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236 reviews
Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass
4.0
“It was so kind of you to visit me in my loneliness.”
*Thank you to Netgalley and North Star Editions at Flux for giving me this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Wow, this was a wild ride! This story follows Connor Major as he’s taken from his home under his mom’s direction and shipped off to conversion “therapy” on a tropical island where a mystery unfolds. This book was funny at times, but extremely dark at other times. I found myself making the surprised pikachu face often in the second half of this book.
I find it hard to review this without spoiling much, but I was guessing the conclusion of the mystery the entire book and I was STILL wrong! This book does a really good job at portraying people not as good or evil, but as a mix of both. I was truly conflicted sometimes in how I was feeling about certain characters, because we are made to feel sympathy for them without having that excuse their awful actions.
I’m leaving out a star because the pacing felt a little off in this book. The whole story takes place in a short amount of time, but it felt like way longer because of the length of the story. I would have loved to see the storyline stretched out over more days so that the character development made a little more sense. All in all, I highly recommend this book! Just be prepared for some really dark themes such as internalized homophobia, homophobia, suicide, transphobia, and violence.
*Thank you to Netgalley and North Star Editions at Flux for giving me this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Wow, this was a wild ride! This story follows Connor Major as he’s taken from his home under his mom’s direction and shipped off to conversion “therapy” on a tropical island where a mystery unfolds. This book was funny at times, but extremely dark at other times. I found myself making the surprised pikachu face often in the second half of this book.
I find it hard to review this without spoiling much, but I was guessing the conclusion of the mystery the entire book and I was STILL wrong! This book does a really good job at portraying people not as good or evil, but as a mix of both. I was truly conflicted sometimes in how I was feeling about certain characters, because we are made to feel sympathy for them without having that excuse their awful actions.
I’m leaving out a star because the pacing felt a little off in this book. The whole story takes place in a short amount of time, but it felt like way longer because of the length of the story. I would have loved to see the storyline stretched out over more days so that the character development made a little more sense. All in all, I highly recommend this book! Just be prepared for some really dark themes such as internalized homophobia, homophobia, suicide, transphobia, and violence.
Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
2.0
*Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for giving me this eARC in exchange for an honest review*
Big Summer follows a plus sized social media influencer named Daphne as she attends the wedding of an ex-friend who bullied her in the past. I liked some of the messages of this book about body positivity and social media culture, but other than that I really didn’t enjoy this book. I feel like I’m the minority, as this book as so many positive reviews but this just wasn’t for me. I found myself struggling to get into the story and didn’t even really want to pick the book back up multiple times while reading.
First of all, I wasn’t a fan of any characters in this book. Even the main character Daphne criticizes society for being judgemental, yet is extremely judgemental herself. She also makes silly decisions the entire book and it was so frustrating to read about, especially when it comes to doing things that could get her in trouble. Also, I found every character of colour in this book to be pretty stereotypical. For example, the only Asian character in the book has parents who disowned her for not becoming a doctor.
On top of this, I didn’t like the writing style of this book. There were so many flashbacks in the first half that I was losing track of what the present story was. There was even flashbacks inside flashbacks at some points. The genre also changes half way through the book from contemporary/romance to a murder mystery which I did not enjoy. A lot of the plot points in the mystery portion of the book just weren’t realistic or believable, especially that ending. Throwing in a twist ending doesn’t work if it’s a complete stretch and unbelievable. There’s also a alternate timeline in the first chapter that ends up barely meaning anything to the story and I just didn’t understand the point of it. Overall, I was quite disappointed by this book and do not recommend it.
Big Summer follows a plus sized social media influencer named Daphne as she attends the wedding of an ex-friend who bullied her in the past. I liked some of the messages of this book about body positivity and social media culture, but other than that I really didn’t enjoy this book. I feel like I’m the minority, as this book as so many positive reviews but this just wasn’t for me. I found myself struggling to get into the story and didn’t even really want to pick the book back up multiple times while reading.
First of all, I wasn’t a fan of any characters in this book. Even the main character Daphne criticizes society for being judgemental, yet is extremely judgemental herself. She also makes silly decisions the entire book and it was so frustrating to read about, especially when it comes to doing things that could get her in trouble. Also, I found every character of colour in this book to be pretty stereotypical. For example, the only Asian character in the book has parents who disowned her for not becoming a doctor.
On top of this, I didn’t like the writing style of this book. There were so many flashbacks in the first half that I was losing track of what the present story was. There was even flashbacks inside flashbacks at some points. The genre also changes half way through the book from contemporary/romance to a murder mystery which I did not enjoy. A lot of the plot points in the mystery portion of the book just weren’t realistic or believable, especially that ending. Throwing in a twist ending doesn’t work if it’s a complete stretch and unbelievable. There’s also a alternate timeline in the first chapter that ends up barely meaning anything to the story and I just didn’t understand the point of it. Overall, I was quite disappointed by this book and do not recommend it.
Mystify Me by Free Fire Fiction
4.0
*Thank you to FreeFireFiction for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4
“Head for the lighthouse, Jackson. It will be painful; your joints will hurt, and you will feel too tired to continue swimming. But as... bloody cheesy as that metaphor may be—it is always there. You don’t have to drown.”
This was an intriguing read! With songs listed to go with each scene, this truly is a cinematic experience!The story follows characters Jack and Ben after their lives collide and they become roommates in New York City. This frenemies to lovers story kept me turning the pages with it’s compelling character relationships and storyline. I thought this would just be a fluffy romance book, but it was so much more than that.
The number one thing I loved about this book was the depth behind the characters, especially Jackson and Cal. Their stories were so well thought out and I just wanted to find out more and more about their past as the pieces came together. Every character has their own struggles and it was handled in a pretty realistic way. I was just rooting for everyone to heal and find happiness throughout this book. Some scenes were a bit too spicy for my personal taste, but I get why some people look for that in an adult romance story.
As much as I loved the story, I did have some issues with the writing. The book starts with each chapter being separate perspectives, but then suddenly each paragraph is a different perspective. I found the story difficult to navigate at some times because of this, especially when most characters in this book are male so there’s a lot of “he” being thrown around. This even happened with minor characters that were only in the book for a small amount of scenes. There was also some questionable terminology that made me uncomfortable, for example calling addicts junkies and multiple uses of the word r*tarded throughout the book. I also found the pacing to be a bit off, and I felt like the story could have been condensed a bit. It just felt like a longer read that was necessary for the plot. Also, I thought the epilogue was unnecessary to me and I didn’t understand why it introduced 4 new characters instead of giving us an update on Jack and Ben.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone looking for a well thought out queer romance book. Just be aware of some darker themes such as sexual/physical abuse and drug use/addiction.
Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4
“Head for the lighthouse, Jackson. It will be painful; your joints will hurt, and you will feel too tired to continue swimming. But as... bloody cheesy as that metaphor may be—it is always there. You don’t have to drown.”
This was an intriguing read! With songs listed to go with each scene, this truly is a cinematic experience!The story follows characters Jack and Ben after their lives collide and they become roommates in New York City. This frenemies to lovers story kept me turning the pages with it’s compelling character relationships and storyline. I thought this would just be a fluffy romance book, but it was so much more than that.
The number one thing I loved about this book was the depth behind the characters, especially Jackson and Cal. Their stories were so well thought out and I just wanted to find out more and more about their past as the pieces came together. Every character has their own struggles and it was handled in a pretty realistic way. I was just rooting for everyone to heal and find happiness throughout this book. Some scenes were a bit too spicy for my personal taste, but I get why some people look for that in an adult romance story.
As much as I loved the story, I did have some issues with the writing. The book starts with each chapter being separate perspectives, but then suddenly each paragraph is a different perspective. I found the story difficult to navigate at some times because of this, especially when most characters in this book are male so there’s a lot of “he” being thrown around. This even happened with minor characters that were only in the book for a small amount of scenes. There was also some questionable terminology that made me uncomfortable, for example calling addicts junkies and multiple uses of the word r*tarded throughout the book. I also found the pacing to be a bit off, and I felt like the story could have been condensed a bit. It just felt like a longer read that was necessary for the plot. Also, I thought the epilogue was unnecessary to me and I didn’t understand why it introduced 4 new characters instead of giving us an update on Jack and Ben.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone looking for a well thought out queer romance book. Just be aware of some darker themes such as sexual/physical abuse and drug use/addiction.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
4.0
Well I sure read this one quickly! It was definitely hard to put down. After watching and loving the movie, I knew I had to read this one. I’m just such a sucker for the fake dating trope, what can I say? There are some things I like about the movie more and also some things I like about the book more. For example, I like how there’s a little less drama in the movie but I also think the end of the movie is more satisfying, as the end of the book was kind of abrupt in my opinion.
Okay, let’s talk about some characters. Almost everyone in this book has flaws and makes some silly choices. That being said, that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book as it actually made the characters feel more real. I loved the family dynamic of the girls and their father so much! I also ship Lara Jean and Peter so hard and loved reading any scene where they were together.
As much as I loved this book, there were a few things that kept me from giving it full stars. For one, I felt like there were almost too many conflicts in this book. I just wanted Lara Jean and Peter to be happy for more than 2 seconds at a time; it got exhausting after a while when there’s so much “Will they? Won’t they?” shenanigans. I also thought the ending was super abrupt. Maybe that’s because I watched the movie first, but I just wanted a little more closure than what I got. I got to the last sentence and was like “Wait? That’s it?”.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy. Even though I had a couple of things I would change about the book, I still think this is a great YA romance story and would recommend this to anyone who’s looking for a cute contemporary read.
Okay, let’s talk about some characters. Almost everyone in this book has flaws and makes some silly choices. That being said, that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book as it actually made the characters feel more real. I loved the family dynamic of the girls and their father so much! I also ship Lara Jean and Peter so hard and loved reading any scene where they were together.
As much as I loved this book, there were a few things that kept me from giving it full stars. For one, I felt like there were almost too many conflicts in this book. I just wanted Lara Jean and Peter to be happy for more than 2 seconds at a time; it got exhausting after a while when there’s so much “Will they? Won’t they?” shenanigans. I also thought the ending was super abrupt. Maybe that’s because I watched the movie first, but I just wanted a little more closure than what I got. I got to the last sentence and was like “Wait? That’s it?”.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy. Even though I had a couple of things I would change about the book, I still think this is a great YA romance story and would recommend this to anyone who’s looking for a cute contemporary read.
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
5.0
I read all but 30 pages of this book in a day, I just couldn’t put it down. This is such an amazing retelling of The Little Mermaid! The author took a classic fairy tale and made it into the best enemies to lovers story that I’ve read to date.
First of all, the world this is set in pulled me in. I loved reading about the different kingdoms and the history of the sirens. This is as much an adventure tale as it is a slow burn romance. On top of this, the characters were so interesting, especially the main two. The banter between them was top notch and I just wanted them to kiss every time they poked fun at each other. Prince Elian > Prince Eric 100%, he has become one of my new favourite book boys. Lira was also so well done; she’s so badass and I loved seeing her character development as she sees that humans and their world are nothing like she thought they were.
I completely recommend this book to everyone, even if you don’t typically enjoy the enemies to lovers trope or fairy tale retellings! It was truly an amazing read involving forbidden love, friendship, and adventure.
First of all, the world this is set in pulled me in. I loved reading about the different kingdoms and the history of the sirens. This is as much an adventure tale as it is a slow burn romance. On top of this, the characters were so interesting, especially the main two. The banter between them was top notch and I just wanted them to kiss every time they poked fun at each other. Prince Elian > Prince Eric 100%, he has become one of my new favourite book boys. Lira was also so well done; she’s so badass and I loved seeing her character development as she sees that humans and their world are nothing like she thought they were.
I completely recommend this book to everyone, even if you don’t typically enjoy the enemies to lovers trope or fairy tale retellings! It was truly an amazing read involving forbidden love, friendship, and adventure.