Seven Days of you caught my attention right away, but as I got deeper into the story, I started to lose interest. Sofia is a likable main character, she has an interesting life, but I didn't feel a real connection with her. Jamie was nice enough, but I didn't feel the connection between them.

In just seven days, Sofia goes through an emotional roller coaster with almost everyone in her life, almost all her relationships change, and I'm surprised she didn't have a breakdown. The ending definitely left something to be desired.

In all, it was a fun, slightly lackluster, contemporary YA read.

*I received a galley of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

When a young, energetic family moves in next door, grumpy, set-in-his-ways Ove is forced to change his daily routines and sets off a chain of life-altering events for Ove and everyone involved.

This was my second Fredik Backman novel, which had been on my TBR list since before it was published, and I’m so glad I finally took the time to read it. I loved Ove and couldn’t help but smile at his crankiness, but also have my heart broken by his story.

Ove was the perfect blend of grumpy-old-man and sweet and sentimental. While reading the story I kept going back and forth with his behavior from thinking it was hilarious to crazy to “that makes total sense”. When Parvaneh and her family move in and shake everything up, I couldn’t help but smile to myself and wonder where it would lead. Parvaneh, a small, fiery woman who wasn’t afraid to tell Ove when he was being rude, was the perfect balance to the neighborhood.


A Man Called Ove pulled on my heartstrings. It’s a delightful, fun, heartwarming story of an old man and a neighborhood that comes together after heartbreak and loss. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful weekend read, something to put a smile on their face, or a story with a main character that will most likely remind them of someone dear.

February had some great releases, but so does March! Just take a look at these beauties hitting bookshelves soon.

My most anticipated release is Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor!

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton   - March 7th

Mere months ago, gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she's fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne.

When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan's palace—she's determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan's secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she's a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she's been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.


The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco - March 7th

The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer.

Tea is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human.

Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance of an older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all of her energy into becoming an asha, learning to control her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit by no other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight kingdoms, war that will threaten the sovereignty of her homeland…and threaten the very survival of those she loves.


The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz - March 7th

From the multi-award-winning author of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe comes a gorgeous new story about love, identity, and families lost and found.

Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican-American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and realizing he no longer knows himself. If Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?



Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner - March 7th


Can a text message destroy your life?

Carver Briggs never thought a simple text would cause a fatal crash, killing his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, there could be a criminal investigation into the deaths.

Then Blake’s grandmother asks Carver to remember her grandson with a ‘goodbye day’ together. Carver has his misgivings, but he starts to help the families of his lost friends grieve with their own memorial days, along with Eli’s bereaved girlfriend Jesmyn. But not everyone is willing to forgive. Carver’s own despair and guilt threatens to pull him under into panic and anxiety as he faces punishment for his terrible mistake. Can the goodbye days really help?


Hunted by Meagan Spooner - March 14th

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.





A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi - March 28th

Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom’s enemies. Faced with a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing left to lose. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighboring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with becoming a mere puppet king, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. Together, they’ll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes—a competition held in a mythical city where the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor.





Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves - March 28th

The thrilling first book in a YA fantasy trilogy for fans of Red Queen. In a world where social prestige derives from a trifecta of blood, money, and magic, one girl has the ability to break the spell that holds the social order in place.






Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor - March 28th

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around— and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever.

January 14th was my one year blogiversary and I was so busy that it completely slipped by me until a few days later! I'm bummed that I haven't had time to pour more of myself into this little blog, but I'm still here and I'm still posting, so don't count me out! January has been a month of change, personally and as a nation, and I've been coping with copious amounts of reading and sugary foods.

New York Times bestselling authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan are back with a life-affirming Christmas romance starring Dash and Lily.

Dash and Lily have had a tough year since readers first watched the couple fall in love. Lily’s beloved grandfather suffered a heart attack, and his difficult road to recovery has taken a major toll on her typically sunny disposition. 

With only twelve days left until Christmas—Lily’s favorite time of the year—Dash, Lily’s brother Langston, and their closest friends take Manhattan by storm to help Lily recapture the holiday magic of New York City in December. 

Told in alternating chapters, The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily reunites two beloved characters and is bound to be a Christmas favorite, season after season.

The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily is cute but also a little neurotic and far-fetched. Two teenagers, living in New York City, manage to spend ridiculous amounts of time and money on unlikely schemes and gifts while working their way through the twelve days leading up to Christmas.

Dash is a surely, brusque guy with a love of words and hardly a good one to say about anything but his girlfriend Lily or his best friend Boomer. Lily is a high maintenance, Monica-from-Friends-esque girl who only occasionally didn’t manage to get on my nerves, and has a love of Christmas that could drive anyone mad.

As the follow up to Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares, we get a brief glimpse of their previous year and the hardships that have caused Lily to lose her spark. She’s pretty much lost her lust for life, causing Dash and her brother, Langston, to hash out a scheme to bring back her Christmas cheer. Of course it all goes wrong in only ways it could with Dash & Lily.

Now, normally I’d say this is a cute, contemporary YA short story. I like Dash; he’s a teenage guy trying to do what he can to cheer up his girlfriend. But - and this is a big but – Lily. She is the one who simply gets on my nerves. She expects everyone to revolve their entire lives around her and when they don’t, she pouts like a petulant child. Yes, she’s generous and has a good heart, but man she was acting like such a baby! Overall it’s an outlandish and over the top story of two teenagers in love trying to impress and outdo each other in New York City. It’s a cute, quick winter read.

Sloane isn't expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that's exactly what happens.

Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera's twin brother and the most serious person Sloane's ever met. When a beloved painting by the twins' late mother goes missing, Sloane takes on the responsibility of tracking it down, a journey that takes her across state lines—and ever deeper into the twins' lives.

Filled with intense and important friendships, a wonderful warts-and-all family, shiveringly good romantic developments, and sharp, witty dialogue, this story is about finding the people you never knew you needed.


I really enjoyed This Adventure Ends. Sloane was such a breath of fresh air from traditional contemporary YA characters. She didn't take anyone's crap, she stood up for others, yet she was completely at a loss when it came to having friends because for the first time in seventeen years, she had people she cared enough about to make an effort.

The novel only follows a portion of Sloane's senior year, after moving from New York to Florida, in the wake of her father's writing crisis. Unlike most teenagers, Sloane was unaffected by the move and didn't really care either way - due to the fact that she really had no attachments keeping her there. Could you imagine that kind of self enclosure?

So when she meets Vera and Gabe, twins that are like night and day, her world begins to shift. Vera is bubbly, outgoing, and makes everyone feel like they're the only person in the room, while Gabe is surly, and serious, and basically has made it his life's mission never to smile. Through some unfortunate circumstances, a special painting done by Vera and Gabe's mother right before she passed, is sold and Sloane makes it her mission to get said painting back. Without telling them of course.

The characters are what really drew me into this one. I couldn't help but love Sloane. She's witty, has the perfect come back for everything, and honestly thinks about her responses to questions. She ventured into new situations with caution, but didn't guard herself so completely as to not put herself out there. Her family dynamic was interesting, and I liked her relationship with her father.

I gave This Adventure Ends five stars because I laughed - a lot, I cried, and I became emotionally invested in Sloane. Emma Mills did a fantastic job writing this novel and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a contemporary read that's not your typical YA love story, or your typical female lead. It's very refreshing and I hope to read more of Mills' work.

*I received a copy of book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. All eyes are on Flynn—he must know something. After all, he was—is—her boyfriend. They were together the night before she disappeared.

But Flynn has a secret of his own. As he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.


One fall night, January was last seen leaving her private school. She never came home and no one had heard from her since. Not her distant mother, politician step father, psychotic step brother, or even her boyfriend Flynn. While Flynn tries to figure out what happened to January, he’s led down a path of discovery that reveals January wasn’t the person he thought she was, as are none of the other people in her life the way she made them out to be.

Initially I was intrigued by the mystery side of Last Seen Leaving, but as I kept reading it felt like it became two conflicting stories. On one side there was the disappearance of January, and the mystery behind what happened to her – following the clues, and the whodunit, Flynn playing the role of the loyal boyfriend. On the other side is Flynn hiding a giant secret, which inevitably comes out, and to seems to take over the entire narrative overshadowing the plot of previously mentioned missing girlfriend.

Without going into too much detail and giving anything away, basically it began to feel like it was more about Flynn finding himself than January, and dealing with the fallout from the revelations of his personal life than the actual disappearance of his girlfriend, which was not the story I was expecting going in.

Flynn is a likeable character and I sympathized with him for the most part. He was January’s boyfriend and the prime suspect in her disappearance, as usually happens when something like this occurs. It’s understandable that he’s under a lot of stress and he doesn’t necessarily make the wisest decisions.

Much of the time I felt like the author was trying to sell me something, as if he was paid to write product advertising into the book – similar to product placement in television shows. It became obnoxious - constantly mentioning Lexus, smooth rides, and supple leather seats, iPhones, etc, when a simple mention of “we got into his car” would have been sufficient. I don’t know if this is a thing now, but if it is, I’m begging you, please make it stop! It reminded me of when you watch a tv show and they add a whole unnecessary scene with the characters waiting for their new car to back up and park itself just for the benefit of showing the audience *barf*. Give me a break. Books are a place we’re supposed to be safe from that crap! If this wasn’t intentional, I’m sorry to Mr. Roehrig, but this is how it came off. I understand a high level of detail can immerse a reader into the story, but I think there's a line where it can be too much. Last Seen Leaving crossed that line for me.

Overall, I give it three stars, mainly because I felt the story lines were conflicting and it didn't feel like one arc but two. I know some readers will greatly disagree with me, and that's okay! Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for it, but I wouldn't rule out reading it completely. If you're a fan of mystery, some romance, and some back and forth with the story, give it a shot!

*I received a copy of book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

A tragic kidnapping leads to an unlikely friendship in this novel about finding light in the midst of darkness from the author of The Truth About Alice. 

When Caroline's little brother is kidnapped, his subsequent rescue leads to the discovery of Ethan, a teenager who has been living with the kidnapper since he was a young child himself. In the aftermath, Caroline can't help but wonder what Ethan knows about everything that happened to her brother, who is not re-adjusting well to life at home. And although Ethan is desperate for a friend, he can't see Caroline without experiencing a resurgence of traumatic memories. But after the media circus surrounding the kidnappings departs from their small Texas town, both Caroline and Ethan find that they need a friend--and their best option just might be each other.

Four years ago, Ethan was kidnapped and never heard from again. A week ago, Caroline’s autistic brother, Dylan, was taken. The odds of a tiny Texas town to be struck by two kidnappings is slim to none and by some miracle, Dylan’s kidnapping leads to both his and Ethan’s rescue.

Afterward is a thought provoking novel told from the viewpoint of Ethan and Caroline, living in the aftermath of this horrific event. Caroline’s family is struggling to keep it together, not sure how to move forward, or how to help someone who can’t articulate what happened to him, and Caroline herself who blames herself for her brother being taken. Ethan, is struggling with coming back to his family after living with his kidnapper for four years, with parents who love him and want to get him all the help he needs (and may not want), who can’t quite come to terms with what happened to him or figure out where the blame rests. When Caroline realizes that her parents aren’t going to do anything to help her brother, she decides to take charge and talk to the only other person around who might have some answers about what happened to him. They become an unlikely duo in the aftermath of this chaos.

What struck me about Afterward was how raw it was. Situations like this are a million to one. Most children who are taken are not given the opportunity to be reunited with their families in a positive way and I think that makes Ethan’s story unique. While it’s a work of fiction, for me it was a very emotional. Ethan has to work through four years of psychological torture and come out the other side into a world that has moved on without him. The world and his family are the same, but not. Caroline’s world seems to be slowly unraveling with no upward swing in sight. She doesn’t have two caring, put together parents willing to face what’s happened to her brother or the financial means to get him the help he needs. She’s hanging on by a thread, getting on day-by-day holding on to anything that might make her feel good.

I give Afterward 5 out 5. It really just hit me right in the gut - I cried more than once and that hasn’t happened in a long while. If you’re in the mood for a contemporary YA read, with a real story that will grab your heartstrings, this is it.

*I received a copy of book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

So, my birthday is in less than 2 weeks (July 7th! Gah!) and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to talk about the 10 books that are currently at the top of my wishlist! I've taken these all directly from my current Amazon Wishlist (*wink* to any family reading this) which is ridiculously long... I know.

1. The Fate of the Tearling: I know this isn't out until November, but I want it! It's my most anticipated book of the year and I cannot wait for it be in my hands. Right now I'd settle for a pre-order ;)
2. The Magician's Trilogy Boxed Set: Such a good series! I ready through these a while back, but I really want a set of my own. 
3. The Last Star: Um, yes! I need to finish this series. I need to know what happens to Cassie and Evan Walker and everyone else.
4. A Court of Thorns and Roses: Already read this one, but if I'm going to have Mist and Fruy, need a complete set right?
5. A Court of Mist and Fury: I don't think I can wait any longer to read part two of Feyre and Rhysand's story! I keep seeing everyone gush over it and I don't want to be spoiled. 

1. Uprooted: I keep seeing Uprooted pop up in my feed, winning awards, and getting lots of great feedback, not to mention it sounds like a great story. So I figured why not give it a shot?
2. Passenger: Passenger is part cover buy, part synopsis. It has mixed reviews, but it sounds interesting to me!
3. Rebel of the Sands: Sounds oh so intriguing, has been on my list for a while, and look at the gorgeous cover! Look at it!
4. Wink Poppy Midnight: I've heard tons of great things about Wink Poppy Midnight and I'm looking forward to crossing it off my tbr.
5. This Savage Song: VE Schwab is an instant read/buy author for me, so it was really a no-brainer.

Okay, there's a large amount of exclamation points in this post. Do you have a wishlist? Have you read any of these? Do you agree with any of my choices? Or completely disagree? I'd love to hear your take! Especially if you've read any of these!