It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #387: Greek Mythology and Spooky Things... No In-between

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #421: It Was Late, But It Is Here!

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Finish the Series #34: We're Back!

I last finished a series back in July, right in the middle of the weird reading slump I was in, but I am finally out of it and back to reading! I've read SO much this month so far, I'm honestly shocked. Lol.

Review: 2389 by Iain Rob Wright

Title: 2389

Author: Iain Rob Wright

Genre: Adult, horror, sci-fi

Publication date: March 2015

Published by: SalGad Publishing Group

Source: Gift card purchase

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Synopsis: Grand Galaxies is the most expensive amusement park ever created, built on the surface of the moon. For a decade now, rich families and honeymooning couples have gone there to have the time of their lives, and no one has ever returned disappointed. But communication with the moon has been lost. Someone needs to go up there and see what’s wrong.

Commander ‘Boss’ Sharman is the man for the job, SABA’s most respected leader, but he might end up regretting his decision to bring along his daughter, Lexi, for the mission. Something has gone very wrong at Grand Galaxies, and once Boss and his team travel the 238,900 miles to the moon, they might find that there’s no way of getting back home again.

GETTING THERE IS THE EASY PART...

My rating: ★★★★☆

This book was so good! The thing that caught my attention about this one from the start was the setting. It’s set in this amusement park on the freaking moon!

Review: Wes & Liz’s College Road Trip (Better than the Movies #1.7) by Lynn Painter

Title: Wes & Liz’s College Road Trip

Series: Better than the Movies #1.7

Previous book in this series: Better than the Movies

Author: Lynn Painter

Genre: YA, contemporary romance

Publication date: January 2022

Published by: Lynn Painter

Source: Read online

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Synopsis: Elizabeth Buxbaum and Wesley Bennett are on their way to the University of California. But Liz is in no rush, because hitting the road with Wes and laughing at his jokes is more fun than anything else in the world. As they cross the country and see beautiful landscapes through the car window, Wes and Liz will create a soundtrack, rescue an abandoned cat on the road, get into trouble, kiss a lot and maybe even find the courage to say those three magic words. But they both know that when they reach their destination, nothing will be the same. By leaving their hometown and adolescence behind, they are also opening the doors to new possibilities, and the future may be surprising.

My rating: ★★★★★

I’ve had my eye on this short story for a while, and after I finished reading Nothing Like the Movies, which gave me a book hangover, I thought that would be the perfect time to finally read it! And I loved it! Which is not surprising because Lynn Painter does not miss... especially when it comes to WesLiz.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #386: Percy Jackson Trying To Get Into College and Other Spooky Things

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #420: A Better-ish Week... I Guess

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: My Secret to Tell by Natalie D. Richards

Title: My Secret to Tell

Author: Natalie D. Richards

Genre: YA, mystery thriller, romance

Publication date: October 2015

Published by: Sourcebooks Fire

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Emerson May is "the good girl." She's the perfect daughter, the caring friend, the animal shelter volunteer. But when her best friend's brother breaks into her room, his hands covered in blood, she doesn't scream or call the cops. Because when Deacon smiles at her, Emmie doesn't want to be good...

The whole town believes notorious troublemaker Deacon is guilty of assaulting his father. Only Emmie knows a secret that could set him free. But if she follows her heart, she could be trusting a killer...

You can't always trust the boy next door.

My rating: ★★★★☆

This book was intriguing from the start. I love a good mystery! I mean, you have Emmie’s best friend’s brother crawling into her bedroom covered in blood?

Review: Nothing Like the Movies (Better than the Movies #2) by Lynn Painter

Title: Nothing Like the Movies

Series: Better than the Movies #2

Previous book in this series: Better than the Movies

Author: Lynn Painter

Genre: YA, contemporary romance

Publication date: October 1st, 2024

Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Source: eARC for review from publisher via Netgalley

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Synopsis: In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student.

For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.

Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.

Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.

Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.

My rating: ★★★★★

Better Than The Movies ended with a wonderful Happily Ever After, so going into this I knew something was going to happen with Wes and Liz, but I was not ready for how heartbreaking this book ended up being...

I can't breathe without you, but I have to...

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #385: A Little More of Everything

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #419: I Don't Know What Happened With This Week...

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: Nothing Better Than You (Better than the Movies #1.6) by Lynn Painter

Title: Nothing Better Than You

Series: Better than the Movies #1.6

Previous book in this series: Better than the Movies

Author: Lynn Painter

Genre: YA, contemporary romance

Publication date: August 30th 2024

Published by: Simon Teen

Source: Read online

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Synopsis: Experience Wes and Liz’s first kiss from Better Than the Movies from Wes’s point of view!

My rating: ★★★★★

The way I am so infatuated with how infatuated Wes is with Liz...

God, I’m such an idiot for her.

Review: How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Title: How to Survive Your Murder

Author: Danielle Valentine

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: August 2022

Published by: Razorbill

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Alice Lawrence is the sole witness in her sister’s murder trial.

And in the year since Claire’s death, Alice’s life has completely fallen apart. Her parents have gotten divorced, she’s moved into an apartment that smells like bologna, and she is being forced to face her sister’s killer and a courtroom full of people who doubt what she saw in the corn maze a year prior.

Claire was an all-American girl, beautiful and bubbly, and a theater star. Alice was a nerd who dreamed of becoming a forensic pathologist and would rather stay at home to watch her favorite horror movies than party. Despite their differences, they were bonded by sisterhood and were each other’s best friends.

Until Claire was taken away from her.

On the first day of the murder trial, as Alice prepares to give her testimony, she is knocked out by a Sidney Prescott look-alike in the courthouse bathroom. When she wakes up, it is Halloween night a year earlier, the same day Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to save her sister and find the real killer before he claims another victim.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

If you don't come with me, I might die.
Those were the last words my sister ever said to me.

I have not had very good luck with these sorts of horror books where the protagonist is a huge horror movie fan. They always claim to be experts in the genre and then fail spectacularly at being a final girl when being put in that position. Maybe it’s because they’re in the middle of all the chaos, but it’s just so annoying how dumb they are. And the protagonist in this was no different.

Review: Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

Title: Wrong Place Wrong Time

Author: Gillian McAllister

Genre: Adult, mystery

Publication date: May 2022

Published by: William Morrow

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened?

It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger.

She doesn’t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd’s, have been shattered.

After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up… it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet—and there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past, first weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd’s terrible crime... and it is her mission to find it, and prevent it from taking place.

My rating: ★★★★★

Wrong Place Wrong Time was SO GOOD! It's a mystery thriller where a mother witnesses her son commit a murder and then she's suddenly thrust into a time loop all while trying to solve this mystery. BUT instead of your normal time loop where the character lives the same day over and over, she keeps going back in time! It was just so well done!

Review: This World Is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Title: This World Is Not Yours

Author: Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, horror

Publication date: September 10th 2024

Published by: Tor Nightfire

Source: eARC from publisher via Netgalley

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Synopsis: This World is Not Yours by USA Today bestseller Kemi Ashing-Giwa is the perfect blend of S.A. Barnes' space horror and Cassandra Khaw's beautiful but macabre worlds. An action-packed, inventive novella about a toxic polycule consumed by jealousy and their attempts to survive on a hostile planet.

After fleeing her controlling and murderous family with her fiancée Vinh, Amara embarks on a colonization project, New Belaforme, along with her childhood friend, Jesse.

The planet, beautiful and lethal, produces the Gray, a “self-cleaning” mechanism that New Belaforme’s scientists are certain only attacks invasive organisms, consuming them. Humans have been careful to do nothing to call attention to themselves until a rival colony wakes the Gray.

As Amara, Vinh, and Jesse work to carve out a new life together, each is haunted by past betrayals that surface, expounded by the need to survive the rival colony and the planet itself.

There’s more than one way to be eaten alive.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

This world is as brutal and unforgiving as it is beautiful.

In my neverending quest to find some good sci-fi horror, I came across this one. And I was so excited I stumbled upon it because right in the synopsis it compared it to the space horror novels by S.A. Barnes, novels that I have really enjoyed. However, I didn’t end up loving this novella as much as I thought I would.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #384: Reading A Little Bit of Everything (Because Idk What My Mood Wants)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #418: Preparing For Spooky Season

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

September 2024 Holiday Kickoff Giveaway Hop!

I'm still on a mission to get rid of some books to make space for, you guessed it, more books 😆 This month I have a really fun YA urban fantasy series about a literal Nightmare. Lol.

Review: Crazy Foolish Robots (The Robot Galaxy #1) by Adeena Mignogna

Title: Crazy Foolish Robots

Series: The Robot Galaxy #1

Author: Adeena Mignogna

Genre: Adult, sci-fi

Publication date: June 2021

Published by: Adeena Mignogna

Source: Gift card purchase

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Synopsis: What would you do if you were kidnapped by alien robots?

Ruby Palmer finds herself on an entire planet surrounded by the things she hates the most: robots. Besides taking everything she says way too literally, the robots have problems of their own. A myriad of technical glitches are, on the cosmological scale, quickly destroying them. Ruby has the programming knowledge and skills that matter to them, but can she overcome her fears and find it within herself to help? Her survival, along with the survival of all of humanity and robot kind, depends on it.

If you adore all the charming and delightful robots in sci-fi from R2D2 to Wall-E to Bender to Marvin to Johnny 5, you'll love The Robot Galaxy Series!

My rating: ★★★☆☆

In my neverending quest to find fun, cozy, sci-fi books, I came across this one! The premise sounded very interesting: Ruby finds herself on a planet full of robots, which kinda sucks for her because she hates robots. But these robots are in need of help and Ruby is the only one able to give that help. It was very interesting following Ruby on this journey because of her dislike (and distrust) of robots. But she had a good reason to not trust anything robot/AI-related.

One thing I liked about this book was the titular robots. They were just so endearing! They took everything literally—even their names were literal! 😂

Review: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

Title: Six Wakes

Author: Mur Lafferty

Genre: Adult, mystery, sci-fi

Publication date: January 2017

Published by: Orbit

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: A space adventure set on a lone ship where the clones of a murdered crew must find their murderer—before they kill again.

It was not common to awaken in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood.

At least, Maria Arena had never experienced it. She had no memory of how she died. That was also new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died.

Maria's vat was in the front of six vats, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it could awaken. And Maria wasn't the only one to die recently...

My rating: ★★★★★

I was so excited to read about a murder mystery in space, and this book absolutely delivered!

Spooky Season TBR

It is my favorite time of year, Spooky Season, and honestly, I'm just very happy right now 😌 (I'm aware it's still technically Summer... don't rain on my parade 😆)

I haven't done a TBR post ALL year because I've just sort of been going with whatever my mood wants, but I thought I'd do one in honor of spooky season and see how things go. Last year when I did a Spooky Season TBR, things went terribly, so hopefully I have better luck this time. (I actually have some books from last year's list on this list again, sooo... 😅) This list mostly consists of horror books because that's just sort of what I'm in the mood for. No mystery thrillers this year, I want straight horror! Lol.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #383: WesLiz Derailed My Plans (But That's Okay Because I Love Them)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #417: It's Finally Here!

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!