Take a photo of a barcode or cover
michaelinereadsalot's reviews
278 reviews
shine your icy crown by Amanda Lovelace
3.0
Continuing with the You Are Your Own Fairytale collection, Shine Your Icy Crown is a collection of poems that could double as advice or affirmations for women struggling with unlearning the standards and rules society has deemed necessary for women to live by. Throughout the collection you hear the voice inside women's heads of who they should be, how they should behave, what they should want, and how they are never good enough paired with the voice of our sisters reminding us we needn't listen to that nasty inner voice at all.
I enjoyed the poetry, but it does seem like more of the same in comparison to Amanda's other fairytale related collections, and this one in particular didn't feel like it had a strong enough theme to make it unique.
I enjoyed the poetry, but it does seem like more of the same in comparison to Amanda's other fairytale related collections, and this one in particular didn't feel like it had a strong enough theme to make it unique.
Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart
This book was so addictive. It is basically The Hunger Games, The Selection, and Red Queen all shoved together to create one book. In most ways, that was a wonderful and fun combination, while in other ways, it felt a lot like copy pasting.
Two sisters, demure, feminine Serina and rebellious, rash Nomi, are the main characters of this book, their stories told from both perspectives. Serina has been trained her whole life to be a Grace, a concubine for the Superior (essentially the King), and Nomi has been trained to be her sister's handmaiden. When they are taken to the palace for Serina to compete to be chosen as the Heir's Grace, Nomi's behavior draws the Heir's attention and he chooses her as his Grace instead, much to Serina's dismay. However, Nomi has a secret: in a world where it is illegal for women to do so, Nomi can read. When she and Serina are found with a book in their bedroom, Serina takes the fall and is sent to an island for women prisoners where the guards find entertainment in forcing the women to fight to the death to earn their food. Both sisters are fighting against every aspect of their training and personality to survive in their new and dangerous environments. Along the way, they both are juggling their survival with romance, friendships, and their desire to save each other from their respective prisons.
Does this sound like I spoiled the book? I know it was a lot, but this is all back of the book information. It is a wild ride start to finish. I loved the romance aspects of the book. The love interests kept me on my toes. Serina's story on the island was particularly compelling and, in my opinion, is where the true originality of the plot shines through. On the other hand, Nomi's point of view is basically a cut and paste of The Selection and Red Queen, particularly the ending of the book. ❗️SPOILERS AHEAD❗️ The end of this book is almost exactly the same end as Red Queen. Two brothers as love interests, the one you think is good is actually evil, the one you think is harsh is actually kind. The evil one does some evil stuff (almost the exact same evil stuff actually). It's pretty ridiculous. ❗️END OF SPOILERS❗️
Sooo that lack of originality kind of ruined the end for me, but since I had so much fun with the rest of the book, I'm still looking forward to the sequel.
Two sisters, demure, feminine Serina and rebellious, rash Nomi, are the main characters of this book, their stories told from both perspectives. Serina has been trained her whole life to be a Grace, a concubine for the Superior (essentially the King), and Nomi has been trained to be her sister's handmaiden. When they are taken to the palace for Serina to compete to be chosen as the Heir's Grace, Nomi's behavior draws the Heir's attention and he chooses her as his Grace instead, much to Serina's dismay. However, Nomi has a secret: in a world where it is illegal for women to do so, Nomi can read. When she and Serina are found with a book in their bedroom, Serina takes the fall and is sent to an island for women prisoners where the guards find entertainment in forcing the women to fight to the death to earn their food. Both sisters are fighting against every aspect of their training and personality to survive in their new and dangerous environments. Along the way, they both are juggling their survival with romance, friendships, and their desire to save each other from their respective prisons.
Does this sound like I spoiled the book? I know it was a lot, but this is all back of the book information. It is a wild ride start to finish. I loved the romance aspects of the book. The love interests kept me on my toes. Serina's story on the island was particularly compelling and, in my opinion, is where the true originality of the plot shines through. On the other hand, Nomi's point of view is basically a cut and paste of The Selection and Red Queen, particularly the ending of the book. ❗️SPOILERS AHEAD❗️
Sooo that lack of originality kind of ruined the end for me, but since I had so much fun with the rest of the book, I'm still looking forward to the sequel.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
5.0
This book absolutely broke my brain. I have not yet recovered despite taking a few days to collect my thoughts before writing this review. I'm going to do my best to write this without any spoilers, because the book was too good to ruin for anyone.
Our main character, Cadence, is part of the "Beautiful Sinclair Family". The Sinclairs are a very wealthy and respected family who are spread out across the East Coast, and they spend each summer together on Beechwood Island (the private island they own near Martha's Vineyard). Cadence spends her time on the island with The Liars - her two cousins Johnny and Miren and their friend Gat (a relative of Johnny's mom's boyfriend). On their fifteenth summer on the island, Cadence is involved in a mysterious accident, which caused her to forget many of the details of that summer as well as the details of the accident itself. After being forced to spend one summer away from the island by her parents, Cadence is back for Summer Seventeen, and she is determined to figure out what happened Summer Fifteen and why The Liars have been so distant since then. Full of family drama, hidden secrets, forbidden romance, and summer adventures, We Were Liars will keep you on your toes and wanting more.
I absolutely loved this book. At first, I had a hard time adjusting to the writing style, which in itself is mysterious and enigmatic, as the author uses many metaphors and gives minimal details when describing situations. Once I got used to the style, I flew through the book. Now that I know how it ends, the cryptic writing makes complete and total sense. I very rarely spend a lot of time thinking about my books when I'm not reading, but my brain could not stop trying to puzzle out what was going on with these characters. I was so sure one of my many theories about the ending was going to be correct, but MY GOD, I could never have guessed what was going to happen. One part of the twist had me absolutely nauseous, and the other had my jaw on the floor for at least 45 minutes. I was reading the end of the book outside, and I was super uncomfortable and my butt was going numb, but I couldn't stop to relocate, because I needed to know how everything was going to end. I was not disappointed. I will say that you might want to check Storygraph for triggers if that's a concern for you, but be warned that the trigger list is definitely going to spoil the book for you.
Overall, I would strongly recommend this book if you like mysteries with big twists and aren't easily triggered by sad or dark stuff.
Our main character, Cadence, is part of the "Beautiful Sinclair Family". The Sinclairs are a very wealthy and respected family who are spread out across the East Coast, and they spend each summer together on Beechwood Island (the private island they own near Martha's Vineyard). Cadence spends her time on the island with The Liars - her two cousins Johnny and Miren and their friend Gat (a relative of Johnny's mom's boyfriend). On their fifteenth summer on the island, Cadence is involved in a mysterious accident, which caused her to forget many of the details of that summer as well as the details of the accident itself. After being forced to spend one summer away from the island by her parents, Cadence is back for Summer Seventeen, and she is determined to figure out what happened Summer Fifteen and why The Liars have been so distant since then. Full of family drama, hidden secrets, forbidden romance, and summer adventures, We Were Liars will keep you on your toes and wanting more.
I absolutely loved this book. At first, I had a hard time adjusting to the writing style, which in itself is mysterious and enigmatic, as the author uses many metaphors and gives minimal details when describing situations. Once I got used to the style, I flew through the book. Now that I know how it ends, the cryptic writing makes complete and total sense. I very rarely spend a lot of time thinking about my books when I'm not reading, but my brain could not stop trying to puzzle out what was going on with these characters. I was so sure one of my many theories about the ending was going to be correct, but MY GOD, I could never have guessed what was going to happen. One part of the twist had me absolutely nauseous, and the other had my jaw on the floor for at least 45 minutes. I was reading the end of the book outside, and I was super uncomfortable and my butt was going numb, but I couldn't stop to relocate, because I needed to know how everything was going to end. I was not disappointed. I will say that you might want to check Storygraph for triggers if that's a concern for you, but be warned that the trigger list is definitely going to spoil the book for you.
Overall, I would strongly recommend this book if you like mysteries with big twists and aren't easily triggered by sad or dark stuff.
unlock your storybook heart by Amanda Lovelace
4.0
let me tell you a bittersweet story
there is a girl
who has always been told
that she's one of the
quote-unquote gifted ones-
the kind who always sits
at the front of the class
& gets every question right.
"we just know you're going to
take the world by storm,"
they all tell her, proud as can be.
"what if i don't want to?"
she wishes she could say;
instead, she stays quiet
& smiles like a good girl.
Book 3 of the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series, Unlock Your Storybook Heart, explores through poetry the struggles of women who were formerly "gifted students" and may not feel as though they are living up to that title as adults. The perfectionism, the high expectations, the rigid definitions of success and the shame that comes with all of that are touched on in Amanda Lovelace's typically direct form of poetry.
Unlike the second book in this poetry series, this book had a strong theme that tied most of the poems together and gave it a unique spin on Amanda's usual feminist poetry topics. I'll admit that her poetry is not the deepest and most complex poetry out there, and I know that some will cite that as a reason to dislike her work, but I still find that her direct style of poetry elicits strong emotional reactions from me and make me feel seen since I relate strongly to many of the themes. This book in particular was one I related to, and it had a lot of quotes that I really needed to hear right now. If you've ever struggled with defining success for yourself or feeling like you don't quite live up to the potential you were told you had as a child, then these poems will likely resonate with you, so give 'em a go.
her books say
you don't have to pick the big job in the big city if that's not what you want. it's okay to pick a calmer, quieter life. it's okay to pick the small seaside town where everyone knows a little too much about everybody else. it's okay to pick the job where you get to place your favorite books into eager hands all day long, only to go home & read all night long. no life is inherently more important than the other. the only thing that matters is that you pick the life that makes you excited to greet the morning sky each day.
there is a girl
who has always been told
that she's one of the
quote-unquote gifted ones-
the kind who always sits
at the front of the class
& gets every question right.
"we just know you're going to
take the world by storm,"
they all tell her, proud as can be.
"what if i don't want to?"
she wishes she could say;
instead, she stays quiet
& smiles like a good girl.
Book 3 of the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series, Unlock Your Storybook Heart, explores through poetry the struggles of women who were formerly "gifted students" and may not feel as though they are living up to that title as adults. The perfectionism, the high expectations, the rigid definitions of success and the shame that comes with all of that are touched on in Amanda Lovelace's typically direct form of poetry.
Unlike the second book in this poetry series, this book had a strong theme that tied most of the poems together and gave it a unique spin on Amanda's usual feminist poetry topics. I'll admit that her poetry is not the deepest and most complex poetry out there, and I know that some will cite that as a reason to dislike her work, but I still find that her direct style of poetry elicits strong emotional reactions from me and make me feel seen since I relate strongly to many of the themes. This book in particular was one I related to, and it had a lot of quotes that I really needed to hear right now. If you've ever struggled with defining success for yourself or feeling like you don't quite live up to the potential you were told you had as a child, then these poems will likely resonate with you, so give 'em a go.
her books say
you don't have to pick the big job in the big city if that's not what you want. it's okay to pick a calmer, quieter life. it's okay to pick the small seaside town where everyone knows a little too much about everybody else. it's okay to pick the job where you get to place your favorite books into eager hands all day long, only to go home & read all night long. no life is inherently more important than the other. the only thing that matters is that you pick the life that makes you excited to greet the morning sky each day.
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
2.0
*exasperated sigh* I hate to start a review that way, but here we are. This book was mediocre. It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but I almost DNFed several times. I was going to give this a generous 3 stars, but as I wrote this review, I realized it really deserved 2... Sorry.
Real quick, here's the premise: The main character, Sadie, is a portrait artist, and she's about to get her big break. But, this gets put on pause when an accident results going face blind - meaning she no longer recognizes faces - throwing a wrench in her career and negatively impacting her social life. She also juggles romances, friendships, grief, strained family relationships, and her "Evil Stepsister" moving into an apartment on the floor below her.
The first 150 pages of this book were so unbelievably boring. The whole time, the main character whines constantly about her situation without doing much to change it, and there is nearly zero forward movement in the plot. I understand that this situation the main character finds herself in is super shitty, and she deserves to be upset about it. But she whines for 150 pages, and then the love interest finally shows up more consistently, and she goes back and forth between spending time with him and whining. She was deeply intolerable.
The only reason I didn't DNF within that first 150 pages is because I knew the arrival of the love interest could make me like it more. And I was right. He did almost save the book for me. I really enjoyed his character. He was a refreshing shift from the general drama queen crap the main character was providing. However, I guessed the major twist the second he was introduced. It was so obvious to me. So that was a serious bummer.
One of my other main complaints was that the main character and her stepsister behaved completely inappropriately for their ages. The main character goes full insta-love over her vet and is planning the wedding after a single encounter. She's a grown adult. The stepsister consistently goes out of her way to cruelly torture the main character for no apparent reason. Again, she's a grown adult. She even goes so far as to move into the main character's apartment building to continue to torture her. It was absurd.
Finally, the ending had the most heavy-handed moral of the story I've seen in an adult book ever and some deeply unbelievable "resolution." It was insanely cheesy and poorly written. Blegh! As I'm writing this, I'm more and more surprised I didn't DNF. If you don't mind a ton of setup and super cheesy writing, then you might enjoy this book. But otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.
Real quick, here's the premise: The main character, Sadie, is a portrait artist, and she's about to get her big break. But, this gets put on pause when an accident results going face blind - meaning she no longer recognizes faces - throwing a wrench in her career and negatively impacting her social life. She also juggles romances, friendships, grief, strained family relationships, and her "Evil Stepsister" moving into an apartment on the floor below her.
The first 150 pages of this book were so unbelievably boring. The whole time, the main character whines constantly about her situation without doing much to change it, and there is nearly zero forward movement in the plot. I understand that this situation the main character finds herself in is super shitty, and she deserves to be upset about it. But she whines for 150 pages, and then the love interest finally shows up more consistently, and she goes back and forth between spending time with him and whining. She was deeply intolerable.
The only reason I didn't DNF within that first 150 pages is because I knew the arrival of the love interest could make me like it more. And I was right. He did almost save the book for me. I really enjoyed his character. He was a refreshing shift from the general drama queen crap the main character was providing. However, I guessed the major twist the second he was introduced. It was so obvious to me. So that was a serious bummer.
One of my other main complaints was that the main character and her stepsister behaved completely inappropriately for their ages. The main character goes full insta-love over her vet and is planning the wedding after a single encounter. She's a grown adult. The stepsister consistently goes out of her way to cruelly torture the main character for no apparent reason. Again, she's a grown adult. She even goes so far as to move into the main character's apartment building to continue to torture her. It was absurd.
Finally, the ending had the most heavy-handed moral of the story I've seen in an adult book ever and some deeply unbelievable "resolution." It was insanely cheesy and poorly written. Blegh! As I'm writing this, I'm more and more surprised I didn't DNF. If you don't mind a ton of setup and super cheesy writing, then you might enjoy this book. But otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.
To Drink Coffee with a Ghost by Amanda Lovelace
3.0
Second in the "Things that Haunt" series, To Drink Coffee with a Ghost explores Amanda's relationship with her mother both before and after her death, and the grief that feels specific to the death of a parent. This collection resonated with me a little more than "To Make Monsters Out of Girls", so I did enjoy it a little more. But it still felt even more simplistic than her typical poetry. Overall, not my favorite of her work.
to make monsters out of girls by Amanda Lovelace
3.0
In her usual style of modern feminist poetry, Amanda Lovelace recounts her experiences with abusive relationships and how she healed from the trauma, showing how. Personally, I thought this collection fell a little flat. Despite going through similar things, I didn't feel quite as emotionally impacted while reading as I typically do with her work, which is the main reason I like her work despite it being pretty simple. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Not my favorite.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
5.0
I absolutely loved this fucking book. I will admit that I am completely and totally biased, since I've been obsessed with Paris since I was little and my trip there was the best two weeks of my life. This book fully transported me back to Paris, and I ate up every damn second of it. Plus it had a totally swoon-worthy romance? Absolutely sold.
Anna is a teenager from Georgia, and her dad decides to send her to a French boarding school for her senior year of high school. Anna is disappointed to leave her friends, family, and job behind, not to mention the coworker she's crushing on. But when she gets to her new school she quickly finds a new group of friends, one of whom she develops a major crush on. Unfortunately for Anna, Étienne St. Clair has a girlfriend. But he still helps Anna adjust to life in Paris, and he becomes one of her best friends. Anna has to figure out how she's going to manage her crush and survive a year in an unfamiliar country.
I was writhing around in my bed, kicking my feet, squealing out loud, grinning from ear to ear, while my heart felt like it was going to explode reading this book. My favorite part of the romance in this book is how the friendship was developed between Anna and St. Clair, and the easy way they would talk about everything. There was silly banter, but there were also vulnerable, real conversations. I obviously loved the romance in this book, but the found family aspect of it was great, too. My one complaint about this one is that a lot of the conflict in this book revolved around the miscommunication trope, which is not my favorite. However, I do tend to tolerate the trope more when it's in YA romances because it's way more realistic with teenagers than adults, so it didn't bother me much here. I had more fun with this book than I even expected. If you want something fun, fluffy, and romantic, then this is the book for you, and if you love Paris, you'll love it even more. 10 out of 10 would recommend.
Anna is a teenager from Georgia, and her dad decides to send her to a French boarding school for her senior year of high school. Anna is disappointed to leave her friends, family, and job behind, not to mention the coworker she's crushing on. But when she gets to her new school she quickly finds a new group of friends, one of whom she develops a major crush on. Unfortunately for Anna, Étienne St. Clair has a girlfriend. But he still helps Anna adjust to life in Paris, and he becomes one of her best friends. Anna has to figure out how she's going to manage her crush and survive a year in an unfamiliar country.
I was writhing around in my bed, kicking my feet, squealing out loud, grinning from ear to ear, while my heart felt like it was going to explode reading this book. My favorite part of the romance in this book is how the friendship was developed between Anna and St. Clair, and the easy way they would talk about everything. There was silly banter, but there were also vulnerable, real conversations. I obviously loved the romance in this book, but the found family aspect of it was great, too. My one complaint about this one is that a lot of the conflict in this book revolved around the miscommunication trope, which is not my favorite. However, I do tend to tolerate the trope more when it's in YA romances because it's way more realistic with teenagers than adults, so it didn't bother me much here. I had more fun with this book than I even expected. If you want something fun, fluffy, and romantic, then this is the book for you, and if you love Paris, you'll love it even more. 10 out of 10 would recommend.
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
3.0
I won't lie, this book fell really flat for me, especially in comparison to the movie. Not my favorite.
I'm sure we all know the story, but here's a quick recap. Allie, an engaged woman soon to be married, goes to visit her first love just weeks before her wedding, and they rekindle their love.
In the movie, we get to see exactly how they fell in love all those years ago, and it's intense and sweet. But the book doesn't give those details, and it pretty much jumps right into when Allie returns to the small town to visit him. Without the original love story, I felt like the rest of the story had a lot less of an emotional impact. It wasn't bad, and I might have liked it a lot better if I hadn't seen the movie, so take this review with a grain of salt. But, overall, meh.
I'm sure we all know the story, but here's a quick recap. Allie, an engaged woman soon to be married, goes to visit her first love just weeks before her wedding, and they rekindle their love.
In the movie, we get to see exactly how they fell in love all those years ago, and it's intense and sweet. But the book doesn't give those details, and it pretty much jumps right into when Allie returns to the small town to visit him. Without the original love story, I felt like the rest of the story had a lot less of an emotional impact. It wasn't bad, and I might have liked it a lot better if I hadn't seen the movie, so take this review with a grain of salt. But, overall, meh.
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
4.0
Reading this book fully confirmed that I had only seen the movie. Once again, I did not do the assigned reading. But this might be the first time I've watched an adaptation first and still liked the book better.
The Tuck family took a drink from a spring in the woods and thought nothing of it. But when time went by and they didn't age a day and would-be-fatal accidents didn't leave a mark, the family realized the spring made them immortal. When people notice that the family never changes, the Tucks face many difficulties, and they decide to keep the spring and their immortality a secret. That is until Winnifred Foster sees Jesse Tuck drinking from the spring and finds them out. To protect their secret, the Tucks kidnap Winnie and try to explain to her why she can never tell anyone what she saw. The question the Tucks and Winnie try to answer:
My only real complaint with this book is that Winnie is 10 YEARS OLD, and Jesse, who is 17, tries to convince her to drink the water when she turns 17 and run away with him... a little creepy. Fortunately, she doesn't decide to do it and chooses to live a full life instead. The message is an interesting one, and the concept is fun. Overall, as long as I ignored the grooming bit, I enjoyed this one.
The Tuck family took a drink from a spring in the woods and thought nothing of it. But when time went by and they didn't age a day and would-be-fatal accidents didn't leave a mark, the family realized the spring made them immortal. When people notice that the family never changes, the Tucks face many difficulties, and they decide to keep the spring and their immortality a secret. That is until Winnifred Foster sees Jesse Tuck drinking from the spring and finds them out. To protect their secret, the Tucks kidnap Winnie and try to explain to her why she can never tell anyone what she saw. The question the Tucks and Winnie try to answer:
My only real complaint with this book is that Winnie is 10 YEARS OLD, and Jesse, who is 17, tries to convince her to drink the water when she turns 17 and run away with him... a little creepy. Fortunately, she doesn't decide to do it and chooses to live a full life instead. The message is an interesting one, and the concept is fun. Overall, as long as I ignored the grooming bit, I enjoyed this one.