5 Stars

Book Review | Cassidy Blake Series | V. E. Schwab

Book Review | Cassidy Blake Series | V. E. Schwab

After a near-death experience, Cassidy Blake has a new talent and a new best friend who happens to be a ghost. Well… the new talent is more of a distraction. Whenever there’s a ghost nearby, she feels a tap tap tap that won’t go away until she crosses the veil to witness what happened. Now her parents are telling her that instead of a quiet summer at the beach – where she can barely hear the ghosts – they’re going to be traveling to the most haunted places in the world to film their new television series. Begrudgingly, Cassidy packs her suitcase and tries to make the most out of the constant pull from the viel. At least her new best friend gets to come along. The ghost that saved her from dying. The ghost that makes sure she doesn’t spend too long in the veil. But the longer Cassidy is in these haunted locations, the stronger the pull becomes, leading Cassidy to discover that her gift is for more than playing the observer. She’s meant to help the souls cross over. This also means that she needs to right the unbalance she created when her best friend saved her.

Read More

Book Review | The Glass Scientists Vol 1 | S. H. Cotugno

Book Review | The Glass Scientists Vol 1 | S. H. Cotugno

In a world where the monsters are real, Dr. Henry Jekyll is trying to bring the arcane science back to life. That is… if he can get the funding to keep his community of scientists alive. He hopes the community’s outlook will change with his upcoming exhibition, but after bringing a new scientist into the fold, things go very wrong. First, Mr. Hyde wants to take a spin in the real world. Then Dr. Frankenstein turns out to be very much alive, bringing with her a very real Mad scientist that might just happen to set the city on fire… with a little help from Mr. Hyde. Now Jekyll is left trying to right what’s been wronged while keeping his dark secret to himself.

Read More

Book Series | Daughter of Smoke and Bone | Laini Taylor

Book Series | Daughter of Smoke and Bone | Laini Taylor

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.
When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself? - Goodreads

Read More

Book Review | The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | V. E. Schwab

Book Review | The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | V. E. Schwab

Addie Larue just wants to live. To live beyond the borders of her little town. She can’t imagine living and dying in the same few square miles that her family and friends have done for generations. So when the night of her wedding arrives, she makes a deal with a god from the dark. A god that promises her life, but with a twist. She will never be remembered. For 300 years, Addie walks through life, always having a first meeting, but never being remembered beyond leaving the room. She steals and lies and fights to leave the tiniest impression of herself in the world until the day that she’s finally remembered by a boy in a bookshop.

Read More

Manga Review | Tail of the Moon | Rinko Ueda

Manga Review | Tail of the Moon | Rinko Ueda

Sometimes it seems like Usagi is hopeless. Sure, she's good with healing herbs, but she's the granddaughter of the leader of a prestigious ninja village and she's such a klutz that she's never made it out of the kiddie class. Finally frustrated with Usagi's lack of progress, her grandfather sends her to marry a local lord and have lots of ninja babies. But the lord has no interest in her or her child bearing potential! After years of goofing around, Usagi is finally determined to reach her goals--she's going to become a ninja and capture her true love's heart! - Goodreads

Read More

Book Review | An Enchantment of Ravens | Margaret Rogerson

Book Review | An Enchantment of Ravens | Margaret Rogerson

Painting may seem like the best career for an extremely talented artist like Isobel, but not when your clients are the dangerous faerie who will try anything to trick you. Still, they need humans to do craft. Isobel takes great care with each of her clients, making sure to use their payment to protect her family. That is, until she angers one of her most important clients, Rook, by painting him as she sees him. Rook will not have it. Kidnapping her in the middle of the night to stand trial for her crimes, they end up far from their intended destination, realizing that the very thing Isobel painted, is the truth that lies beneath Rook’s glamored skin.

Read More

Book Review | Daughter of Smoke and Bone | Laini Taylor

Book Review | Daughter of Smoke and Bone | Laini Taylor

Karou is an art student with a talent for magical stories and a head full of blue hair. Students gather around for her wild creations, but sometimes a little shadow appears, whisking her away to a shop full of teeth run by the devil, her boss, and one of the very creatures featured  in her stories. But the doors that Karou uses to travel the world begin to be marked by a single hand print. Handprints placed by mystical creatures with fiery eyes. When Karou stumbles across one of these creatures, it unlocks a past of secrets, love, and a world of untold torment.

Read More

Book Review | Absolute Boyfriend | Yuu Watase

Book Review | Absolute Boyfriend | Yuu Watase

Shy high school student Riko Izawa aches for a boyfriend but guys just won't look her way. Then one day she signs up for a three-day trial of a mysterious "lover figurine," and the next thing she knows, a cute naked guy is delivered to her doorstep--and he wants to be her boyfriend!

Has Riko died and gone to heaven? The cute naked guy turns out to be smart, super nice, stylish and a gourmet chef. Plus, he looks like a million bucks.... Trouble is, that's about what he's going to cost Riko because she didn't return him in time! -Goodreads

Read More

Book Review | This Mortal Coil | Emily Suvada

Book Review | This Mortal Coil | Emily Suvada

For two years Catarina has had to learn to live on her own as a deadly virus ravishes the world. A virus without a cure unless her father, arrested by the all powerful Caratux company with its hand in the gene technology, can engineer a vaccine. But he was taken from her two years ago and she’s heard nothing since. That was until one of Caratux’s engineered soldiers shows up on her doorstep with news that she never wanted to hear. Her father is dead and she might be the world’s only hope in decoding the vaccine her father discovered. But can she trust the soldier that’s been sent to protect her?

Read More

Book Review | Roar | Cora Carmack

Book Review | Roar | Cora Carmack

In a world where having the power to control storms means life or death, a princess born without that power to protect her people is a bit of a problem. All her life, Aurora has hid this though, using her upcoming marriage as a way to keep her kingdom safe. But as the marriage approaches and Aurora finally meets her groom, she learns that selling herself to save her kingdom might be the end of her own life. She’s giving up one chain for an overpowering, manipulative husband. However, there may be a chance that she can become what her kingdom needs. She meets a group of storm hunters that have learned to capture magic without being born with a lick of it themselves. Aurora works with a trusted friend to make it appear like she’s been kidnapped in hopes that when she leaves, her groom will stay and help protect her people. But it’s turned into something much worse when the truth behind her groom’s marriage contract becomes clear.

Read More

Book Review | Estranged Series | Ethan M. Aldridge

Book Review | Estranged Series | Ethan M. Aldridge

After being swapped at birth with a human child, Edmund has grown up in the world above, struggling to fit in, and hiding his true identity from his human parents. All the while questioning how his real parents could have traded him for a human boy. The boy has grown up in the world below as the Childe. Never given a real name or a place to belong either. But one day, the Childe is forced to flee the world below when an evil relative takes the throne. He only knows of one place to run to, his real home, the home the changeling now occupies. To keep their secrets and hopefully save the world below, they team up, finding what the true meaning of family is.

Read More

Book Review | "The How & The Why" | Cynthia Hand

Book Review | "The How & The Why" | Cynthia Hand

Cass was given a second chance on a family when she was adopted at six weeks old. Eighteen years later and thoughts about her birth mother have started to creep into her head. Who was the woman that gave her up? Where does she ultimately come from? People have always said she looks just like her adopted mother, confusing her as their real child, but she didn’t come from them. She came from someone else. When Cass’s adoptive mother needs a new heart and the doctors don’t think she’ll make it much longer, she tells Cass about letters her birth mother wrote to her before she was born. Letters that could finally answer all the questions. In the search though, Cass worries that she’s not seeing the family right in front of her eyes.

Read More

Book Review | "Tunnel of Bones" | Victoria Scwab

Book Review | "Tunnel of Bones" | Victoria Scwab

If Edinburgh had been a ghostly nightmare, France feels like a walk in the park for Cassidy Blake. That is until she goes to the first recording location with her parents - the catacombs. It’s not the bodies that are haunting the place, pulling Cassidy to the veil, but the poor soul’s that have gotten lost in the twisting, turning tunnels five stories underground. Cassidy promises to stay on the side of the living. An accidental slip send her through the veil anyway. All she can see is a red light. A red light that is attached to something scarier than Cassidy has ever faced before. 

Read More

Book Review | "Scythe" | Neal Shusterman

Book Review | "Scythe" | Neal Shusterman

The world is no longer a scary place - war, starvation, disease, and death have been eradicated. A person can now live forever… at least hypothetically. The population keeps growing, forcing the Scythes to be created. In a random fashion, they choose their victim and end that person’s life. There’s no reanimation chamber for these people. They are truly dead, all to meet a Scythe’s quota. Rowan and Citra never expected to be summoned as a Scythe’s apprentice after they encounter their friendly, neighborhood Scythe on one of his killings. What starts as a normal year of learning to kill, quickly spirals as the very Scythemdom itself is rocked from the inside, forcing Rowan and Citra to fight for their lives.

Read More

Book Review | "Red, White & Royal Blue" | Casey McQuiston

Book Review | "Red, White & Royal Blue" | Casey McQuiston

Alex’s life is the perfect blend of dreams come true and chaos - his mother is the first female President. With his life now on a stage and his mother up for re-election, nothing can go seriously wrong. Like an altercation with a Prince across the pond. After a horrifying tabloid scandal, Alex and Henry are forced to play nice and convince the world that they’re friends. But the more time they spend together, the more they learn that there’s something behind all the angst. The two set down a dangerous path that could ruin their lives and Alex’s mother’s re-election.

Read More

Book Review | "If We Were Villains" | M. L. Rio

Book Review | "If We Were Villains" | M. L. Rio

Ten long years and, finally, Oliver can walk as a free man. Detective Colbourne just has one last favor. Since he’s going into the private sector, could Olvier tell him what really happened that night on the dock? But it doesn’t come down to one single moment. There are seven characters in this play and Oliver takes Colbourne to the start where their lives changed forever. When the life of the stage bled into reality.

Read More

Book Review | "Destroy All Monsters" | Sam J. Miller

Book Review | "Destroy All Monsters" | Sam J. Miller

Ash and Solomon are best friends who live in different worlds. Ash’s is in the real world where she’s forced to watch Solomon spiral deeper into his delusions. Solomon lives in the Darkside where being different is persecuted. As things become dire in Ash’s world, Solomon’s magic begins to blend with reality and Ash wonders what really changed their lives when they were twelve. Together they learn about real monster as Ash prays that she can get her best friend back.

Read More

Book Review | "Valley Girls" | Sarah Nicole Lemon

Book Review | "Valley Girls" | Sarah Nicole Lemon

Rilla is stuck spending the summer with her park ranger sister after her life falls apart back home. With a one way bus ticket and a pile of homework to keep her from failing out of school, she’s determined to show everyone. To show everyone that she’s really okay. And it seems like things could be okay after she stumbles into a rock climbing group in the park. They take her under their wings, showing her the literal ropes. However, she can’t let go of her haunting past and starts to see the new group judge her in the same way. Losing faith in them, in her sister, and in herself, she makes one wrong decision that could change her future again.

Read More