chloek608's reviews
245 reviews

lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-NA romance
-College ice hockey trope
-fling to relationship

This is the third book in the Briar U series and this story focuses on Allie and Dean.

Allie has just ended things with her long term controlling boyfriend Sean and Dean is there to take her mind off her break up. Things were supposed to be casual as Dean is not the relationship type but they both feel this rare connection.

Dean has rich parents and a place in NY and was supposed to go to law school after College. But when he has to help teach the young ice hockey team he falls in love with coaching and wants to pursue that.

<spolier>Allie ends up landing an acting role in NY and Dean lands a coaching role in NY too. I am looking forward to reading their novella.

Content Warnings

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-The Summer I turned Pretty books 1 + 2
-YA romance
-Light-hearted and easy to read

This book is very easy to read, I enjoyed the drama and decision between two boys.

In this final instalment we have jumped forward in time and now Belly is in College. She happens to now attend the College her boyfriend attends (Jeremiah Fisher).

Things were going great with Jeremiah, until Belly learns that he cheated on her when they were on a break. So Jeremiah tries to fix things by asking Belly to marry him. She accepts but friends and family are wary, they are too young.

Throughout the book Belly spends some time at the Cousin’s house where Conrad is as well. This brings up old memories and feelings.

Ultimately, Conrad declares feelings for Belly and this puts a huge question mark over the wedding. Jere actually decided that he couldn’t be second best and they didn’t go through with the wedding.

We fast forward a few years to Belly’s wedding and her groom is Conrad, it was always meant to be him.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-NA fantasy
-multiple POV
-plot based, impossible mission

I found this book slow at the start but I understand the need to set up characters, world building and then explain fantasy elements and what the characters do now and their past.

Kaz and his team have been tasked with a near impossible mission by the council. Break into the ice court and steal the man responsible for the recipe of Parem Jurda who's currently held captive in Ferdja.

Kaz and his mismatched team include Inej who he has a thing for, Nina the heartrender and Matthias the Ferdjan, along with Jesper and Wylan.

They somehow pull off a plan that gets them arrested and inside the ice court, then they escape and climb out the incinerator shoot.

They managed to complete the heist and then at the end, Kaz discovers it was not the council requesting this at all, he was duped. Inej gets stolen as leverage so Kaz and crew will hand over the scientist.

Kaz enlists Pekka Rollins, his arch enemy for help as Kaz saved his life and helped him escape the ice court. Pekka isn't aware but when Kaz first came to the Barrel he duped Kaz and his brother of their life savings.

Looking forward to seeing how it unfolds in book 2.

Home by Trinity Lemm

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-NA romance
-Multiple points of view
-hard hitting topics e.g. homelessness, cheating, death of parents, forgiveness

I am a big fan of Trinity’s previous work as she hits the mark every time. Trinity does not shy away from difficult topics but still makes sure the reader is engaged and not too bogged down which is admirable. I would liken Trinity’s work to that of Colleen Hoover. I really bond with Trinity’s characters; she has great character development skills and her writing voices are so easy to read. I particularly enjoy the multiple point of view where we get to hear the story from Kamryn and Decker’s side.

Trinity has a way of writing that gets you lost in the story. I am able to fly through her books because of the amazing characters and story line. I liked how we sometimes got to read a scene from the past to help us better understand what the character has been through.

Kamryn has lost her parents in an accident, she has lost her fiancé due to him cheating on her and she has lost everything in her life. She is homeless and just about surviving. Decker lives in the apartment building where Kamryn camps out. He was intrigued by this young twenty-year-old girl and could see her beauty underneath all the dirty clothes.

Decker shows compassion in providing Kamryn with food, a place to sleep and so on. They have an instant connection.

Trinity carefully plants some seeds along the way that something has gone on in the past and these two people might not necessarily get along if they realised who each other were. There is a lie hanging between the couple.

It turns out Decker was the cause of a car accident which killed Kam’s parents. When Decker uncovered this link, it cut him up as he knew the relationship would be over as soon as Kam knew the truth.

Kamryn has a lot of deep thoughts about forgiveness, love and navigating grief.

Decker’s accident near the end, getting ran over, is the incident which enlightens Kam to her true feelings. Their relationship, connection is rare and worth pursuing. Decker is worthy of her forgiveness.

Thank you Trinity for writing this enjoyable, compelling romance. I cannot wait to read what you write next.

Content Warnings

The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-YA mystery
-dealing with grief
-LGBT characters

Sydney is going through an immensely tough time due to her dad dying in a car accident. She feels disconnected from everyone including her best friend Olivia. Sydney is convinced her dad’s death was no accident and when she starts receiving hate messages this fuels her theory even more.

Sydney starts obsessing over death and this mysterious girl who attended her dad’s funeral; June from high school. It turns out June was a therapist patient of her dad’s.

Sydney attended grief counselling and met Leo her unlikely friend. Leo helped her unravel the mystery.

At the start, I was really unsure of Sydney’s inner voice. The narrative was hard to relate to for me but I got used to it.

This book was best on the last 100 pages when the mystery starts to reveal. The person behind the messages was Heath, June’s boyfriend, who sensed a more than friends bond between the girls. June was already in an abusive relationship and wanted out, which was why she was having counselling sessions. But Heath abducted June and Sydney and took them on a near death car ride. But Heath gets away unscathed due to having powerful parents. June and Sydney get their own back at graduation and play a video which reveals Heath’s true colours.

Content Warnings

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-YA romance
-teen angst
-dealing with bereavement

This book was entertaining and explored complexity of teen relationships, crushes, friendships and bereavement of a close family friend. This second book in the trilogy focused more on Isabel, Conrad and Jeremiah. It is left on a cliffhanger of which boy Bels should go for and I am looking forward to reading the final instalment and watching this story unfold on TV.

Belly’s dreams had come true when she kind of, sort of, dated Conrad. But Conrad being Conrad, things faded and Belly wasn’t ever sure of his true emotions and whether he really cared.

Conrad runs off from summer school at college to prevent his dad from selling his late mum’s beloved beach house. Jeremiah and Belly come to rescue Conrad and end up rescuing the house with a little help from Belly’s mum.

The boy’s dad strikes a deal, the beach house can stay if Conrad aces summer school. So Jere and Belly help him study as much as they can.

Jere has aways liked Belly but she has been oblivious, so when he kisses her, she is taken by surprise but isn’t put off. That is until Conrad sees them. Belly is torn. Conrad later admits that he does care about her and now Belly is stuck between the two Fisher boys.

Content Warnings

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I would recommend this book if you like:
-YA mystery
-twists
-family relationships and some romance

I found this a great story, somehow it took me a while to get through. I did not guess that Jonah was an imposter and not a cousin. I enjoyed the trio’s friendships. Milly was strong and determined, Aubrey sporty and quiet.

There were many twists in this story and Jonah was only the first. Uncle Archer was hiding in plain sight. It turns out his siblings had killed Matt back in their teenage years to get revenge on him for impregnating their sister and not giving her the time of day.

The issue with the grandmother not wanting her children or grandchildren in her life was strange but I never guessed that it was actually because she was an imposter and the real grandmother had died naturally years prior. Mildred, when discovered due to a birthmark, got her assistant to burn the house down and she died either in the fire or on the fall from the first floor.

The cousins and Jonah kept in touch.

Content Warnings

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-the first 2 books of Shadow and Bone
-YA fantasy
-action packed battle scenes

This book is by far the best one of the trilogy. I found this easier to read, probably due to already learning all the new vocabulary that comes with the Grishaverse. I found this book to have the most exciting, thrilling plot and twists and turns. I am pleased to finally know the ending and what becomes of Alina and the Darkling. I cannot wait now to watch it unfold on the Netflix series. I hope they stay true to the books.

Alina escapes the underground White Chapel and searches for the Firebird with Mal and crew. They do eventually find the bird but then Alina realises that it is not the third amplifier after all, it is actually Mal. Nikolai is turned into a bird for some of this book by the Darkling. Baghra confides in Alina that she is the daughter of Morozova and she sacrifices herself to distract the Darkling. Mal is actually a descendant of Morozova and allows/forces Alina to kill him in battle whilst in the Shadow Fold to unleash her strongest power. This actually triggers all Grisha to become Sun Summoners and Alina is left powerless. Mal is given a second chance as a normal human and he and Alina change names, marry and start an orphanage of their own. They still keep in touch with the new king and Grisha.

The Holiday by T.M. Logan

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-adult mystery
-following many different characters
-unforeseen twists and plot links

Four old uni friends reunite with their families in a French villa. Husbands may be straying, children may be up to no good but how is it all connected?
This book is all about a mother’s natural instinct to protect her own.

I thought that there were a lot of characters to keep track of and remember who was married to who but got there eventually. Karen suspected her husband of cheating with one of her uni friends who they were away on holiday with. She was determined to gather the evidence and deal with what was to follow.

I think this book could have been shorter / faster faced as really everything happens near the end. Although throughout the book it leaves breadcrumbs and builds a bigger picture of what is to come.

The shock of Izzy the friend falling down a gorge during a deliberate forest fire and dying and then finding out that there was no affair after all was shocking. I could not have predicted how the kids plotting and planning to do a hit and run on a child would lead to the adults texting and meeting in secret.

I would read more of T.M. Logan’s work and I am looking forward to watching the tv series now.

Content Warnings

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-YA younger contemporary
-love triangles
-chapters switching between past and present

I was so excited to get my hands on this book, especially after finding out it was a TV series, I just had to read it first. The book did not disappoint. It was a quick read for me. I loved the short chapters and the easy writing style. I enjoyed how some chapters were in the past to give the reader a better understanding of current situations.

Bells looks forward to every summer and the trip down to the Fisher’s beach house. She gets to hang out with her family friends. Susannah, Jeremiah and Conrad.

This summer is different, a boy notices her at a bonfire and she begins to date sweet Cam. But the author makes it hard to choose which boy to root for. Should Bells like Cam, Jeremy or Conrad?

I was very surprised at the Conrad twist at the end. He was so distant in themajority of the book, I was totally rooting for Jeremy. I mean Conrad didn’t get her anything for her birthday and Jeremy saved up all his summer pay to buy her a charm for her bracelet!!

I loved the friendship between both of the mums. How they both had different qualities but were best friends.

There are some heavy topics, the boys mum is dealing with cancer.

I am looking forward to continuing this series and then watching the show.

Content Warnings

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chloek608's reviews 245 reviews

chloek608's reviews
245 reviews