Monday, July 31, 2023
Sunday, July 30, 2023
Sunday Post #360: Reading and Gaming
Saturday, July 29, 2023
Write On Review-a-thon #6: Maybe This Time...
Friday, July 28, 2023
Review: Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Title: Heartless
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA, fantasy, retelling
Publication date: November 2016
Published by: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Purchased paperback
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Synopsis: Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.In her first stand-alone teen novel, the New York Times-bestselling author dazzles us with a prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Heartless? More like heartbroken because I was a mess by the end of this book.
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Review: War of Flesh and Metal (Flesh and Metal #3) by Alicia Ellis
Title: War of Flesh and Metal
Series: Flesh and Metal #3
Previous books in this series: Dreams of Flesh and Metal (#0.5) | Girl of Flesh and Metal (#1) | Clash of Flesh and Metal (#2)
Author: Alicia Ellis
Genre: YA, sci-fi, mystery thriller
Publication date: July 25th 2023
Published by: Figmented Ink
Source: eARC from author
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Buy it: Amazon | B&N
Synopsis: With no way out, she’ll face a pissed-off artificial intelligence and two killers…Lena’s ready to put it all behind her. She helped catch two killers who used CyberCorp to commit murder, and starting right now, she vows never to set foot inside the company’s headquarters again. But when those killers show up at CyberCorp Tower to confess everything they’ve hidden, Lena can’t resist seeing justice done.As she steels herself to confront them again, decommissioned androids go berserk inside the headquarters, forcing a lockdown. Lena is trapped inside not only with the killers she brought down—but also with the dangerous technologies she fears.
Can Lena escape, or will she die inside CyberCorp Tower?War of Flesh and Metal is the thrilling conclusion to the YA science fiction Flesh and Metal trilogy.
I have been really looking forward to the finale of this series, so I was very excited when I got an ARC of the book! And overall, I liked it!
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Review: Being Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #1) by Kelly Oram
Title: Being Jamie Baker
Series: Jamie Baker #1
Author: Kelly Oram
Genre: YA, paranormal romance
Publication date: June 2010
Published by: Bluefields
Source: Amazon freebie
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Buy it: Amazon
Synopsis: An accident that should end in tragedy instead gives seventeen-year-old Jamie Baker a slew of uncontrollable superhuman abilities. To keep her secret safe Jamie socially exiles herself, earning the title of Rocklin High's resident ice queen. But during a supercharged encounter with star quarterback Ryan Miller she literally kisses anonymity goodbye. Now the annoyingly irresistible Ryan will stop at nothing to melt the heart of the ice queen and find out what makes her so special. Unfortunately, Ryan is not the only person on to her secret. Will Jamie learn to contain her unstable powers before being discovered by the media or turned into a government lab rat? More importantly, can she throw Ryan Miller off her trail before falling in love with him?
Reading the beginning of this book, I could not get this song out of my head because it literally started off with a kiss, and then Ryan and Jamie were like, “How did it end up like this? It was only a kiss...” 🤣 I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself 😆 But it was amazing 😍 It was all pretty much a bet, but what I wasn’t expecting was for Ryan to be upfront about it with Jamie. I liked him immediately! This entire scene was just amazing! This whole book was amazing! I’m kinda surprised at how much I liked it.
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Review: The Funtime Show (Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper #19) by J.L. Bryan
Title: The Funtime Show
Series: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper #19
Previous books in this series: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper (#1) | Cold Shadows (#2) | The Crawling Darkness (#3) | Terminal (#4) | House of Whispers #5 | Maze of Souls #6 | Lullaby (#7) | The Keeper (#8) | The Tower (#9) | The Monster Museum (#10) | Fire Devil (#11) | The Necromancer's Library (#12) | The Trailwalker (#13) | Midnight Movie (#14) | The Lodge (#15) | Cabinet Jack (#16) | Fallen Wishes (#17) | Sunset House (#18)
Author: J.L. Bryan
Genre: Adult, paranormal, horror
Publication date: July 25th 2023
Published by: J.L. Bryan
Source: eARC from author
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Synopsis: Come here, children, play with me,
I'm the friend in your TV...The Calvert family's new home used to belong to the recently deceased creator of a forgotten children's program from the early days of television. The family's younger kids are fascinated by the basement rooms, a chaotic wonderland of discarded stage sets, props, costumes, and puppets.At first, the parents are glad to see the kids put down their screens and play creatively with the old theatrical elements, but their performances and their experiences grow more disturbing over time.In this house, the reruns of a dark past never stop playing, and paranormal investigator Ellie Jordan must protect the family from a malevolent presence trying to draw them into the infernal show.
In this latest case, Ellie and Stacey head to a family’s home to investigate a creepy lurking shadow. What they find is a place filled with puppets... creepy puppets.
Monday, July 24, 2023
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Sunday Post #359: A Break From the Chaos
Saturday, July 22, 2023
Dewey's Reverse Readathon: July 2023
Friday, July 21, 2023
Review: Clash of Flesh and Metal (Flesh and Metal #2) by Alicia Ellis
Title: Clash of Flesh and Metal
Series: Flesh and Metal #2
Previous books in this series: Dreams of Flesh and Metal (#0.5) | Girl of Flesh and Metal (#1)
Author: Alicia Ellis
Genre: YA, sci-fi, mystery thriller
Publication date: April 2021
Published by: Figmented Ink
Source: Purchased ebook with giftcard
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Synopsis: She must obey a stranger’s orders, or the androids will attack again...Despite Lena’s fears about the dangers of the Model One androids, CyberCorp has shipped them to customers. They work perfectly—except around Lena. When an android attacks one of her best friends, she insists the robots are fatally flawed.Desperate to keep this situation from spiraling out of control, like it did last time, Lena casts suspicion on everyone she knows. This time, she won’t trust anyone. When she gets a threatening note from someone claiming to be controlling the androids, she’ll obey—but only to stall for time.
Can she find whoever’s responsible, before someone else she loves dies?
Her parents might own one of the biggest tech companies in the world, but maybe Lena's right to distrust technology as much as she does. Especially when one of her best friends was attacked by one of the robots created by her parents' company. Even worse, these robots are set to ship out to everyone pretty soon. And on top of that, she's getting threatening notes. Girl can't catch a break. She's gonna have to figure out what's happening soon before more people are killed and we get a repeat of the events in book one.
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Review: The Bad Girl (New Fear Street #4) by R.L. Stine
Title: The Bad Girl
Series: New Fear Street #4 (can be read as a standalone)
Previous books in this series: The Stepbrother (#1) | Camp Out (#2) | Scream, Jennifer, Scream! (#3)
Author: R.L. Stine
Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller
Publication date: December 1999
Published by: Parachute Press
Source: Purchased paperback
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Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books
Synopsis: Dawn and Jan never liked science class. But when they stumble across a formula that brings the dead back to life, it becomes their favorite subject. Jan came up with the formula. She was just fooling around—she didn't expect anything to happen. But now the formula is bringing things back to life. A frog. A dog. A human being. And they're coming back evil.
As soon as we were introduced to our two main characters I knew I wasn’t going to like them. One was sneaking around behind her boyfriend’s back, and both of them were just terrible humans who found bullying entertaining. But the point was to dislike them, which made the classic R.L. Stine ending that much better!
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Review: SuperNova (Heroes of Arcania #1) by Liz Long
Title: SuperNova
Series: Heroes of Arcania #1
Author: Liz Long
Genre: YA, urban fantasy, superheroes
Publication date: June 2016
Published by: Liz Long
Source: Amazon freebie
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Synopsis: The streets of Arcania are overrun with crime, deteriorating as a madman named Fortune makes himself at home. He shows no mercy, striking down anyone in his path – including Nova Benson’s little sister. Devastated, Nova vows to seek justice for her family, but aside from her freak strength and impenetrable skin, how is she supposed to stop a monster like Fortune?Cole Warner wants to help people. Entrusted to keep his family’s secret, he’s also frustrated at having to hide his gift. He knows he could do more to help in the fight against Fortune. If he could convince his sister Penelope to join him, they might even have a chance at beating him. When Cole meets Nova, he realizes his whole world is about to change. And he’s going to welcome it with open arms.
Falling for each other wasn’t part of the plan.
Then again, neither was becoming a superhero.
I really liked the premise of the book. A girl going after a Big Bad that’s been terrorizing the city AND killed her little sister. It was so sad 😭 But idk, it was kinda underwhelming overall.
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Review: Girl of Flesh and Metal (Flesh and Metal #1) by Alicia Ellis
Title: Girl of Flesh and Metal
Series: Flesh and Metal #1
Previous novella in this series: Dreams of Flesh and Metal (#0.5)
Author: Alicia Ellis
Genre: YA, sci-fi, mystery thriller
Publication date: April 2020
Published by: Figmented Ink
Source: Amazon freebie
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Buy it: Amazon | B&N
Synopsis: A devastating accident. An artificially intelligent prosthetic that makes her sleepwalk... A series of murders.Lena hates her parents’ tech company. The world worships each cutting-edge CyberCorp release, but Lena has her doubts. Machines that think for themselves? She doesn’t trust them... So when a car accident lands her with the company’s first cybernetic arm, she’s pissed.A glitch in the arm’s artificial intelligence makes her sleepwalk. Meanwhile, children of CyberCorp employees start dying in their beds, and thanks to her unwanted nighttime strolls, Lena has no alibi.Is she a target? A suspect? Lena literally can’t sleep at night until she proves her innocence—or her guilt.
I got this book as a freebie from Amazon and it's always nice when I find a gem among all the freebies I’ve acquired. As was the case with this book! I really enjoyed it!
Monday, July 17, 2023
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Sunday Post #358: So Many Books...
Saturday, July 15, 2023
Have My Reading Preferences Changed?
I love YA. They are my favorite type of books and I have always gravitated toward them. Or so I thought. Lately, I've noticed that I've been reading a lot more adult books, which is interesting because just a few years ago I didn't read any. But to figure out whether I'm really reading more adult books than YA these days, I decided to gather some data and look at my reading stats from previous years. What I found was very interesting...
Friday, July 14, 2023
Review: Dreams of Flesh and Metal (Flesh and Metal #0.5) by Alicia Ellis
Title: Dreams of Flesh and Metal
Series: Flesh and Metal #0.5
First book in the series: Girl of Flesh and Metal
Author: Alicia Ellis
Genre: YA, sci-fi, mystery thriller
Publication date: January 2020
Published by: Alicia Ellis
Source: Newsletter freebie
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Get it for free HERE
Synopsis: It's just a game. Right?Virtual reality isn't reality. So even though Lena didn't expect to have fun, she went along with the VR game anyway. But its artificial intelligence knows everything about her—who she is, how much money her parents have, her greatest fears.
Lena hates technology. When her friends drag her to a new virtual reality game, she’s not really looking forward to it, but she goes along. Unfortunately for Lena, her dislike of technology is reinforced when the line between virtual and real danger is blurred.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Review: Scream, Jennifer, Scream! (New Fear Street #3) by R.L. Stine
Title: Scream, Jennifer, Scream!
Series: New Fear Street #3 (can be read as a standalone)
Previous books in this series: The Stepbrother (#1) | Camp Out (#2)
Author: R.L. Stine
Genre: YA, horror, mystery thriller
Publication date: December 1999
Published by: Parachute Press
Source: Purchased paperback
Add it on Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Thrift Books
Synopsis: They knew cheating would be risky. But they never thought it could be deadly. When Shelli and her friends cheat on their college placement test, they think they have just secured their future. Until Shelli's best friend, Jennifer, threatens to turn them all in. Now they must prevent the truth from being revealed. And they will stop at nothing, even murder... But their plan backfires. And they suddenly realize that they are the ones in danger!
The premise of this book was not my favorite. I mean, these guys are cheaters, so it was gonna be really hard for me to feel sympathetic when bad things started happening. And I was right.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Review: The Supervillain and Me by Danielle Banas
Title: The Supervillain and Me
Author: Danielle Banas
Genre: YA, urban fantasy, superheroes
Publication date: July 2018
Published by: Swoon Reads
Source: Purchased hardcover
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Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books
Synopsis: Never trust a guy in spandex.In Abby Hamilton’s world, superheroes do more than just stop crime and save cats stuck in trees—they also drink milk straight from the carton and hog the television remote. Abby’s older brother moonlights as the famous Red Comet, but without powers of her own, following in his footsteps has never crossed her mind.
That is, until the city’s newest vigilante comes bursting into her life.After saving Abby from an attempted mugging, Morriston’s fledgling supervillain Iron Phantom convinces her that he’s not as evil as everyone says, and that their city is under a vicious new threat. As Abby follows him deeper into their city’s darkest secrets, she comes to learn that heroes can’t always be trusted, and sometimes it’s the good guys who wear black.
I loved this book more than I thought I would! I don't know why I was thinking I wasn’t going to enjoy it this much... It might be because in the beginning it was sort of reminding me of Jinx, which I didn’t like as much as I thought I would 😬 But no, I loved this!
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Summer TBR
Monday, July 10, 2023
Sunday, July 9, 2023
Sunday Post #357: Mini Vacation
Saturday, July 8, 2023
2023 Mid-Year Check In: Reading Stats
Friday, July 7, 2023
2023 Mid-Year Check In: Reading Challenges
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Top 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Last Half of 2023
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
Top 10 Favorite Books of 2023 (So Far)
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
2023 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag
