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APRIL RECAP // i am in my british comedy era, finally read a jane austen & sinking down the academic research rabbit hole aka life is great
Currently, my brain capacity is at 0.1 but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It just means I have a lot to say and no way to articulate it so this recap should be fun. If there’s one thing Ruby Rae Reads will always deliver, it is chaos and you can at least count on that. Let’s try and remember what happened this month before May is over *insert happy dance* Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane {★★★★½}: Don’t remember what finally gave me the push to read this author, maybe fate because I just KNEW I would love her and Ms McFarlane and I are now best friends. She doesn’t know that yet but it’s the truth. Maybe you’ll get a full review soon because I have a lot to say, but this was like watching a British comedy in book form and no-one does comedy like the British. The writing was whip-smart, the characters loveable and it’s just everything I want in an adult contemporary technically women’s fiction, but agh that term sucks. It was absolutely brilliant READ IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!! GR review here Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane {★★★★★}: I couldn’t tell you…
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MARCH RECAP // graduation, moving, some reading & other chaos
Quite chuffed with my incredibly inventive title if I do say so myself *wink wink* We all know that I am a comedian by nature. God I need to shut up now. Anyways, back to your irregularly scheduled belated recap, as per usual, due to very obvious reasons in the title. I honestly don’t remember what happened last month, it was all very blurry but I shall try my best to recount it to you. Into the chaos we go! Last Violent Call by Chloe Gong {★★★★★}: I was never prepared for this book and I have read it and am still not prepared. Chloe never misses and this book was perfection, as is everything she writes. My heart stopped beating for approximately 200 pages and I need to tattoo this book onto my forehead. It was stunning and I will have a full review up hopefully soon, GR review here in the meantime *screams for eternity* The First Move by Jenny Ireland {★★★☆☆}: The lovely people at Penguin SA had an eARC available and I needed a smol pick me up so I read this on a whim. Devoured this in like a day and agh what a cute…
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JANUARY & FEBRUARY RECAP // somehow i read 15 books ft. graphic novel mania, readalongs, lots of new books & back to uni
It’s the way I forgot to post my January until halfway through February and decided another two weeks was worth waiting. I mean what else is new here? Ruby Rae Reads: perpetually late to everything Lmao love that for me Anyway, I have lots to talk about, so let’s jump right in! Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O’Clover {★★★★★}: started off the year strong with this absolutely stunning YA debut contemporary romance ugh it was SO SO SO GOOD!!!! Absolutely everything I ever wanted from this book about creating an app, familial tension, angsty emotions and childhood friends to enemies to lovers. It was *chef’s kiss* and you all need to read it RIGHT THIS SECOND!!!! Big thanks to the author for sending me an eARC via Netgalley, click here for my GR review <3<3<3 Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman {★★★★½}: decided to get off my butt and finally read these and ugh I had the bestest day literally just reading all of these comics. A stunning first instalment and I do love how accurate the show is. It’s kind of scary. Big thanks to Pan MacMillan SA for the review copy xoxoxo Heartstopper Volume 2 by…
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FOUL LADY FORTUNE BY CHLOE GONG // book talk: a show-stopping spectacular 1930s shanghai adventure that blew my mind into a million pieces and i need the next book right now!!!
IT HAS BEEN 84 YEARS AND I HAVE FINALLY READ THIS FREAKING BOOK ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOLKS It’s honestly embarrassing it’s taken me this long. Like truly. Hate myself for that. But I finally finished it and off its the way this book FINISHED ME!!!!!!!! I shall now cry about it for eternity,,, Title: Foul Lady FortuneSeries: Secrets of Shanghai book #3Author: Chloe GongPage count: 528Date published: 27 September 2022Genre: Young Adult historical fiction 💀 Synopsis: It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue. Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption from her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country. Code name: Fortune. But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people…
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POPULAR BOOKTOK BOOKS I RECOMMEND // 10 viral tiktok books i actually like that you could read if you want
I don’t know what I’m doing today but I am unhinged and we’re just rolling with it. Spur of the moment decisions over at Ruby Rae Reads today *hides* I could be here talking about the worst BookTok books because I know there are many but I don’t want to put myself through that amount of pain. Very rarely will you catch me pushing through god-awful books and oof I know which ones those are. Avoiding them like the plague in this household. Anyways, I shan’t waste time on the opinions I have concerning this platform because frankly, I don’t know what I would say. It has been both very amusing watching books grow on TikTok whilst also being really cool for the book industry. So there are my two cents, maybe I’ll come back for a discussion? This post is just going to discuss books I rated basically higher than 3 stars. Some are not amazing and a few by authors I wouldn’t support anymore, but I wanted to talk about. Let’s just get into the books. There are more than I anticipated so I’ll be as brief as possible! CONTEMPORARY — It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover:…
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EVERMORE BOOK TAG // the belated book tag but at least i finally listened to this album ft. books i love, fave romances and lots of tears
Indeed I am 123456789 years late and none of you care about this tag anymore, but I can live with that. I think. It was a Monday and I saw this still in my drafts and here we are *cue nervous laughter* The creator of this tag, my dear friend Rhi, is currently on hiatus and her original post is unavailable to view, but do feast your eyes on the stunning graphics. Big thanks to the wonderful Olivia for tagging me, love you so much! I,,, can’t remember if anyone else tagged me. I’ve tried my hardest to talk about books I don’t talk about all that much. Or at least often? Hopefully, you haven’t heard me talking about them all the time, I guess we’ll see. Enough rambling and let’s get started! A Million Junes by Emily Henry I mean what a fun song. I absolutely love it as the lead single, the instrumentals are just stunning and I even like the 90s trend line #sorrynotsorry — As for a book, I decided I needed to choose a book with a romance that felt fated, one I NEEDED them to be together so badly, and this immediately stood out.…
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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR ELLEN O’CLOVER // chatting with debut author of Seven Percent of Ro Devereux aka my first favourite of the year on release day
So so excited about today’s post so I can yell about this wonderful book that you all nee to read RIGHT THIS SECOND!!! We have a very special guest so why I shut up and just get started? Big thanks to Harper Teen and the author for gifting me with an eARCof Seven Percent of Ro Devereux via Netgalley! Title: Seven Percent of Ro DevereuxAuthor: Ellen O’ CloverPage count: 320Date published: 17 January 2023Genre: Young adult contemporary romance 📱 Synopsis: Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can. Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The app will even match users with their soul mates. Though it was only supposed to be a class project, MASH quickly takes off and gains the attention of tech investors. Ro’s dream is to work in Silicon Valley, and she’ll do anything to prove to her new backing company—and the world—that the app works. So it’s a huge shock when the app says her soul mate is Miller, her…
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2021 & 2022 FILM RECAP // wrapping up all the fave movies and shows, 2022 stats and anticipated 2023 film & tv releases
I just need to thank you all for your patience and hopefully still caring about these kinds of posts even though I’m more than fashionably late. At least it’s not April aka a time I’ve definitely never posted so late *nervous laughter* Anyways, I have quite a lot to cover today, so I’m keeping it as short as possible. Same as last year, we’ve also got anticipated 2023 releases. As well as an additional section for stats which I’m now obsessed with doing!!! I’m putting three posts into one here folks so I guess grab some popcorn and a beverage of choice because this could take a while. Let’s jump right in!!! 2022 OVERVIEW & STATS Ugh gotta love Letterboxd but I’m not about to do 2021 with this so sticking to only last year’s films. I also did my best to manually add shows but since I estimated episode length it’s probably not that accurate. I had to do a lot of maths on those hours so you all better appreciate haha. I actually converted them into total days which was only 3 and a half full days of watching, which is pretty small and I can’t decide if…
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A LADY FOR A DUKE BY ALEXIS HALL // spoiler-free book review: this regency romance will solve all of your problems and maybe melt your heart along the way
Let’s see if I can get through this review without crying. Because I probably will. This book is my new everything and I shall now commence with the shoving and the faces and down the throats. You’ve bene forewarned. Onwards we go!!!! Title: A Lady For A DukeAuthor: Alexis HallPage count: 460Date published: 24 May 2022Genre: Adult historical romance ✉ Synopsis: When Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become. As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again. ✉ ✉…
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MY FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2022 // top 15 books of the year in an unorganised order
Ahhh it’s my favourite time of the belated year. Let’s ignore that minor detail and focus on the positives today folks. I’m only a week late so not too shameful. I,,, my list is stunning this year but I’ve also yelled about a lot of them already so you probably know what books I’ll be talking about. Also yes I am aware Chloe Gong is not on this list and there are two reasons for that: 1) I got busy this year and 2) my mental health is not prepared haha. Not even an exaggeration, that book will give me a heart attack. Prepare for all of her books to be on the 2023 list *wink wink* Oops, Taylor Jenkins Reid has also not made an appearance but can you guess? I’m behind. Yep. Related posts: Top Books of 2021 2022 Mid Year Freak Out Tag I’m doing it slightly differently this year because I’m indecisive with the usual honourable mentions list so I’m putting them all together and we’ll rank near the end. Idk just roll with it *hides* Shall we just get started? Indeed. TOP 15 BOOKS OF 2022: (in semi order) ♥ Every Summer After by Carley…
