Sorcery of Thorns ( Spoiler Free ) Review

Title: Sorcery of Thorns
Author: Margaret Rogerson
My rating: 5/5 stars
Date Read: 9/11/19

Sorcery of Thorns is a book I heard many great things about and was very excited to read it despite not liking the author's debut book An Enchantment of Ravens. I do recommend that you give this book a chance even if you were not a fan of An Enchantment of Ravens because I also saw many reviews that felt the same way as I did.

This book follows a girl name Elisabeth who has grown up in one of the great libraries. After being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Elisabeth is blamed for a crime that she did not commit and as a result will eventually have to team up with a Sorcerer despite the fact that she has been raised to believe that they are bad.

I really enjoyed this book so much more than I did. I was hooked around thirty pages into the book and pretty much flew through it. Sorcery of Thorns is a standalone fantasy book so it is absolutely perfect for fantasy lovers who do not want to commit to a new fantasy series.

I used to say I am not a fan of romances in books (especially in fantasy) but lately I am finding myself enjoying a lot of the ones I read recently including this one. Honestly it is one of my favorites that I have read. I really liked the love interest and he is probably my second favorite character behind Silas who is his demon servant.

The world was great and the characters were great although I am not going to lie, Elisabeth was sometimes annoying because of some of her actions but overall really enjoyed it and I found myself reading a lot later into the night then I should have been.

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Spin the Dawn ( Spoiler Free ) Review

Title: Spin the Dawn
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Series: The Blood of Stars #1
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Date Read: 8/26/19


Spin the Dawn is sold as Project Runway meets Mulan and usually when books are sold as similar to Mulan, it is not, but this one, I could see the similarities and I do agree with this sales pitch of the book.

We follow Maia who is the daughter of a tailor and when a royal messenger summons her father to compete for the position to become the imperial tailor, she poses as a boy and takes his place. She is also given the impossible task of sewing 3 dresses, made out from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars.

This book takes place in a fantasy world that is inspired by East Asia and there are quite a few cultural references that I recognized and really appreciated when reading. As an East Asian myself, I defiantly want to read more fantasy books inspired by it.

The romance in this book is hate to love and I really enjoyed it. I usually find myself thinking romances are eh or not necessary but I really ship this one and I love the banter between the two characters. I really wanted them to be together but at the same time I wanted them to not be because I loved the bickering and wanted more of it.

The ending left me wanting more and I really wished I read this later because now I have to wait a year till the next book comes out and I need to know what happens next like now. I am glad I read it and highly recommend this book and will be continuing on with the series.

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Ace of Shades (Spoiler Free) Review

TTitle: Ace of Shades
Author: Amanda Foody
Series: The Shadow Game #1
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read:  8/4/19

Ace of Shades was such a surprising read for me, in a good way. I read her debut novel last year and enjoyed it (3 stars) and I wanted to give her second book a chance as well since I heard even better things about it and the concept seemed very intriguing. Turns out I really enjoyed it and had such a fun time reading it and now want the sequel, which thank goodness is already out.

This book follows Enne Salta who travels to the City of Sin to find her mother. The only clue to her is the name Levi Glaisyer, a street lord and a con man. The City of Sin is sort of reminds me of Vegas. I found the world unique and interesting as well.

Out of all the characters my favorites were Levi and Lola. Enne was extremely annoying in the beginning but she grew on me more and more as the story went on. In fact, all the character became better people.

I wished the Shadow Game was explained better as I found the game to be a little confusing. I wanted to know the rules and what it was in general. In the beginning it is just referred to The Shadow Game with little information other than no one survives it. At the end of the book we do learn a lot more about it but I do wish it was explained better.

When I first started reading this book, I will admit I was a bit bored and the story was slow. It took me about 50 pages before I became fully invested in the book. But once I was hooked, the book was hard to put down.

Overall I do recommend this and it is definitely and underrated read. I think Foody's world building, characters and writing were improved from her debut and do recommend you give this one a try even if you did not like Daughter of the Burning city.

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Top Ten [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: Top Ten
Author: Katie Cotugno
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 6/25/19

Top Ten is a book that I have heard a lot of mixed things about and was hesitant to read it. Many people really enjoyed it but I also heard a ton of negative reviews and I am so happy to find myself being one of those who actually enjoyed it and I think it was because I was in the mood for a fun quick contemporary read.

Top Ten follows Gabby and Ryan who are best friends since freshman year in high school. Now graduated. One of the things they do is make top ten lists of random things so they decide to recall the top ten moments of their friendship.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that their friendship is not perfect. It is evident that both characters truly care about each other, but they argue and get mad at each other which are things that happen in real life and I enjoyed how their relationship was not always cookie cutter perfect.

One of the main characters, Gabby also has anxiety and it is mentioned throughout the book and does play a role in the story. I really appreciated how her anxiety was not just mentioned once and never touched upon again. It was part of who she was and I appreciated how we could see how it affected the choices that she made and some of her everyday struggles and I did relate to some of the choices that she makes. Gabby is also bisexual and I had no idea about that going into the book. I do not know if the representation was good as I am not an own voices reviewer but I did not see any problematic issues when reading.

The one thing I wished this book did was instead of having the top ten moments as a countdown from 10-1 it was mixed up and told in chronological order. I feel like if it was told that way, the story would of been more enjoyable and easier for some people to follow.

Overall I do recommend this book hesitantly mainly because I know that it is not for everyone. But if you are craving a contemporary and this book does appeal to you, definitely give it a chance. I will hopefully be able to read another Katie Cotugno book before summer ends as this was the perfect summer read.

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Girls of Paper and Fire [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: Girls of Paper and Fire
Author: Natasha Ngan
Series: Girls of Paper and Fire #1
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 6/24/19

Girls of Paper and Fire is a book I heard a lot about ever since it came out. I heard mostly good things about it and really wanted to give it a shot and I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it.

This book is an Asian inspired fantasy following a girl name Lei who has golden eyes. As a result she one day gets chosen to become one of the kings paper girls and taken from her home. However, she is the ninth paper girl and usually only eight are selected. Lei does not want to be a paper girl and throughout her time as a one, she starts to fall for one of the other paper girls. Yes there is a f/f romance in this book.

This book does have a trigger warning for rape and sexual assault as well. It also says it explicitly in the beginning of the book before the book even starts so only read this if you are in the right head space to handle the subject matter.

The beginning was slow. I feel like I have been saying that about a lot of the book I have been reading lately, but it is true. It took me several chapters to understand the world and to become invested in the story and the characters. Once I pushed through that point, I was invested in the book and flew through the rest of the book because I had to know what would happen next.

I wished some of the side characters got more character development because I really knew nothing most of the other paper girls and most were very forgettable. I thought that the paper girls would all have a stronger friendship then they actually had and was slightly disappointed by that.

Overall I do recommend this book especially if you are looking for a diverse fantasy read. I definitely will be reading the sequel when it comes out and so am so glad that I finally picked this book up!

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The Truth About Forever [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: The Truth About Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 6/19/19

Since it is summer and I have been craving a contemporary I finally decided to pick up another Sarah Dessen book. Sarah Dessen is an author that has so many contemporaries released and the ones I have read so far, for the most part, I really enjoyed. I do hope to pick up another one of her books before summer is over.

The Truth About Forever follows a girl name Macy who lives a perfect academic life. Her boyfriend is the top student in the school. She is also very studious, studying for the SATs all summer and helping her boyfriend out working at the local library while he is at brain camp. She and him are very type A. Macy also gets an unexpected catering job where she meets new friends and starts to get out of her shell. In this book (before the book starts) it is mentioned that her father passed away and it mentioned and does affect the family throughout the story.

The one thing I love about Dessen's books is that they are realistic, have important messages, the characters grow, and family usually plays an important role in it. Yep, parents do exist. I feel like in every YA contemporary book I read, the parents are usually absent which I think their presence in this book and Dessen's other books, make them more realistic.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book and they all have distinct personalities. They were each their own person and I could tell them all apart no problem. Macy went through a lot of character development and self discovery in this book and it can easily be seen how she became the person she is at the end of the book.

Overall I do recommend this and I will be reading other books by the author in the future!

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Daisy Jones and the Six [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: Daisy Jones & The Six
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Date Read: 5/21/19


I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo earlier this year and loved it and I heard such good things about Daisy Jones that I had to pick it up. Even though I did not enjoy this one as much as Evelyn Hugo, I still loved it so much!

This book is not written in a traditional format. It is written in more of a conversation format sort of like an interview style and it took me a few chapters to adjust to the writing style and figure out what was going on. Once I understood it though, I was hooked and I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the story.

This book follows a famous band from the 1960's-70's who had 1 hit album then broke up and no one knew why. In the book, the band comes back together in the future to explain what happened. How they got together, what was going on during the peak of their career and they big why they broke up.

I will say this book has a heavy trigger warning for drug and alcohol abuse so please be aware of that before going into this book.

I literally love this book so much and it is one of my favorite reads of the year. I do want to reread it on audio book even though I usually hate audio books but I heard it was really good and since I already read it I do not have to worry about spacing out while reading!

Please read this book if you are in the right head space to read it. It is so good! The characters are amazing and the story is amazing.

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Grim Lovlies [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: Grim Lovelies
Author: Megan Shepherd
Series: Grim Lovlies #1
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read:  5/18/19

Grim Lovlies is a book I heard little about before going into it. I have heard of this book hear and there but not much about it. The main thing that intrigued me was the cover and that this book takes place in Paris. If you did not know, Paris is the number one place on my travel bucket list of places I have never been before.

This book follows a girl name Anouk who is a Beastie meaning that she originally was an animal but was turned human. The witch who turns her into a human is murdered and this means that Anouk and the other Beasties that the witch has turned now only has 3 days before they turn back into their original form. After becoming human, non on the beasties want to become animals again so they go on this quest to try to find a way to stay human.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I think it helped that I had little expectations going into this book mainly because I did not hear many people's opinions before going into the book.

The beginning was confusing and the writing style in the beginning did not click with me that well, but as the story went on, I started to understand what was happening and the writing must of improved because it stopped bothering me after awhile. I think it just took me some time to understand the world and the concept of what a beastie was.

I did not like the main character Anouk that much. She irritated me quite a bit during the book and I did not agree with all her decisions. I also did not like Beau, another beastie that much as well. My favorite character in this book is by far Cricket. I just love her so much! There are also a lot of different creatures in this book such as goblins and witches so if that is something that appeals to you defiantly give this book a shot!

Overall I really did enjoy this book and do want to continue on with the duology!

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Every Heart a Doorway [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: Every Heart a Doorway
Author: Seanan McGuire
Series: Wayward Children #1
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
Date Read: 5/13/19

Every Heart a Doorway is a book I never planned on picking up mainly because I had little interest in it but I continued to hear such good things about the book and since it is so short I finally caved and read it and am so glad I did because I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

This is more of a short story then a book mainly because it is under 200 pages. This book takes place in a world where some children open up doors and get transported into another world. After awhile, sometimes they leave or get kicked out and can not find their way back. When they return to the world that we know of today, some want to go back to what they call home, the world they traveled to. Those students get sent to the Wayward Children's boarding school. There is also a murder mystery element in it as well.

The beginning of this book was quite confusing to me and it took be a little to get into the story, but about 1/3 or 1/4 of the way through, the story started to pick up and I found myself more interested in what was going on.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it was to short. I felt like the story needed another 100-150 pages for it to be an amazing read. I felt like the world building and character development was not that well done as it could of been because the size of the book. I also wanted the mystery to be better developed and a lot of things seemed a bit rushed.

I did love the concept of the book though and I really enjoyed the story and the writing. I liked the characters however I wanted to know them better and I am planning on reading the other books in the series in the future. Overall I do recommend ii, but keep in mind that because it is a short read, some plot points, the character development, and world building, may seem rushed.

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Everless [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title:Everless
Author: Sara Holland
Series: Everless #1
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Date Read: 5/1/19

Everless is a book I hard floating around social media here and there and the cover really caught my eye. I have not heard much about this book and did not know much about the story before going into the book other than that people's time is currency. This means the rich live long lives while the less fortunate live shorter lives. That was all I knew about going into the book and that is all I think you also should know going into the book.

I feel like Everless is a book that the less you know the more you will enjoy the book because there are a lot more surprises and twists.

When I first started reading this book, I was sucked into into the book within the first few chapters of the book. After I was hooked, I struggled to put the book down. I needed to know what was going to happen next.

I really liked all the characters in the book that I was supposed to like. I enjoyed reading about the main character and she is surprisingly one of my favorite characters. Usually the main character is one of my least favorites. I will say that the main character made some decisions I did not agree with but don't all main characters do. My favorite character in this book has to be Liam. I loved learning more about his story.

I loved the world of Everless and it was very easy to follow.

Overall I do recommend this book and think more people should read it. Definitely one of the most surprising in a good way reads I have read this year.

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From Twinkle With Love [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: From Twinkle, with Love
Author: Sandhya Menon
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
Date Read: 4/36/19



From Twinkle with Love is a book I heard a lot of mixed reviews about and I am in the middle. I liked some parts of it and there are some parts that really frustrated me.

This book is told in letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmakers and I absolutely love that about it. I felt like it added a lot to the story. The main character is an aspiring filmaker and seeing her look up to her role models throughout the story definitely helped boost my enjoyment of the book.

Twinkle has a long time crush on this guy name Neil. When Neil's twin brother, Sahil, asks her to direct a film for the Midsummer festival, Twinkle accepts because she will finally get a great opportunity to direct a film and she could also possibly get closer to Neil. But then, she finds herself falling for Sahil.

The main character is 16 however, the book reads more like she is 13 or 14 years old. It did not bother me to much though since I am currently 17 and know some people around my age who also act younger than they are actually are so it is not something that is unrealistic, it is just her personality. I do know that some people would be bothered by it though.

The main character is not perfect and makes mistakes throughout the book. She is flawed. Same as her friends but if you are looking for a book with not perfect characters that learn from their mistakes this one may be for you.

Also the main character is Indian American so if you are looking for a book with an Indian American lead, this one is perfect. There are also quite a few diverse side characters as well.


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Two Can Keep a Secret [SPOILER FREE] Review

Title: Two Can Keep a Secret
Author: Karen M. McManus
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 3/30/19

Two Can Keep a Secret is NOT a sequel to One of Us is lying. They are two completely different books.

TW: Missing Person, Murder, Substance abuse

I have been wanting to pick up Two Can Keep a Secret ever since I heard that it was coming out. I really enjoyed One of Us is Lying (although I did not like the ending) and had a feeling I would like this one more. Small town with a lot of secrets, sounds cliche but I love that trope. I did enjoy her debut a bit more even though it does have a lower rating since I did have a problem with the ending of that particular book, but I still enjoyed this book a lot and will be picking up her next work.

This book takes place in a small town called Echo-Ridge and Ellery and her twin brother Ezra move there to live with their Nana. The town has a lot of secrets. Her aunt went missing at the age of seventeen and a homecoming queen was murdered. Now during Homecoming season, someone is threatening the homecoming court.

I did not predict the ending first off so hooray for me because lately I have been able to predict the endings of a lot of books I read and I love it when books take a different turn that makes sense that I did not see coming.

The beginning was slow and it started out boring but as the story continued I became more invested in the story and what is going on and really glad I decided to push through the fist 50 pages because the book improved so much.

The main character is very interested in true crime which is something I love as well. I do binge watch all the Buzzfeed Unsolved episodes because they are so good.

Overall I do recommend this book if you are able to handle the triggers.

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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo [ SPOILER FREE] Review

Title: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 5/5 stars
Date Read: 3/38/19

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a book that I heard such great things about that I finally decided to pick it up and it helped pull me out of my reading slump a lot! This is a book way outside my comfort zone. I usually do not read historical fiction and adult books so for me it is a huge surprise that I am giving 5 stars. I expected to enjoy it but not as much as I did

Before going into this book I will say do some research because there are quite a few triggers in this book.

In this story we follow a reporter, Monique who gets the opportunity to interview Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo. She is not well known and does not know the reason why Evelyn has chose her out of everyone to tell her story. So throughout the story we follow short snippets of what is going on in Monique's life as well as the story of how Evelyn Hugo became the Evelyn Hugo and about the choices she made throughout her life.

There is diversity in this book as well. Monique is biracial and Evelyn is Cuban American and bisexual.

There is just something about this book that makes it seem like you are reading someone's autobiography or biography and I loved that about it. I loved the way Evelyn's story unfolded and I really liked the way she shared the consequences for actions. Evelyn is a very flawed character but it makes her seem more real.

I flew through this book and it has been awhile since I found myself wanting to pick up a book during free time. I constantly was thinking about it when not reading and I missed that feeling so much. I wished this book was longer, but at the same time glad it was not because I hate when books are too long and they start to drag.

If you are like me and this book is out of your comfort zone, still give it a chance. I have been constantly thinking about this book in a good way ever since I finished it. If you can handle the triggers of this book please pick it up. It is definitely my favorite read of the year so far and I now want to read all of Taylor Jenkins Reid's other books!

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City of Ghosts [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: City of Ghosts
Author: Victoria Schwab
Series: Cassidy Blake #1
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 3/6/19

Victoria / VE Schwab is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite authors. All of her books I have read so far I have really enjoyed and City of Ghosts is no exception.

City of Ghosts is a middle grade novel following a girl name Cassidy Blake who can see ghosts. Her best friend is also a ghost. When Cassidy's parents get a job hosting a TV show about the most haunted places in the world she travels with them to Scotland. Cass finds herselfsurrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly.

This book is so good and not scary for my scaredy cat friends. I personally get scared easily and was not scared at all when reading. It is a middle grade so I was expecting that. If you are wondering what to read for Halloween I would recommend this book because the main theme surrounding this book is ghosts and creepy old places and that gives off a lot of Halloween vibes.

Since this book is short (under 300 pages) it is perfect for those in a reading slump or for people who do not have a lot of time for reading.

I really liked the characters and I enjoyed reading about the friendship between Jacob (Cassidy's ghost best friend) and Cassidy. They were great friends to one another and it was refreshing to read a book that focused on friendship and had no romance.

I do not think I ever read a book set in Scotland before and reading this book, I learns a little about the Scottish culture and the different places. It made me want to take a vacation to Scotland.

My only complaint about this book was that the beginning was a bit slow and it took me awhile to get into the book. But once I was hooked, I flew through the rest of the book. Overall I highly recommend this and I cannot wait for the sequel.

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Zenith [Spoiler Free] Review

Title: Zenith
Author: Sasha Alsberg & Lindsay Cummings
My rating: 2.5 / 5 stars
Series: The Androma Saga #1
Date Read: 2/27/19

*I do occasionally watch both author's YouTube channels and this has no effect on the rating I gave this book*

Actual Rating is a 2.5

Zenith is a book I see very mixed reviews on. Some absolutely love it. Some cannot stand it. And other think it is okay. I did enjoy this book a lot more than I thought I would and I think it is because I went into this with extremely low expectations. I found this to be an okay book.

This book follows a all female space pirate crew. That sounds so cool and makes the story have so much potential. I am so sad that I did not like the way it was executed. Andi is the captain on the Marauder and she is known to be the Bloody Baroness. It is literally enforced so many times in this book to the point I started getting a little frustrated. I wanted to see more of her as the bloody baroness and not be told it.

The writing is not that great either but it is not as bad as I was expecting so that was a plus I guess.

And also this book changes POV so many times. For the most part I was okay with it as the chapters were very short and it made the book seem a tad bit shorter but sometimes they would change POV mid chapter and confuse me and I did not like that part.

I wanted more of the Marauder crew. I wanted to know more about them. They are not very well developed characters which was kind of disappointing.

I will say that the action scenes were the best part of the book and I enjoyed them so much more than the rest. I think this book could also be shorter as there were some things that could of been cut out.

I may give book two a chance. Have not decided yet.

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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Series: Montague Siblings #1
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 1/27/19

TW Child abuse, alcoholism

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is a book I had little interest in picking it up. I am not a fan on road trip books and I tend to stay away from historical fiction even though I do enjoy the genre. The main reason is probably because my least favorite subject in school is history and I want to avoid history when possible.

This book follows Henry "Monty" Montague and he goes on a grand tour of Europe with his best friend Percy and his sister Felicity is also suppose to accompany him for part of the journey. Monty also has a minor crush, okay, a huge crush on his best friend Percy. Percy is also black so this book does deal with the racist issues Percy faces as well. Early on during the tour, Monty steals an object he thinks is harmless and he, Percy, and Felicity end up being on the run.

I found myself struggling to focus on the story in the beginning and had to do a lot of rereading to figure out what was going on. After about a hundred pages, the story pick up and I was hooked.

One of my complaints of this book is that the chapters were way to long sometimes and as a result, I felt like I was making no progress in the book, even when I was and it ended up making the book feel unnecessarily long even though it actually was not looking back. This issue is a more, it is me not you situation as I know some people are not bothered by chapter lengths.

If you are looking for a fun read, I will highly recommend it. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is a highly entertaining read. I absolutely love all the main characters, especially Felicity. She is definitely my favorite. I will be continuing on with this duology in the future!

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A Court of Frost and Starlight [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: A Court of Frost and Starlight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1
My rating: 3/5 stars
Date Read: 12/22/18

ACOFAS is the in between novella between the original ACOTAR trilogy and the second half of it if that makes sense and it should be read before ACOTAR #4. To be honest, most of this book was pointless. I feel like she could of just added a chapter at the end of ACOWAR or a mini epilogue or something like that.

This book is less then 250 pages and it is basically following Feyre and Rhysand after the war and the aftermath of it during the Winter solstice.

I found the beginning of this book to be so boring but it eventually picked up but it still is my least favorite out of the three. Keep in mind this in novella and not a full length book. I think what I enjoyed most in this novella is revisiting the wold and characters again. I personally love the characters and was very happy to see that Mor and Cassian also had a point of view in this story.

The one thing I found weird about the writing is that Feyre and Rhysand's chapters were told in first person while Mor and Cassian's were told in third person. It made no sense to be and I personally thing they should all be told in the same way, meaning only in third person or first person. The other thing I did not like about the writing is that I could not really tell the difference between Rhysand and Feyre's point of view. At one point of the novella I thought we were following Feyre until Cassian said Rhysand's name.

If you are not really interested in this novella and want to read the rest of the series, I would recommend just reading the last 20 ish pages of the book.

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Monday's Not Coming [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: Monday's Not Coming
Author: Tiffany D. Jackson
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
Date Read: 11/30/18


TW Child abuse

This book such a surprise. The good surprise. A book I was not expecting to love as much as I do. I first heard about this book around the time it was released and that was about it till a few months ago. I was lucky to hear Tiffany D. Jackson, the author, talk about her book on a panel and it sounded so good. I finally picked it up and I really enjoyed it.

Monday's Not Coming is about a girl name Claudia whose best friend Monday is missing. She seems to be the only one who noticed. Claudia is determined to figure out what happened to Monday.

This book takes place during several timelines. It is hard to explain. We see Claudia with Monday when they were younger. We see Claudia when she noticed Monday just went missing. Basically with each timeline we get, we are piecing together the mystery of what happened to her friend. I am warning you now, if you do not like books with many different timelines and flashbacks, this book will probably not be for you.

I think this book was so interesting was because I wanted to know what happened even though I kind of already knew what happened due to finding the hints scattered in the book pretty early on. There are other reasons why I wanted to continue reading and was so invested in the story but most of them are spoilers.

The ending of the book was a bit of a let down but I still enjoyed the story and piecing everything together. If you read the book you may know what I am talking about but I do not want to say the end since I do not want to spoiler the book.

We do have a diverse cast of characters as well so if you are looking for a book featuring black characters, including a black main character, definitely pick this one up.

Overall I do recommend it and I am so glad I finally read it and I look forward to read Jackson's other books in the future.

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Forest of a Thousand Lanterns [ Spoiler Free Review ]

Title: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
Author: Julie C. Dao
Series: Rise of the Empress #1
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 12/3/18

I was lucky to hear Julie C. Dao talk about her book on a panel a few months ago and thought it sounded very cool so I finally picked it up and I did enjoy it.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is an East Asian inspired retelling of the evil queen. That was all I needed to know to before going into this book. That was all I think you really need to know before diving into the book since I think that it is best to go into this book not knowing to much about the story before hand.

Before reading this book, it is important to know that the main character is not really likable and if you are a person who only likes books with likable main characters, you probably would not enjoy it. I also did not like the main character at all but still enjoyed the overall story.

The beginning of the book was very slow and boring for me. I got very bored and thought I was not going to like it. After pushing through about 100 pages, the story picked up and then I was hooked and basically binge read the second half of the book in one night when I was suppose to be sleeping.

If you are a fan of reading villain origin stories, you would probably love this book. I would also recommend this book for fans of retellings and duologies since this is a duology and the second book just came out.

I absolutely love the world and it is evident that the author knew about the East Asian culture. I do believe that the author is Vietnamese which is part of East Asia.

Overall I do recommend this book and will read the sequel and Julie Dao's future books!

Read for tistheseasonathon [ read a book while listening to holiday music ]

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My True Love Gave To Me [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
Edited by: Stephanie Perkins
My rating: 3/5 stars
Date read: 12/14/18

My True Love Gave to me is a collection of shot stories from many different YA authors and they are all holiday themed. The actual average rating when I typed it out on the calculator was 3.2 stars. I really enjoyed most of the stories and here are my ratings and thoughts:

Midnights by Rainbow Rowell- 4.5/5 stars
Really enjoyed this one. It was cute and I liked the characters and writing. I was also really surprised on how much I enjoyed it since Rainbow Rowell's books are not my favorite. This one takes place on New Years Eve over several years.

The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link- 1/5 stars
I never heard of this author before and was glad to be reading something from an author that I probably would not pick up if it were not in a short story collection. I was sad that I did not like it at all. The writing style was not for me and I was very bored and confused. I think this one is about a guy who only comes when it is snowing. I skimmed it.

Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Pena- 4.5/5 stars
This is another author I never heard of before but I really enjoyed this short story and will probably pick up some of his other works. This one is about a boy cat sitting a cat during Christmas and plans to spend it alone since he cannot afford to go home for the holidays.

Polaris is Where You'll Find Me by Jenny Han- 3/5 stars
I really enjoyed this short story. It was cute but not my favorite. This one follows a girl who lives in the North Pole. She is not an elf though. It reminded me of the movie Elf a little based on the concept but it is NOTHING like Elf. The only thing that is similar is that the person came to the North Pole when they were a baby and they are a human living among elves.

It's a Yuletide Miracle Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins- 5/5 stars
This one is probably my favorite of all the stories. I really liked the writing and the characters. This is a cute Christmas story about a girl who goes out to buy a Christmas tree.

Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan- 3/5 stars
I do not remember much about this one at all other than it was enjoyable but not the best. I do remember it has to do with a guy pretending to be Santa.

Krampuslauf by Holly Black - 2/5 stars
I sadly did not like this one that much. I really enjoyed the Holly Black books I read in the past but this short story is probably not for me. I was just very confused on what was going on and did not care much about the story.

What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman- 3/5 stars
This was a fun read. I liked the writing which was expected since I enjoyed Gayle Forman's other works. It was enjoyable but not that memorable. It follows a girl name Sophie Roth who meets this guy at college I think. Do not remember much about it.

Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire-2/5 stars
I did not like this one that much but it was not the worst. It is about a play at a church. I also never heard of this author before and am glad I read this short story since I would never would of picked up her works if it were not in this collection.

Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White- 5/5 stars
My fist read by Kiersten White and I loved it so much. It was such a surprise read and I am so excited to pick up her other books now. It is about a Christmas Diner.

Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter- 3.5 stars
I never read anything by Ally Carter before but I have heard of her books and this was also a surprising read. It was very enjoyable and I will probably try her other books. This one is about a girl who changes plane tickets with this girl she meets at the airport.

The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor- 2/5 stars
I wanted to love it but I was just so bored and not really into it. I will say though I did enjoy her book Daughter of Smoke and Bone. This one was not for me and I remember nothing about it.

Overall I did enjoy most of the short stories and am glad that I finally read it! If you love the holidays I would highly recommend that you pick this one up.

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