• Book Reviews

    GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN BY TALIA HIBBERT // spoiler-free book review: how my first venture into adult romance went

    Hello there my friends. How are ya holding up? I hope you’re okay. Today’s post is going to be… fun. And different. And yeah. Let’s just get into it I guess. Title: Get A Life, Chloe Brown Series: The Brown Sisters book #1 Author: Talia Hibbert Page count: 373 Date published: 5 November 2019 Genre: Adult romance ✿ Synopsis: Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items? • Enjoy a drunken night out. • Ride a motorcycle. • Go camping. • Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex. • Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage. • And… do something bad. But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job. Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at…

  • Book Reviews

    MEET ME AT MIDNIGHT BY JESSICA PENNINGTON // spoiler-free book review: swimming, summer and enemies-to-lovers gloriousness

    Look at me!! Reading an ARC on time!! I feel accomplished and my life is complete. Anyways I’m here to talk about this delightful book that I also positively devoured in 12 hours. MY READING MOJO IS TRULY BACK MY FRIENDS!! Title: Meet Me At Midnight Author: Jessica Pennington Page count: 336 Date published: 7 April 2020 Genre: Young Adult romance contemporary ༄ Synopsis: They have a love-hate relationship with summer. Sidney and Asher should have clicked. Two-star swimmers forced to spend their summers on a lake together sounds like the perfect match. But every summer it’s the same— in between cookouts and boat rides and family-imposed bonfires, Sidney and Asher spend the dog days of summer finding the ultimate ways to prank each other. And now, the summer after their senior year, they’re determined to make it the most epic summer yet. But their plans are thrown in sudden jeopardy when their feud causes their families to be kicked out of their beloved lake houses. Once in their new accommodations, Sidney expects summer to continue as usual. But then she gets a note—Meet me at midnight. And Asher has a proposition for her: join forces for one last summer…

  • Book Reviews

    ONE OF US US NEXT BY KAREN M. MCMANUS // spoiler-free book review: a mystery i actually loved ft. deadly games and great characters

    My friends LOOK I READ AN ACTUAL BOOK!! It has been too long aghhh. But my mojo is back, I’M BACK FOLKS. And it feels SO GOOD. Anyways yes book review! Let’s just chat about this book that I positively devoured in like 12 hours. That I also freaking LOVED.   Title: One of Us Is Next Series: One of Us Is Lying book #2 Author: Karen M. McManus Page count: 375 Date published: 7 January 2020 Genre: Young Adult mystery thriller ♢ Synopsis: It is a year after the action of One of Us Is Lying, and someone has started playing a game of Truth or Dare. But this is no ordinary Truth or Dare. This game is lethal. Choosing the truth may reveal your darkest secrets, accepting the dare could be dangerous, even deadly. The teenagers of Bayview must work together once again to find the culprit before it’s too late . . . ♢   STAR RATING: (4.5 out of 5 stars) ♢ A huge thanks to Penguin Books South Africa for kindly sending this review copy my way! All thoughts and opinions are my own. I apologise that I only just now remembered that I also…

  • Book Reviews

    SERPENT & DOVE BY SHELBY MAHURIN // spoiler-free book review: a great enemies-to-lovers romance and witches

    Look I don’t know who I am anymore either. Like actually being on time with book reviews? Who dis? Can you tell that was past me a month ago who forgot I could post this book review?? Because yes. Anyways, hi hello there friends of the interwebs. I am terribly sorry for disappearing for a literal month. And I’m going to explain why in my recap (which is going to be both January and February in one oh well) which should be up in the next few days. But I wanted to post this so that I’m not a complete blogger failure. So feast your eyes on this messy review and sit tight until I can actually come up with a schedule and back to posting. We’ll all pray for a miracle. Also read look at me reading A POPULAR BOOK ON TIME?? Well alomost on time, and not like 3 years later. Truly I must be a new person. Anyways, let us just get into the review *squealing noises* Title: Serpent & Dove Series: Serpent & Dove book #1 Author: Shelby Mahurin Page count: 519 Date published: 3 September 2019 Genre: New adult historical fiction fantasy ✧ Synopsis: Two…

  • Book Reviews

    THE QUEEN OF NOTHING BY HOLLY BLACK // book talk: is the folk of the air series worth it? ft luscious writing and delicious romance

    Huh I really just did that to myself didn’t I?? I mean I can truly only blame myself. I… had heard a lot about this series. But they didn’t really seem like my thing? Then I had serious FOMO so decided what the heck let’s do it. I’d planned on reading The Cruel Prince right away but I heard that the cliffhanger at the end of book two was INTENSE. So I waited until this finale came out and binged them all. Which btw, is the BEST ONLY way to read series, as I have come to conclude. This is going to be a strange sort of review. I don’t have that many thoughts on the first two books, at least enough to do whole reviews. Or I’m just lazy and don’t feel like doing ones for them all. I mean probably that. So I’m not going to talk about either of them separately. I hope this post isn’t too confusing. As if every other of my blog posts aren’t confusing either HA. ** Preface: this post is going to contain spoilers of book three later on, but you shall be warned hehe ** Because this isn’t a book talk on…

  • Book Reviews

    TWEET CUTE BY EMMA LORD // blog tour book review: the best YA rom-com ft. snarky banter and baking

    I am so excited to talk about this book OH MY GOSH. Achievement reached: I actually read this before the release date!! Which is new for me because I’m such a mood reader and am always late. But yes ACCOMPLISHMENT. And as you read in the title, this book was just such an unexpected favourite. I was totally taken by surprise, having heard next to nothing about this book apart from a pitch on Instagram. And I knew I needed to read it. And boy did it not disappoint. But without any further ado, let us just get into how brilliant this book is. A huge thanks to St. Martins Press & Wednesday Books for inviting me to join this blog tour! Title: Tweet Cute Author: Emma Lord Page count: 368 Date published: 21 January 2020 Genre: Young Adult contemporary ♥ Synopsis: Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account. Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t…

  • Book Reviews

    THE TRIALS OF MORRIGAN CROW BY JESSICA TOWNSEND // spoiler-free book review: a whimsical story and lovely characters

    I FINALLY READ THIS BOOK!! This book has been sitting on my shelf for ages and I just never read it? As goes for most of my books but let’s not talk about that. Anyways, here I am, ready to talk about this delight. let’s just get into it. Title: The Trials of Morrigan Crow Series: Nevermoor book #1 Author: Jessica Townsend Page count: 374 Date published: 31 October 2017 Genre: Middle-grade urban fantasy ✬ Synopsis: Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor. It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of…

  • Book Reviews

    FIND ME BY ANDRÉ ACIMAN // spoiler-free book review: was a sequel necessary? ft. fave ships

    And welcome to another episode of Ruby trying to keep up to date with book reviews and post them on time. Tis a fun time. Go me? Anywayssss… I FINALLY read Call Me By Your Name is this year, after ADORING the film and watching and crying over it 508287422 times. We already know I make bad choices. It’s fine. I’m fine. Moving on, let’s just get into this review!! Title: Find Me Series: Call Me By Your Name book #2 Author: André Aciman Page count: 260 Date published: 29 October 2019 Genre: Adult fiction ❀ Synopsis: In Find Me, Aciman shows us Elio’s father, Samuel, on a trip from Florence to Rome to visit Elio, who has become a gifted classical pianist. A chance encounter on the train with a beautiful young woman upends Sami’s plans and changes his life forever. Elio soon moves to Paris, where he, too, has a consequential affair, while Oliver, now a New England college professor with a family, suddenly finds himself contemplating a return trip across the Atlantic. ❀ STAR RATING (3.5 out of 5 stars): ❀ Huge thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for sending an early finished copy of this book my way!…

  • Book Reviews

    WAYWARD SON BY RAINBOW ROWELL // book talk: did my most anticipated release live up? ft. road trips & even more wacky spells

    Huh. I feel like I’m in a fever dream rn. The very first book I read this year was Carry On. It’d been sitting on my shelf FAR too long and I was literally speechless. The book took over my entire life, I non-stop talked about it everywhere, forced it on anybody who hadn’t read the book. I reread my favourite parts multiple times and I just,,, it was a lot. So to say the least, I was HIGHLY anticipating this book for like nine months. I probably thought about it every day. What do you mean it wasn’t a healthy obsession? I- Anyways, we have A LOT to talk about so let’s just get started! Title: Wayward Son Series: Simon Snow book #2 Author: Rainbow Rowell Page count: 356 Date published: 24 September 2019 Genre: Young Adult urban fantasy ✶ Synopsis: The story is supposed to be over. Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the good part, right? Now comes the happily ever after… So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch? What he needs, according to his best friend,…

  • Book Reviews

    THE DARKEST LEGACY BY ALEXANDRA BRACKEN // book talk: superpowers and even more screaming!!

    And look at how finally read this book after A WHOLE YEAR… Huh. Why did it take me so long to read one of my most anticipated releases, you ask? Don’t ask me. Anyways, onto the review. Let’s not call me out anymore. Title: The Darkest Legacy Series: The Darkest Minds book #4 Author: Alexandra Bracken Page count: 582 Date published: 31 July 2018 Genre: Young Adult urban fantasy / dystopian ⟡ Synopsis: Five years after the destruction of the so-called rehabilitation camps that imprisoned her and countless other Psi kids, seventeen-year-old Suzume “Zu” Kimura has assumed the role of spokesperson for the interim government, fighting for the rights of Psi kids against a growing tide of misinformation and prejudice. But when she is accused of committing a horrifying act, she is forced to go on the run once more in order to stay alive. Determined to clear her name, Zu finds herself in an uncomfortable alliance with Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi who could either help her prove her innocence or betray her before she gets the chance. But as they travel in search of safety and answers, and Zu grows closer to the people she knows she…