Category: Book Reviews

Either while reading the book or after I have read the book I will put my own review of how I thought the book was.

Book Reviews

September Reading Wrap Up

India

So apparently y’all really do like these wrap-ups huh? Well, let me start posting them consistently. If you don’t want to read this post, I’ve already recorded this for my youtube channel, which you should totally check out and subscribe, and have placed it down below. I’m a couple of months behind, but that’s okay you’ll get over it. I had a good reading month in September and probably hit my average reading. I read 5 books and all of them were either romance or contemporary. Some were great and some… not so much. I’ve added links to all of the books that will take you to amazon. Some links may be affiliate links. Let’s get down to these books though!

American Queen | https://amzn.to/2Br2sbR

American Queen is the first book in the New Camelot series by Sierra Simone and boy oh boy is this book hot and steamy.  I love how this book is told from two different time frames intertwining the past and the present. I also love how the perspectives are told and how you always feel like you’re getting the view of all three perspectives and their stories. This romance features a love triangle/polyamory/mmf as well as military and politics. It’s such an incredible ride and I can’t wait to finish the rest of the series.

I believe I gave this book 4.5 stars overall

 

Save the Date | https://amzn.to/2BsmiDV

Save The Date was recommended to me by my romance guru, Steph over at Steph’s Romance Book Chat. It’s probably the one recommendation that she gave me that fell flat. She gave it to me because I got engaged this year and I have been in a wedding type of mood. Lord knows I still need to order save the dates hahaha, but this book fell flat because it didn’t offer enough tension and I felt like it tried to wrap things up too quickly. This book features fake dating. The tension it tried to bring in just was there for a shock factor and it didn’t even shock. It also was not steamy enough.

I gave this book 3 stars

Parental Guidance | https://amzn.to/2N401lg

Parental Guidance was another book my romance guru recommended and this one I loved! I truly loved. It was a 5 star read for me. This romance is a sports romance that features fake dating, dating apps, and parents choosing for them. I loved the dating app and how it all fell into place and I also loved how the parents were involved in this book and in developing this relationship. This was just such a great book.

I gave it 5 stars!

I Dare You | https://amzn.to/33JXxPB

I Dare You was another sports romance. This one following a collegiate athlete, which I definitely enjoyed because it was different than the other sports romances, which mainly follow professional athletes. I liked how the conversation of collegiate athletes not being paid was brought up and how that can really put a strain on their lives because they don’t have enough time to get a paying job. I liked the relationship in it and how it all came about and how college relationships can be a little different. I truly did enjoy this book and I enjoyed the speed at which the relationship developed.

I gave it 4 stars!

I’m Not Dying With You Tonight | https://amzn.to/31y8B0L

Now, I have multiple videos on I’m Not Dying With You Tonight. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and liked the tempo that it was written at, it’s very fast-paced and as with riots, which are also very fast. I will leave the other videos linked as well. I loved the topic of this book and how it was written from two different perspectives. I did think that there was some character development lacking in our black main character, but I thought there was a good representation of the culture as it was based on Atlanta’s inner-city areas.

I gave this book 4 stars!

All in all I felt like September brought out some great reads and was mainly a romance and contemporary month for me! If you’re looking for more on each book make sure to check out my wrap up down below!! Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

India

 

Book Reviews

Three Dark Crowns, Kendare Blake

India
There is only room for one Queen in the isle of Fennbirn, but there are three queens who are trying to be the strongest they can to take the throne. When the time comes it is going to be up to the all three queens to try and defeat the other in order to be called the true Queen. Each generation there are triplets that are born in the hopes that one of them will become the next true Queen. They grow up together for a few years and then are separated to go to their prospective part of the kingdom where they can learn how to grow the unique gifts that they were born with. Mirabella is an elementalist who can control the weather with a fierce energy and bring flames and lightening down on whomever gets in her way. Arsinoe is a naturalist who is said to be able to bloom flowers and help trees to grow, as well as have a familiar, or an animal, who she is said to be able to communicate with. Finally there is Katharine who is a poisoner, which makes her immune to all of the deadliest poisons to where she can even eat a whole feast of them.
I genuinely enjoyed this book. Once I finally got into it I could not put it down. There is a lot of world building in the beginning and with the fact that there are three queens, you have to see each of their worlds. There are a lot of characters in the book, which sometimes gets confusing, but as you keep reading they start to really set themselves apart. I love the different ways these queens grew up, and I was also glad to know that they all knew what happened for them to become the queen instead of the finding out on their 16th birthday. I would definitely recommend this book. It’s kind of in the dark fantasy realm. It’s not a typical princess book by any means, and that’s what I loved about it. Until next time,
Keep Turning the Pages
India
Book Reviews

Anything For Your Love, Amore

India
Anything For Love follows an up and coming lawyer, Alexander Love, who has everything he currently wants, a job he loves and a family who loves him and whom he loves back. If you don’t want to read past here this review is up on my Youtube Channel here and it is down below, but let’s keep going with this review! After having his heart broken by his high school girlfriend he never thought that he would want to be in another serious relationship again. Then in walks his cousin, Ami, with the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, Jada Whitman, and is instantly drawn to her. Jada is a producer from California who has come to visit with Ami for a vacation, but even with the certainty of her going back they end up seeing where this relationship can go. With both of their pasts coming up to bite them they find a way through it. I don’t want to give a lot of it away because it is good. A little confusing to read, but it is good.
The story was good…the writing not so much. I hated that instead of giving the characters their own chapter, like a lot of romance novels do, the point of view was switching from chapter to chapter. I felt like there was a better way to write it than to jump around and I could even write it so that the point of was seen from the original character at hand. I enjoyed the family aspect of the main character and seeing a black character have a strong family background with no dysfunctional parents or relatives. I enjoyed seeing all of the success of the family and how they supported one another. I did also enjoy the twist we got there at the end of the story that made it so much more interesting than a wealthy black man meets the love of his life. I’m trying to take out my automatic praising for a healthy black family life for an unbiased opinion of this book and it’s hard. I don’t think that it is a go out and get it right now kind of book, but it is a good read. A review is also up on my Youtube channel! Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India
Book Reviews

Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor

India
Lazlo Strange  has always been a no body. A person of insignificance. An orphan, a boy who helps monks, a librarian, a dreamer. Even with his low social status and overall menial existence to the world around him Lazlo has always found a way to dream and to have the wildest imagination fueled with stories from an old monk whom no one ever wanted to go see or talk to. From this monk Lazlo started to hear stories about Weep. A city that had long since been forgotten except for in legend. When Lazlo serendipitously becomes a librarian he has all of the information he could ever want laid out in front of him and sets his sights on finding out the mysteries of Weep. When he one day stumbles into the path of a spoiled alchemist who cannot turn items into gold and decided that he needs to help in someone way out of the goodness of his heart. When they get unexpected visitors in the city Lazlo finds that this is his chance to make a difference and to be someone greater than who he is,  but does he have the courage to do it?
I truly did love Strange the Dreamer. It was something different than I had ever read before for a fantasy novel and so it was very refreshing. I felt like it was somewhat relatable to a lot of people who believe that that they can be more than what they are. I also enjoyed the two perspectives that were given during the novel because it forms a more complete picture of all sides. I did feel like the characters could have used a little bit more development, but I didn’t feel like it was lacking. The only thing I was missing was a true antagonist to the book to get a little bit more conflict. A lot of it was about searching for a purpose and trying to find our purpose and where we fit in life. It was definitely worth the read and I can’t wait to read Muse of Nightmares for the rest of the story. I do have a review of the Strange the Dreamer up now on my Booktube channel that you can watch here! Or check it out down below. What did you think of Strange the Dreamer? Have you read any other books by Laini Taylor? The Darker Shades of Magic Series is on my list to read as well! Let me know, until next time,
Keep Turning the Pages
India
Book Reviews

The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo

India
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The Poet X by Elixabeth Acevedo
Xiomara came into this world fighting and she’s going to keep fighting through out it. She’s learned now when to use her fists and when not to, but she’s starting to learn how to use her words. X has always had a lot to say, but often would never say it. She had to please her mother and the Catholic church, she had to look out for her twin, and she had to be a best friend. X wanted to experience more and be more, but with her mom believing that God would send her to the depths of hell with just a word to a boy she couldn’t do much. Her twin gave her a leather bound notebook for one of her birthdays and X has always written her thoughts and feelings in it, including some poems. When she meets her english teacher for the year and she suggests that X joins the Poetry Club, X isn’t quite convinced and plus it’s another thing that she has to hide from her mom. What if this is what Xiomara needs to spread her wings and speak her truth. Maybe this is where she can find and use her voice.
This book was really good. To me it wasn’t great, but I also think that it was because I couldn’t relate to a large part of the book and it took me awhile to get into it. I started off by listening to it on Audible, but I felt like I was missing some formatting of the book. Then I decided to read it on my Kindle, it was then that I understood that everything was written as a poem.  It all clicked! I definitely felt like the book could be relatable to the Latinx and Catholic communities and brought some amazing points on family dynamics. I guess the reason this book wasn’t great to me was because I was also looking for resolve with Xiomara’s brother, Xavier. I loved what happened between Xiomara and her mom. I’ve been lucky because I’ve always felt like my mom is my best friend, and I don’t mean that in a way that she gives me everything I want, but she has always been supportive of me and I can spend all day with her. I loved talking about what it’s like to go from a body of a girl to a body of a woman and how the rest of the world starts to perceive you. Some good topics were brought up and I loved how they were expressed in poems, but I just didn’t feel completely fulfilled at the end. I would still recommend this book though. Have you read The Poet X? What did you think? Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India