required a deeper look into the characters, their relationships, and plot. There is nothing surface level about this piece of work. 

All in all, I just couldn't handle the subject matter and found it triggering while reading and it only got worse when I switched to audio. 

Jamaicans and dragons just make so much sense together.

The first thing that peaked my interest about this book was that we were entering at the end/ recovery stages of a war. Normally with fantasy we are either thrown into the thick of the war or the beginning, and I was immediately interested how things would play out.

From the start of the book I was immediately invested in Faron and Elara, then eventually Reeve and Signey.

Faron is literally Ikenna (from The Blood Trials and The Blood Gift) but Jamaican and a teenager, hard headed, and combative. My love for her as a character is so strong. She went into a kind of tunnel vision to solely save her sister, and I was here for it. Faron wants to go against the Gods and find a way to save her sister on her own? I'm seated.

Faron gave off the IDGAF attitude, but she really and truly cared about every damn thing. And it was executed so well in the writing.

Elara captivated me just the same. Being the older sister, she wants the best for her act now, think later sister. While also trying to be the best spy to the queen!

From the representation of a demisexual, and lesbian character, dual POVs between the sisters, to the concepts of Drakes and Dragons I loved every part of this story. I cannot stress enough how much I loved this story, and I ready for what comes next!

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I will come back to this for sure. Just not feeling the story right now. :) 

Are we truly surprised 🌝

At this point if Ms. Kuang cannot be defeated. 

This is her first book outside of fantasy, and it was just as good as her previous works. 

The main thing this book calls in question is of course who has the right or the duty to write the voice of the minority. And how far will people go to tell a story that's not there's to tell. Also how BACKWARDS the publishing industry is. 

Let's talk about Juniper/June. Girl. You deserved every piece of hell that came to you. I cannot believe how adamant she was throughout this book about how she was the victim, and it's even worse how her publisher came to her rescue time after time to stick beside her misdeeds. 

Also we can't forget about the dead... Ms. Athena Liu. Even in death, through the flashbacks we see how much of (not equally but certainly up there) shitty person she was, but also how she wasn't really publishing's darling daughter. How she actually stole stories/blurbs from friends, from June herself. 

The only thing I truly wanted from this book was for Candice to get her LICK BACK AND ooooo IT WAS SATISFYING to see June absolutely lose her shit. Lose whatever marbles she was barely left grasping when Candice got her. It was elaborate as hell, but I would do the same 🤣🤣. She got her blacklisted from major publishers, and thought she wouldn't come back for vengeance???

HA 

At the end of the book I honestly wanted June to write that tell-all book. And just tell her point of view of being friends with Athena... but 🕺🏾✨ it sucks to suck.

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This is the first TJ Klune book that I've read even though I've had two others sitting in my crate. 

I'm in love with the writing in this book. I'm hoping his style of writing is similar to his other books! 

I'm not 100% sure how to explain it, but to see the visual change in writing when tensions were high vs. Ox going through everyday life with pack was very pleasing. I'm sure there is a better way to explain it if you ever read it you'll see what I'm referring to! 

The emotions and soul ties between the pack members is definitely going to be one of my favorite parts as I continue through the series.

One thing I did not appreciate is how long this book is... oh my goodness. It's almost 600 pages when it could have been 350-400 MAX. This played no role in my rating but I must let it be known 🤣🤣

Ravensong is next in the series and I'm freaking excited because it's about Gordo 😩I'm just waiting for Heartsong to be trad published before continuing on, and I can't wait 🫡

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What a phenomenal audiobook! The way the narrator was able to create unique voices for each and every character, and switched back and forth between them during on going dialogue was a talent!! 
With love, Miss Americanah is a Ya Contemporary book about Enore who immigrated to America with her mom and sister after the death of her father. To “assimilate” she watches classic American movies and shows like High School musical and Gossip Girl. She of course comes to find out America is nothing like the shows and movies. 
We see her navigate the reality of high school, new friends, first love, and finding her passion for the Arts! 
I continuously found my self giggling and smiling to myself while listening. This was a perfect Ya book in my opinion! 

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the Advanced Listener copy! 

I just got to a point where I didn't care for the characters and then the story as a whole. 

Thanks to @/coloredpagesbt for the finished copy and selecting me for this tour! 🩵

Danielle Page is back with another retelling! This time with an origin story of the Fairy Godmother! 

I was kind of obsessed with Paige's Dorothy must die series in high school, so to be apart of the tour to promote her new book is amazing to me! 

The story was kind of slow in the beginning, but when it picked up it truly picked up. I think that is my biggest thing for me is how long it took for me to truly get in/on board with the story. Once I was locked in there was truly to getting me out of the story! 

Farrow was such a great FMC. I found it truly admirable that after everything she went through, yes she was filed by getting revenge, but was able to see that what she truly needed to do for the greater good. 

My favorite parts were the portions of the story that are from the original Cinderella that was such a fusion! I honestly thought I was going to see more the Disneyish version of Cinderella incorporated. 

Overall a very nostalgic read, and I can't wait for the rest next book!

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The author isn't explaining why characters are the way they are, or why things start off the way they do. The beginning of this was rough, but I decided to push forward because of natural curiosity. Now I've reached a point where I don't really care to piece any of this together or understand the “twist” 😭

Thank you LibroFM for the ALC.