Tag: young adult

Categories
Book Advice Books Goals and Wrap Ups

I Was in a Reading Slump | Here’s What I Ended Up Reading (And Why It Didn’t Stick)

Estimated Reading Time: 6min

It’s been a while… and that’s because I’ve been in a book slump. Reading has been on the back burner, difficult to have time and space for, and overall just not much had been appealing to me. Having said that, I did get through some books in recent times, despite the slump, so here they are.

Two Can Play That Game (Leanne Yong)

Cute, fun, nerdy, everything you wanted. There was minimal romance, and most of it was about the games. If you love games, you’ll love this. I had a lot of fun seeing the Australian Malaysian world, and the character development was good too. I felt it was very slow paced, which made it a bit difficult for me to get through, but having said that, I also really enjoyed it. I found myself laughing out loud a lot, and I really liked Most of the book.

Grab the book Here

Unblemished (Sara Ella)

On one hand, I thought this book was quite interesting. The world had a lot to offer, the magic system quite fascinating, and I could see what the author was doing with plot and themes. However, there were so many points that made me frustrated or halted along the way. I will say one thing, this actually felt like a YA book – it was written for that audience – and I applaud that!
Unfortunately, there were a few things for me that didn’t make sense or just felt like they didn’t fit. Firstly, there is a steep learning curve (in my opinion) for the world and magic system. Especially for a YA story. You discover everything along with the main character El, but things are so complex (almost unnecessarily so) that it is a challenge to keep everything straight – including the people. That’s the next issue, so. Many. People. I had to try and keep track of a lot, who apparently are all their own islands and have depth. Normally this would be a good thing, but for a book so short and with so many other things to try and work through, it was too much. That leads me into another issue, so much of the book was eaten up at the start with the grief and real world stuff. I just wanted the story to start already; it felt a little too drawn out for me. Another thing that kept interrupting the flow of the story was all the flashbacks! They were so unnecessary. That page space could have been filled with more time to flesh out the world explaining; instead we got so many flashbacks that didn’t really serve a proper purpose.
Another thing is the very strange sibling dynamics in this book. Dude. Can we not?
I also don’t like love triangles so that was frustrating on a personal level. Joshua was so hot and cold and all over the place, it was hard to see what the heck the draw was. We didn’t see much of any of the reason we should root for him – a lot of that was just implied or seen quickly in a section of a flashback. We really needed more for him to see why El ignores all the bad treatment now for us to buy into it. Even if she won’t choose him at the end of the series (not sure yet how that’s going to work out), give us a reason not to hate him please.
I don’t see myself continuing but I don’t think it’s the target audience that is the reason.

Grab the book Here

Royal Heirs Academy (Lindsey Duga)

While I enjoyed this book, I did think maybe it was doing too many things in one book. There were four main characters we were following, or with their own back stories and their own current plot lines. There was The who’s gonna be the new air to the throne thread, there was also The how they’re going to get used to this exclusive and somewhat secretive unless you know the right people school, and make it work. There was a lot happening. Having said that, I still really enjoyed this book. I think a few less characters would’ve made it easier to follow, but I did like all the characters. I think the way the story progressed was good, but the ending felt a little bit out of character. I understand what they were doing, but I am a little split on how it went down. I thought it was very well written, and the characters were very interesting and easy to understand. I would read the next book, and I did quite enjoy it.

Grab the book Here

The Last Legacy (Adrienne Young)

It’s been a while since I read the first two as I knew this was a bit more separate from those and in doing so, I kind of shot myself in the foot.
Technically part of the series, but I don’t remember what the link even is. These people are very separate with only a minor link to the rest and without establishing with anyone in the main character list from book 1 and 2, it was just very separate.
I didn’t get the high seas pirate ship adventure like the first two books which was why I was interested in the first place. This felt boring, which for a family of criminals wasn’t expected. The last third was the most interesting but it honestly took me so long to get there that I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted this book to be over, which was different to my experience of the first two.
Didn’t really care about the characters or what was going on, but it was written well. If you’re interested in a book with this time period you may enjoy. Not for me.

Grab the book Here

Out of Tune (Beth Reekles)

Pretty cute, pretty fun but also pretty standard. Not much that was particularly stand out. Nice writing, easy story, pretty good.

Grab the book Here

I hope that the books I’m reading right now will help keep out out of a slump, but what are some tips that you know to get you out of the reading slump zone? I’d love some help!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books

I Finally Read My Most Anticipated Books | Here’s What Actually Delivered

Estimated Reading Time: 5min

I have a few anticipated books that have come out recently and I am so excited to finally read them and let you know whether they were worth the wait, or not…

Close Protection (Eden Victoria)

I liked it okay, but it was pretty mid level for me. The concept was average, romance was good but mostly average save few great moments, the writing was good but not incredible. It was nice but sometimes a little boring. Only because it didn’t really have a grab your attention premise amongst a sea of other options. It sounded great, but it was just good/okay.
It frustrated me that almost grown woman exclusively referred to her actual Father as Daddy continuously like she was 8. It gave booktok type hints but never properly followed through. Simultaneously characters were somewhat dull and unusually brutal at once. Everyone was good at everything.
It felt like it hovered around the edge of great but just never quite made it. Good, but not incredible. Still a worthwhile read though.

Grab the book Here

Thieves Gambit: Heist Royale (Kayvion Lewis)

I’m going to count this as “read” even though I did not technically finish it. I was really wanting to continue the series with this book, however it was released too long after I read the first for me to a) remember what happened and who I was supposed to care about and b) be interested in general. I am hoping to come back to this another time when I’m more in the mood for it, but I did find it difficult to get into this story.

Grab the book Here

Games Untold (Jennifer Lynn-Barnes)

Mixed short stories following the characters we know from the inheritance games. Some were good, some were really interesting, and some only so so. A short story book is always a little challenging to review, because there are so many variables. But I will say, though, I did enjoy seeing the characters again and filling in some of the blanks that the main books didn’t flesh out.
Stories I really enjoyed was Hannah and Toby, I also love Xander. He is such a fun character. Nash is actually my favourite after this short story, I really wish we had more Nash in the main series because he is such a funny character.
Fun and really just for fans to get another little look into the characters that they like.

Grab the book Here

Fragile Sanctuary (Catherine Cowles)

Ummm, well that wasn’t what I expected.
I didn’t realise this was an open door book until I was already in it. For some reason the content warnings I looked at did not put that on the list, which I really wish it would have. I’m a closed door book preferred reader, so it was a little bit Unusual. Having said that, I made it all the way to the end because I wanted to see how the rest of the plot would conclude. I liked it, I thought that the characters were on the heavy side, there was a lot of grief and loss that was looked at, discussed, and dealt with. I thought it was done pretty well, and pretty realistically. I enjoyed the mystery part of the story, however I will say the reveal at the end was more of the. “ Let’s not give the reader any clues whatsoever and throw an absolute curveball at the end” type of conclusion. I don’t like those, because they feel undeserved, and almost like a trick on the reader. Rather than laying down clues all the way through, if you were smart to pick them up or if you look back and think of course, those are the better reveals. This was very much a zero clues given type of a reveal.

Grab the book Here

Wes and Addie Had Their Chance (Bethany Turner)

There was a lot to like in this book, and I found the character of Wes to be really fun to read. There was a lot of elements going on, like the CIA, presidential candidate, being left at the altar, second chance romance, death of a spouse, alcoholism, fake marriage, and so much more. It was a lot packed into one story. There was also a small town romance, And links to the characters we saw in the first few books of this town. I didn’t love these characters as much as the previous, however Wes really was a great character. He was interesting, a little bit sloppy and crazy, but we love him for it. Addie was an interesting one for me, I am not 100% sure on how I feel about her. I understood her motivations, she was pretty well written, but as a character I didn’t really engage with her. I bought their story, I bought what happened in the plot when we came into it, but I really came to the story for Wes.
While this was printed under a predominantly Christian publisher, I wouldn’t call this book a Christian book. A lot of Bethany‘s earlier books would have an easier time being labelled as that, but a lot of her later books are not. There was one very small reference and in passing to Jesus in here, but if you are looking for what made her earlier books so great in the Christian space, you won’t get it here. In fact you won’t get it in this entire entire series. Not that I mind necessarily, I did feel like this book had a little bit of a sellout vibe to it though. I understand it’s a story that Bethany wanted to write for a very long time, so I understand if she had to do what she had to do to get this written, or she could’ve wanted the story to look like this the whole time. It doesn’t really matter, it was still a good book.
I liked the idea of the presidential campaign in the background, but it really wasn’t the focus of the book. There was even death of a parent to focus on, and a lot to try and pin down. I think perhaps that’s why some of this fell a little less than I was hoping for, because it was just so much jam packed into one story.

Grab the book Here

Well, there you have it. Have you ready any of these books? Let me know your thoughts below!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Special Categories

Revisiting Childhood Books as an Adult | What Held Up and What Didn’t

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

I read quite a different sort of book when I was a pre-teen / teenager. Yet, some of them still feel like a comfort read and that they might be good to revisit. So, that’s what I did. I re-read books from when I was younger to see if they were still a win now that I’m quite a bit older.

My Life as a Screaming Skydiver – Bill Meyers

Silly, Super-powered, and So worth the read!

Facing the idea of taking responsibility, with a funny tone that I could easily see why appealed to me in school – this book was fantastic (move aside kids, I’m taking over the Wally McDoogle books and reading them for myself!).

I read this in Yr5, and again as a late 20s adult and it held up both times for me.
There’s something about this book. Yes it was silly, outlandish, and impossibly ridiculous, but it WORKED!

The funny jokes (which I still enjoyed as an adult), the breaks in paragraphs just to give descriptive words of Wally’s uncoordinated hits, and the uplifting tone throughout was perfect.
I loved the simple message (taking responsibility for our actions – mistake or not), and it was delivered in such an entertaining way that it didn’t even feel like a “lesson”.

Highly recommended to kids for the simple, entertaining, and solid life advice in these books.

Grab the book Here

Windy City Danger – Jenkins and Fabry

Preface: I’m no longer the target audience for this.

Lots of focus on the twins coming back to Chicago and pretty much everyone mentions their dead dad to them (not nice for them and annoying for the reader).

Things were pretty surface or preachy.

The mystery was interesting but not the central focus of the story. I would have liked it the other way around – mostly mystery and little other stuff.

Grab the book Here

Bad Connection – Melody Carlson

Interesting look into how consistent dreams and visions from God could look in the hands of a teenager. I enjoyed the solving crimes aspect. It was written in a way that actually came across as a teenagers POV, which doesn’t always happen anymore – and even though I’m not one anymore, I appreciated that element of it.
The Christian themes were a little heavy handed. I know the story is literally about the Spiritual Gifts, but some of it felt a bit…. Pushy or messy.
The very short and not substantially addressed family with a drug problem didn’t really need to be there but it was fine.

Grab the book Here

Torch Red – Melody Carlson

I did make my way through this quite easily but wow.
This was pretty heavy on the sex talk, but without going too detailed that made it feel smutty.
The double standards on how EVERYONE in this book see men and women when it comes to sex was insane. That boys will be boys, and only women get hurt stuff was infuriating.
Stupid choices and pretty heavy handed Christian views on everything was from start to finish.
Still, I was engaged and invested.

Grab the book Here

Raiders From the Sea – Lois Walfrid Johnson

I read this when I was in school (that’s who it’s aimed for after all), but I still enjoyed it now.

It’s book 1 in a series, and they’re a little shorter than I’m used to.

The story was interesting, and felt true to the times.

The biblical principals and themes felt a little ‘throw it in your face every five minutes’ but I didn’t mind too much. Someone who isn’t used to that, I could see being frustrated by it though.

I liked the characters, but because of the shortness of the book/s, it was hard to become too invested.
There was also a lot of ‘looking back’ / info dump-type moments. Some of which, I had to skim read over.

Overall, it was good and I’ll probably read the rest to find out what happens in the rest of the story.

Grab the book Here

Well, sometimes when you aren’t the target audience you can still enjoy a story. Other times, it’s clear that this was not written for you. Either way, it’s always nice to go down a stroll on memory lane.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Authors Book Reviews Books

Giving authors a second chance

Estimated Reading Time: 8min

I’m reading authors that I didn’t enjoy the first time, and seeing if another of their books proves it was a one off. So let’s do this!

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

First Book – The Inheritance Games

Interesting puzzles. Fun characters. Solid writing style.
Characters certainly hit the buzz words/characteristics – independent “don’tneedaman” women, “diversity” “broodingandsensitive” and “imamazingbutdontrealisetheyallcareforme”

A personal dislike was the few mentions every so often of new age references.

Second Book – The Hawthorne Legacy

Intriguing puzzles and more complex personal dynamics than ever before.
It’s been a while since I had read book 1, but I picked up where I left off pretty well. Short and sharp chapters, clever and always keeping you guessing.

Summary

I know what you’re thinking, why did I have to give a second chance for a book I rated 4 stars! Well, it’s because I completely wiped this author off my list after this book. Honestly, it was not a decision that I recall. Ultimately, I liked continuing the series and I think I will indeed come back to this author again.

Matthew Reilly

First book: Cobolt Blue

Potential, but disappointing follow through. 

This book was power rangers meets superhero bloodbath. 

It was violently unnecessary and way too quick. No development of characters or world, instead one of the most annoying parts. 

This book is almost entirely ‘flashback’ driven. It’s almost all info dump flashbacks instead of cleverly weaved world building and information provided as the story progresses. 

The author couldn’t have screamed ‘Gold is the GAY character’ any louder – so much so that he became a characature instead of a real person. You can actually write gay characters without screaming it from the rooftop every time you mention them. 

A thoroughly disgusting portrayal of a Christian (most of us ARE NOT like that), which was totally unnecessary. 

This was short but certainly not sweet. It was irritating at the lack of depth and development. It felt like someone edited out half the story and just left the action scenes and random exposition. 

Second book: Hover Car Racer

I loved the look not just at racing, but racing hover cars at a pro level, with an underdog team. The racing school and all other races were great, I loved the dynamics between characters and racers.
Special place in my heart for The Bug who was a quirky addition to the team, and it was a really fun time all around.
I wasn’t sure if the racing would lose my attention, but because of the hover car element it actually kept it quite well. The way the races were set out and described was fascinating.

Summary

I was not impressed with Matthew’s book Cobolt Blue – which was a superhero novella. The second story I tried however, Hover Car Racer, was my first five star read in quite a while. It was fast, fun and full of action and adventure. I’m glad I said yes to this second chance!

Taylor Jenkins Reid

First book: Daisy Jones and the Six

I’m going to try and condense my review to short and sharp with no spoilers… so here we go.
Lots of drug abuse and sexual references.
Selfish characters who were horrible to each other and I didn’t feel sorry for any of them.
The writing structure of interview was fun, and it was an easy style to get through quickly, but that wasn’t enough to save it from me.
Some of the trigger warnings should be noted and I will include them here:

Content Warning: drug abuse; sexual references and content; abortion; domestic abuse; alcoholism; cursing

Second book: Carrie Soto Is Back

I quite liked this one. I had tried other TJR books and not enjoyed it but this one was actually a good read for me.

No objectionable content outside of the unlikable main character (purposely written that way) who was such a bad sport/sore loser that it was pretty much insufferable but outside of that, you root for an unlikable person. I suppose because she’s the only one to root for because she’s the only tennis star we really know a lot about (outside of her male counterpart).

The tennis stuff was pretty uninteresting for me (not a sport girlie) but not so bad that I couldn’t continue on – palpable, which was nice.

Even though we had an unlikable character who was a shocking sport, self destructive and basically earned the name she was labelled, somehow it was still an enjoyable read. I can’t quite put my finger on why… I think it’s chalked up to being well written and not pushing the boundaries of unlikable too far. We did get somewhat redemptive information revealed and maybe that’s why I ended up finishing this book with a “it’s pretty good” opinion.

Summary

I am glad I gave another TJR book a go. While it wasn’t a 5 star banger, Carrie Soto was still a better read that I enjoyed more (and surprised me) than Daisy Jones.

Holly Jackson

A Good Girls Guide To Murder – first book

Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I looked into the trigger warnings when I was part way through and decided not to keep going. 
It was fine, but eh…

The Reappearance of Rachel Price – second book

Kept me pretty interested. I actually couldn’t stand the suspense on who to trust and who not to so I looked up spoilers around halfway through.
You basically couldn’t trust ANYONE in this story, and that drove me a little insane. It keeps you on the edge but it’s also maddening to try and connect to anyone. Anyone at all.
At one point or another I basically hated everyone. It was twisty and maddening, and yet it still had me. It was really well done. The mystery overall was unexpected and great. The documentary elements were fun. Characters were a disaster, but on purpose.

Triggers/content warnings: Cursing is moderate. Domestic relationships are complex and gaslighting/abuse is present in various relationships. Kidnapping.

Summary

I have attempted and DNFd two books by Holly and thought that maybe she wasn’t for me. However, third time was the one that I not only made all the way through, but actually enjoyed.

David Yoon

Super Fake Love Song – first book

2.5 stars dnf (skipped to end) at 1/3 mark

Funny writing, likeable and Interesting characters and story idea. What killed it for me, were the too many satanic/demonic references. 

Frankly I’m Love – second book

Okay, so the satanic references were not specific to the other David Yoon book I read, but neither was the humor. 

He’s funny. It was funny. 

Racism explored, immigrants explored, terminal illness and cancer along with fake dating and high school shenanigans. 

It was pretty good.  

Summary

I am glad that I read another of David Yoon’s books because they are hilarious. I will say, more surprising satanic references, but nowhere close to the previous book I had read.

Katherine Centre

The Bodyguard – first book

Too slow to start. Not a fan of grief as a big character focus. Felt meh about it so didn’t continue. 

The Bodyguard – second book

I’m so glad I gave this book another shot because I actually really enjoyed it!
It was slow to start, with a lot of grief hitting you in the face, but once we got past that and it took off running, I really enjoyed it. I liked the dynamic between the main characters, the element of fake dating and while serious drama or grief are not themes I normally gravitate towards, I think the author did a good job representing them.

Summary

I know, it’s the same book. But I honestly decided to give The Bodyguard another chance, and I’m glad I did. This was a win for sure, and probably not what I needed to read when I first gave it a go. Mood reading is definitely a thing people!

Ha! So it was mostly worth the second try… it was surprising but amazing to find out that even though one book was a fail for me, doesn’t mean the author themselves will be. It all depends on the story and the kind of book I’m interested in at the time of reading.

See You in The Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Special Categories

i read some royal romances

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

i enjoyed Princess Diaries, The Prince and Me and a few other royal romance stories, but i have never really focussed a lot of attention on it. To be honest, i didn’t realise just how MANY of these types of stories were out there… but now I do. i went through and read just a few and found out that i actually kind of like them… here are just a few reviews of recent royal romance reads!

amercian royalty by katherine mcgee

Interesting premise and characters BUT too many plots.
No main plot with sub plots, just five smaller plots all happening at once that are all interconnected. Following three royal kids with two outsiders that have other outsiders connected to those was exhausting.
Everyone loves someone they can’t be with because of “family” or “expectations” or “crossed lovers syndrome”. Frustrating and heart twisting (not in a good way) all I got was aggravated and YET I still liked it. I still found the characters and idea of an American royal family engaging.

Grab the book Here

once upon a prince by Rachel Hauck

Predictable but enjoyable.
Pretty good, and not an Insta love story which is great.
Spanned over time in a more realistic timeline.
Relatable main character (Suzanna, not the prince) and I liked the spunk and sweet moments. Not sure why we had a “crazy” homeless woman who was spiritually discerning… made that look like it was only done by loonies, which it isn’t.
Apart from that, nice faith themes spread throughout.

Grab the book Here

to win a prince by toni shiloh

Such a great love story.
Haven’t read the first book, but It didn’t matter. Backstory was explained without feeling info dumpy.

Ekon’s character was frustrating to watch but well done and I liked how his journey felt true to the character, but also viewed the idea of change.

Iris was great. Empaths are not always explored well or written well, but I thought it was handled very well. Her story was also nice to watch unfold.

The romance was nice. It didn’t feel too forced, though I will admit the Insta love thing is not really my favourite and there was a small amount of that here.

I liked how God and Faith were woven in.
I also liked seeing some of the cultural things as well.

Really good read, and I would recommend this romance book for sure.

Grab the book Here

to love a prince by rachel hauck

Really cute story with lovely faith elements that weren’t too overpowering.
Relationship dynamics were great, with any issues and miscommunication dealt with quickly and in a satisfying way.
Romance was childhood friends to lovers which was great.

Grab the book Here

tokyo ever after by emiko jean

emiko jean

Just such an amazing read.
Hilarious, heartwarming and a truly beautiful story. The characters were really funny, and what The Princess Diaries books lacked for me, this one picked up the pieces and even added to them. The Tokyo traditions and culture was a really great addition to this story, and I enjoyed the way the plot flowed. Nothing particularly unique in terms of plot, but the way that it was framed with characters and setting made it still a really great story and journey to go on with all our characters.

Grab the book Here

hope you enjoy the royal romances and my thoughts on just a few.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Booktok/Booktube Featured Bookish Great Reads

SUCCESS When Booktube made me read it…

Estimated Reading Time: 7min

There are books that come up every so often that make it onto the list simply because somebody else (quite often in another country) has filmed themselves talking about it. This is that list.

I have recently gone through some books that I found only because of the internet, and what I thought of them:

Nora Goes Off Script by annabel monaghan

monaghan

This story was so cute!
It was short without being too short, moving without being unrealistic and romantic without being over the top.
Loved the romance and characters and I loved the story.
The only thing for me that I didn’t like, was too much descriptive text about the surroundings from time to time (though I do understand the meaning of it for the story)

Content warning: one mild love scene; constant references to that

Grab the book Here

Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter

painter

Funny, littered with fun romcom references and fully what you want from a romance.

I loved the banter, I loved the characters and their relationships. I loved the old school style and references to classic romantic comedy’s.

It was such a fun ride and I finished almost the whole book in just one afternoon!

Grab the book Here

the summer of broken rules by k.l. walther

walther

Love this book! So cute, so funny, so moving – just adored the romance hahah.

Wit and Mer were so fun, and had such a beautiful romance in the midst of the family game.
The game itself unfolded so hilariously – I LOVED Wit’s commitment to spraying people with water guns 😂
Touching moments of grieving and moving on with life. Forgiveness and healing.
The final showdown….. the best!
A wedding thrown in the midst of all the chaos and alliances was just cherry on top.

Such a fun and easy read 🙂

Grab the book Here

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

painter

Loved this one – it was funny, entertaining, and somehow made you forget the Groundhog Day trope being so overdone. I didn’t mind one bit, and instead got to thoroughly enjoy myself as we followed Em throughout.
Funny, entertaining and relatable.
I thought some of it became predictable and I could see the direction, but I enjoyed it in spite of that. The characters had a natural feeling progression and sometimes surprised you. This one was beautifully executed and I loved listening to the audiobook!

Grab the book Here

Meet Me in The Margins by melissa ferguson

ferguson

I didn’t care that this book was somewhat predictable, because I had so much fun reading it.
The characters had great chemistry, they were flawed but willing to do something when they had a chance, and there was all the drama!
I love books about readers and writers, so this was IT for me. Editors meeting in the margins over the course of a month and working on a book? Yes!
There was a lot of really funny but genuine moments, and the BANTER was just so great. Melissa wrote this book with a great flow and it was easy to speed through and stay up way too late just to finish it!

Grab the book Here

the prison healer by lynette noni

noni

I was surprised at how much I actually loved this book. The entire plot centres around the elemental trials and life in this crazy dangerous prison.
Our main characters are engaging, interesting and encircled by such an interesting world.
The ending……. I went out and got the next two books on almost that alone. I GOTSTA know what happens next!
Careful of content/trigger warnings (I will list below) but the author didn’t go tooooo far with those so just be aware.

Content warnings: violence (graphic), gore (moderate), self harm (moderate), sexual assault/harassment (moderate), Child abuse (moderate), torture (graphic), confinement (graphic)

Grab the book Here

these were a few of the recent wins, but have you read any books because of the internet? i’d love to hear what won for you and what lost.

See You in the Adventures
Christy Grace!

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books

reading a book with someone else’s annotations

Estimated Reading Time: 3min

Have you bookish people heard about this thing called “annotating” books? of course you have (and if you hadn’t, don’t worry – i got you!).

I never really understood annotating a fictional story – non-fiction, yes, but fiction? nup. so i decided to see what the reason is and what it would be like to read a fictional story with someones thoughts and comments already written in the margins. i headed over to etsy (the greatest place to get the most unique things) and found a book i was interested in before hitting that purchase button.

I chose “the summer of broken rules” and let me tell you, it was an experience. both the book itself and someone else’s in time thoughts on the page.

So, just what was it like to read a book that someone had tabbed, underlined and written in? GREAT! I love it! I now understand the hype, because it was so fun to essentially buddy read this book alongside someone else in another place, at another time, but reading the same words (I wonder how powerful this would be if we did it with the Bible – but that’s another thing).

i loved seeing her thoughts as i went through the book, what was worthy of being underlined and remembered, the things that were sad but meaningful to the story, what was funny or romantic and more. It was so interesting to see if someone else kept pace with me, if they veered off to places i hadn’t considered in their own reading, and general thoughts as they went.

i honestly loved doing this, and while i don’t know if i would do it all the time or forevermore, i do believe this was such a fun and special experience and don’t regret it at all.

when i told my parents that i had done this for a video/blog post idea, they thought i was nuts to buy a book that had been scribbled all over – but i honestly hold on to my reasoning and purchase!

Grab the book Here

My Review

Love this book! So cute, so funny, so moving – just adored the romance hahah.

Wit and Mer were so fun, and had such a beautiful romance in the midst of the family game.
The game itself unfolded so hilariously – I LOVED Wit’s commitment to spraying people with water guns 😂
Touching moments of grieving and moving on with life. Forgiveness and healing.
The final showdown….. the best!
A wedding thrown in the midst of all the chaos and alliances was just cherry on top.

Such a fun and easy read 🙂

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Genre Reading

Finally Reading Old Fantasy from on my collection

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

i decided to go through my bookcase and do an inventory, and i discovered that there were a ton of books i wanted to read, but the ones that had been there the longest, were often at the end of the list.

it seemed a shame, so i decided to abandon the new stuff i was excited for, and read the ones that had been there the longest BEFORE i got to those. This is the category of “CHRISTIAN FANTASY” and hopefully I can do this for all the genres in my bookcase, but for now, here are these results:

Season of Wonder: Remnants Book 1 by Lisa T Bergren

Pretty interesting plot idea. Relatively solid theological content, and easily applicable to every Christian today – we all have access to all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were given to the main characters.
Clearly a strong grasp of spiritual warfare, and dealing with your own emotions in a positive and Godly way. Great for those struggling with this. Language used was somewhat annoying – the way it was told how old someone was, the language sounded “Firefly” ish, and nicknames were flip flopped between used and not used, which was frustrating. Pretty good, but probably not holding my attention enough to continue the series.

Grab the book Here

Storm Siren: Book 1 by Mary Webber

I honestly have such random and scattered thoughts on this so…. Spoilers and chaotic answers ahead:
Reasons I don’t like it
– Too much magic
– Love triangle?? What was the point?
– Danger to kids – them being killed at almost every turn
– Too many gorey descriptions of death
– Killing everyone (and I do mean almost everyone of the good guys!) is not a plot device
– too many mentions of the main love interest being “unfairly attractive” ugh, please
What I liked
– The explanations of Nym using her elemental powers, sense the killing and death
– The banter of an independent Nym
– Interesting world
Honestly, why even bother creating a cast of characters we learn about only to kill all of them anyway?? I feel betrayed by the author – you strung me along only to yank away every person I connected to in the story, save one. Boo you.

Grab the book Here

Nine by Rachelle Dekker

dekker

Redemption, identity, and are we a product of our environment, or can we choose our lives?
I loved this story! It felt very Jason Bourne meets Divergent and I was here for it!
The characters were easy to connect with, somewhat unreliable at times (which made them exciting and interesting), and brought up some really deep and dense topics. Rachelle handled those topics and characters beautifully! I love the way she writes, and the story was fun and entertaining all the way to the end.

Grab the book Here

Recruits: Book 1 by Thomas Locke

It had me all the way until the last 70 pages, then it lost me.
Fun, interesting, and a fascinating world.
Then it went creepy, haunting and utterly unreadable for me. Shame because it was such a great book until then.

Grab the book Here

The Gifted: The Daegmon War Book 1 by Matthew Dickerson

I didn’t make it past page 10 of this book.
the writing style wasn’t connecting with me, the main character felt like a rip off of Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the “bad guy” was already shaping up to be too creepy for me to like.
I decided to give up before I went down the rabbit hole.

Grab the book Here

have you read any of those? maybe you want to now after hearing my thoughts? You can check out these books by clicking on their titles and heading to the Goodreads page for each to learn more about them.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace