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MID YEAR BOOK FREAK OUT TAG // 2021 edition ft. fantastic books, reviews galore & books I need to read asap
We’re fashionably late to this tag today and I also have to be annoying & ask HOW WE ARE ALREADY HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR?!? It can’t be true. I refuse to accept it. Let’s reuse last year’s terrible joke and deem this month the bookish Christmas in July. Just to lighten the mood about the horrendous fact that time moves too fast for us mere humans. I’ll stop now. Let’s get into the questions!! BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ THIS YEAR SO FAR ✯ Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi I truly don’t know what more I could say about this book. Because I’ve definitely talked everybody’s ear off already and my throat is hoarse from all the screaming. However, I’m still going to throw this book at your face and force you to read it and cry with me. I’ve been having awful luck this past year and a half when it comes to finding new favourites and/or 5-star reads. I lowkey cry myself to sleep about it. Kidding. But it does astound me because I never used to have this problem. Anyways, this book got a lot of mixed reviews when it came out and I didn’t really take note…
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KATE IN WAITING BY BECKY ALBERTALLI // blog tour book review: theatre kids ft. wonderful writing & lovable relationships
Hello, there lovely friends! And welcome to my Kate in Waiting tour stop which I’m just SO excited to be part of. My schedule has been crazy lately but I took this delight to the beach with me and simply devoured the whole thing. Big thanks to The Write Reads for inviting me onto this tour, I’m so honoured! Title: Kate In Waiting Author: Becky Albertalli Page count: 400 Date published: 20 April 2021 Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance ✮ Synopsis: [PRINCIPAL CAST LIST] Kate Garfield Anderson Walker Best friends, and contrary to popular belief, not co-dependent. Examples: Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway. But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script. Enter Stage Left: Matt Olsson He is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson. Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship… ✮ ADD TO GOODREADS ✮ Big thanks to…
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FROM LUKOV WITH LOVE BY MARIANA ZAPATA // book talk: somebody needs to cure my obsession ft. figure skating & enemies-to-lovers gloriousness
I know I joke about it frequently but this time I’m being very serious as I ACTUALLY DO NEED HELP! I need to be stopped. When I say that I have been rereading this book over and over since I finished, I do not exaggerate. Some would call it unhealthy, I call it being obsessed and needing ~serotonin~ in my life. Mariana Zapata is just a godsend and I LITERALLY ADORE HER SO MUCH. Now let’s dive into my sanity breakdown. Title: From Lukov with Love Series: [unofficial] Santos Sisters #2 Author: Mariana Zapata Page count: 542 Date published: 1 February 2018 Genre: Adult contemporary romance ❄ Synopsis: If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one. After seventeen years—and countless broken bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close. But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything. Including Ivan Lukov. ❄ ADD TO GOODREADS ❄ STAR…
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ALWAYS ONLY YOU BY CHLOE LIESE // spoiler-free book review: my first 5-star of 2021 aka this delightfully diverse sports romance
Yes, you read that right. I’ve finally read another 5 star and YOU ALL NEED TO READ IT! This is just going to be screaming and admiring this book and author for 1000 words straight and I’m not sorry. Buckle up, folks. Also idk who I am right now with all these reviews but I also honestly don’t care. Enjoy *wink wink* Title: Always Only You Series: Bergman Brothers #2 Author: Chloe Liese Page count: 355 Date published: 4 August 2020 Genre: Adult contemporary romance ❆ Synopsis: Get ready for an emotional ride filled with laughter, longing, and a sweet slow-burn in this sports romance about love’s power not in spite of difference, but because of it. Ren The moment I met her, I knew Frankie Zeferino was someone worth waiting for. Deadpan delivery, secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes my knees weak, Frankie has been forbidden since the day she and I became coworkers, meaning waiting has been the name of my game—besides, hockey, that is. I’m a player on the team, she’s on staff, and as long as we work together, dating is off-limits. But patience has always been my virtue. Frankie won’t…
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STARFISH BY AKEMI DAWN BOWMAN // spoiler-free book review: stunning writing & brilliant social anxiety representation
Hello, my friends LOOK WHO FINALLY READ THIS BOOK!! It is I. The biggest failure of tbr followers. Lmao, what did I even say?? Anyways, yes I finally got around to reading this book which was been on many a tbr and though I didn’t ~love~ it as much as I expected to, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Let’s get into this review. Which is smol but I wanted to chat with you anyways. Title: Starfish Author: Akemi Dawn Bowman Page count: 352 Date published: 5 April 2018 Genre: Young Adult contemporary ✧ Synopsis: A half-Japanese teen grapples with social anxiety and her narcissist mother in the wake of a crushing rejection from art school in this debut novel. Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real-life will begin. But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend…
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THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS BY CHLOE GONG // book talk: finally reviewing my fave book of 2020 ft. tears, stabbiness and yearning
And Happy New Year everybody. Here’s to 2021 being at least a little bit better than the horror that was 2020. But before we move on, I can’t leave behind my favourite book of last year, so I’m here today to share my review of These Violent Delights by the wondrous Chloe Gong. A round of applause is definitely necessary. I have A LOT to say about this beaut, this stunner and the actual love of my life. I also have an author interview up if you’d like to give it a read (click the image): Oh yeah, I also read the Christmas special that was uploaded a week or so ago and I am a wreck. Love to see it. Anyways, without further ado, let us all scream together. Title: These Violent Delights Series: These Violent Delights book #1 Author: Chloe Gong Page count: 464 Date published: 17 November 2020 Genre: Young Adult historical fantasy 🥀🔪 Synopsis: Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River. The year is…
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BOYFRIEND MATERIAL BY ALEXIS HALL // spoiler-free book review: queer fake-dating that’ll make milk come out of your nose
Hello there friends, we’re back with a book review today about a delightful book you all should read for all the smiles. I had absolutely no idea how I would feel about this book and I got the lovely opportunity of reading it before release date and just,,, agh such a lovely time. I guess keep reading to find out more? I sound like a salesperson omg no. Title: Boyfriend Material Author: Alexis Hall Page count: 432 Date published: 7 July 2020 Genre: Adult contemporary romance ✉ Synopsis: Wanted: One (fake) boyfriend Practically perfect in every way Luc O’Donnell is tangentially–and reluctantly–famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he’s never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad’s making a comeback, Luc’s back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything. To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship…and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He’s a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and he’s never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately, apart from being…
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IMAGINE ME BY TAHEREH MAFI // book talk: mini defy me review ft. sad feelings and hardcore warnette shipping
My life now has a hollow hole because I’m SAD and EMO this series is over. Somebody send me HELP please and thank you. Also, I have no self-control and read this book in an entire sitting YAY FOR ME. I think I’m an ACTUAL reader now, a reader whizz if you will. I’VE MADE IT! Watch me do all the 24 hour readathons. WAIT NO I TAKE IT BACK I DON’T WANNA JINX IT!!! gahhhhhh mini-review Before we start, I again have to apologise because I was supposed to do a review of Defy Me ages ago when I read it but never got around to it. Should we do it now? Why the heck not I suppose… Defy Me (Shatter Me #5) by Tahereh Mafi Seeing as I read this book like a year ago, excuse any stupidity. I mean you already do that most of the time but still. But from what I can remember, and I’ve actually been rereading parts of the books because I’m emo and truly don’t want this series to end welp. I did not love the end of Restore Me, it was way too much drama and I HATE a particular ‘trope’…
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BEACH READ BY EMILY HENRY // blog tour book review: my heart feels like it was stabbed a thousand times over ft. amazing banter & many tears
I would like to thank Emily Henry for destroying my emotions. I would also like to have a personal chat with her because HOW DID SHE DO IT??? My heart has been shattered into pieces and I blame THIS. FREAKING. BOOK. I’m mad. But in a good way. Wow, what has my life come to? But also HAPPY RELEASE DAY TO ONE OF MY NEW FAVE READS!! Let’s get into the review. Title: Beach Read Author: Emily Henry Page count: 384 Date published: 19 May 2020 Genre: Adult contemporary romance ☀ Synopsis: A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters. Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They’re polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighbouring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block. Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them…
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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…
