MY WEEK WITH HIM By Joya Goffney

June 30, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

MY WEEK WITH HIM By Joya GoffneyMy Week with Him by Joya Goffney
Published by HarperTeen on 7/11/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Nikki can’t wait to leave Texas and follow her dreams of a music career . . . After a painful betrayal by her sister and a heated argument with their mother, Nikki is kicked out and finds herself homeless. She decides to go to California to pursue her singing career. When her best friend, Malachai, discovers her plan to flee Texas, he begs her to spend the remainder of spring break with him. He believes that over the course of a week, he can convince her to stay in Texas, or to at least graduate high school. But their plans are interrupted when Nikki’s little sister Vae goes missing.

Nikki is forced to work alongside her difficult mother as they set off in search of Vae, with Malachai’s support. Will Nikki find a reason to stay in Texas, or will this spring break be the last time she sees them? Through her emotional journey, Nikki ultimately finds the love she’s always been missing and discovers the power of her own voice.

Short and Sweet Review

Nikki is ready to get out of Cactus, Texas and start pursuing her music career. Its spring break and Nikki doesn’t really see a reason to stay so she finds this the perfect time to head to California. When Nikki stops at home she ends up getting in trouble for something her younger sister Vae did and ends up getting kicked out, feeling betrayed Nikki ends up ignoring Vae and continues with her plan to leave. When her best friend Malachai catches wind of her leaving, he convinces her to spend a week with him and see if there’s anyway he can get her to stay in Cactus. When Nikki learns that her sister Vae has run away Nikki knows she has to put her plans on pause and now she has to work with her mom to find Vae.

I have very conflicting feelings about this novel. I liked the rawness and how realistic Nikki’s journey is with being kicked out and feeling like she has no where to go and also wanting to follow her dreams. I think my biggest problem with this book was the romance. So first the family dynamic, Nikki and her mom have a tumultuous relationship, Nikki is literally walking on eggshells around her mom and its always like she can’t do anything right. Which is why Nikki has run away multiple times, and when she does run away she ends up at her friend Malachai’s house. Her sister Vae on the other hand gets treated a little bit better. Nikki wants to pursue her music career and she has an audition to go to in California but her friend Malachai convinces her to stay with him for a week before making what he thinks is a rash decision. The two end up going on a road trip but have to cut it short when they find out Vae is missing. This is when Nikki has to reluctantly work with her mom to find her sister. The two end up being civil with each other but you can definitely sense the tension between the two. I did like how this brought them together but they still had to get to the root of their problem which took time a little time, which was more realistic then everything magically being solved because of Vae running away. Now my problem with the romance, it was just too easy. Nikki and Malachai have always liked each other but haven’t really acted on those feelings, he even gets a girlfriend to make Nikki jealous and then breaks up with the girl when he finds out Nikki is leaving. The two end up spending a week together and it isn’t a slow burn it was instant and it was off-putting to me. I wish their relationship had more time to develop, because it felt like two friends who just got together and were always together, the title of the book also doesn’t leave much to the imagination.

Overall, this book was okay but it could have been better. I didn’t enjoy the romance, but I did like seeing the family relationship and how realistically it was portrayed. I do wish we saw more about Nikki’s singing career we saw snippets of it but not as much as I thought there should have been for someone who wants to pursue singing. I feel very indifferent about this book, it wasn’t the great but it wasn’t that bad either.

Filed Under: Reviews

AND BREAK THE PRETTY KINGS By Lena Jeong

June 14, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

AND BREAK THE PRETTY KINGS By Lena JeongAnd Break the Pretty Kings by Lena Jeong
Series: Sacred Bone #1
Published by HarperTeen on 6/20/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Young Adult
Pages: 447
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Mirae was meant to save her queendom, but the ceremony before her coronation ends in terror and death, unlocking a strange new power within her and foretelling the return of a monster even the gods fear. Amid the chaos, Mirae’s beloved older brother is taken—threatening the peninsula’s already tenuous truce.

Desperate to save her brother and defeat this ancient enemy before the queendom is beset by war, Mirae sets out on a journey with an unlikely group of companions while her unpredictable magic gives her terrifying visions of a future she must stop at any cost.

Short and Sweet Review

Mirae is a princess and everyone is looking to her to save the kingdom, but first she needs to pass a series of test before she makes it to her coronation, but unfortunately things go awry. Mirae finds herself with a new power and her brother has gone missing and its up to her and a group to go find him and bring him back home. Mirae is desperate to save her brother, stop an ancient enemy, and stop a war from breaking out.

And Break the Pretty Kings had an interesting concept that involved a setting of historical Korea, characters that had powers, and history and myths. I honestly don’t think everything worked as seamlessly as it could have. Mirae is very head strong and doesn’t listen to advice from those around her. I think the magic system in this book was interesting, Mirae is about to control elements around her and she ends up with a new power, the power to time travel. The time traveling confused me, only because I didn’t understand the jumping around and the things other characters were telling Mirae when she would end up in their time period and what their motives were. This book was very confusing to me and I think it lacked a clear concept, from the synopsis we can see what the intentions were but it fell short. The characters lacked a clear motivation for what they were doing and it was hard to relate to any of them. We’re also introduced to the antagonist of the book and their motives made everything even more confusing for me. I was interested in seeing Mirae use her time traveling powers and learning more about Korean myths. Some of the things that were introduced were fascinating.

All in all I was just confused for 80% of this book. The ending didn’t make anything better, things weren’t wrapped up or answered in a clear way, and I think that was because there’s going to be a sequel. I believe for me to truly understand what was going on in this book, I would have to reread it… and I don’t want to.

Filed Under: Reviews

WE SHIP IT By Lauren Kay

June 12, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

WE SHIP IT By Lauren KayWe Ship It by Lauren Kay
Published by HarperTeen on 6/20/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 317
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Olivia Schwartz has a plan. It’s even color-coded.

And the plan is this: a perfect SAT score, a prestigious college, and a straight path towards her dream of becoming a doctor.

The last thing she wants to do—the summer before her senior year of high school, no less—is go on a cruise. Especially with her parents, younger brothers, and all the unspoken things between them since her older brother’s death so many years ago.

Then Olivia meets Sebastian. He’s everything she’s not: charming, exciting, willing to take risks and run with them. For the first time, Olivia feels like she can have fun...

But there’s a lot bubbling up under the surface on this cruise, and when past secrets begin to come to light, Olivia must face all the truths that she’s ignored for so long: about herself, Sebastian, her brother, the past she thought she understood, and the future she’s always planned.

Short and Sweet Review

Olivia Schwartz has a plan, she wants a perfect SAT score, to go to a good college, and become a cardiologist. But the summer before her senior year her parents tell her the family is going on a cruise and Olivia can see all of her plans unraveling. Olivia tries to comply mainly because before her brother Logans death they both talked about going to Antigua, and one of the stops on the cruise is Antigua. Olivia plans on spending most of her time doing school work but her plans go up in plan when her family connects with old family friends and her old friend Jules convinces her to have a little fun, which is how Olivia meets Sebastian. Over the course of the cruise Olivia learns a lot about herself, and tries to face her past while planning for the future.

Olivia our main character is very focused and she has a plan about what she wants in the future and how she plans on getting there. When her parents tell her about the cruise, Olivia is upset, she’s been working on a big science project which needs to be presented, which would now happen on the cruise. Olivia can be uptight she doesn’t seem to know how to relax and have a little fun. When Olivia gets on the boat she’s determined to work on her project, but she reconnects with Jules who is able to convince Olivia to hangout with some of the other teens on board. I did enjoy the setting of a cruise ship and seeing all of the things that the passengers can do, but my favorite thing was seeing Olivia get out of her comfort zone. Within this friend group Olivia meets Sebastian, and its not love at first sight she thinks he’s making fun of her work ethic but eventually she does start to develop feelings for him and this is the first person she’s able to talk to Logan about. I did feel bad for Olivia, she’s never been in a relationship or with a guy so I don’t think she was able to see the signs the Sebastian didn’t feel the way she did. I will say that it did help Olivia to talk to Logan to someone because her parents usually avoid the subject but over this trip Olivia is finally able to have the hard conversation that has been avoided for years. When Olivia learns the truth everything she thought she knew feels like a lie. I truly think this is the first time Olivia has dealt with an obstacle like this, so much so that it makes her start to rethink everything.

In the end I did like how Olivia was able to over come and start to adjust her plans to things that aren’t as concrete as she once thought they had to be. I did appreciate how the topic of Logans death was handle and how at the end her parents realized that avoiding talking about him wasn’t helping. Olivia learns over the course of this book and I did like seeing how she grew as a character and how important topics were covered. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance novels.

Filed Under: Reviews

GODS & MONSTERS By Shelby Mahurin

May 17, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

GODS & MONSTERS By Shelby MahurinGods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin
Series: Serpent & Dove #3
Published by HarperTeen on 7/27/21
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 624
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Lou has spent her whole life running. Now, after a crushing blow from Morgane, the time has come to go home—and claim what is rightfully hers.

But this is no longer the Lou her friends knew. No longer the Lou who captured a chasseur’s heart. A darkness has settled over her, and this time it will take more than love to drive it out.

Short and Sweet Review

*Let me just start out saying that this review may have some spoilers, and for that I’m sorry!*

Gods & Monsters continues where Blood & Honey left off. (It took me a long time to read this book after I read #2 so don’t really remember what happened before.) Lou, Reid, Coco, and Beau are still traveling trying to avoid Morgane and the blood witches and trying to find allies to help them end this war. The synopsis says that there’s something wrong with Lou, and there is, she’s being possessed. After the group figures that whole situation out they continue their quest, make a few alliances and prepare for the battle that will end it all.

I will say that I did enjoy this book a lot more than Blood & Honey, there was more action and more meaningful decisions being made. We see Reid sacrifice his memories to save Lou’s life, and I just liked seeing Lou make Reid fall back in love with her it reminded me of the first book and how it went from him hating her to loving her. I would say that having Beau and Coco along for the ride was amazing and I kind of wish those two were a couple. Coco is the one who is always thinking logically, and Beau he was always cracking jokes even when it wasn’t the right time for it. I did like seeing all the sacrifices that had to be made and seeing Lou realize that it does pay off to have hope. The ending was good, it wasn’t spectacular, but we’ve been working up to this moment since the first book.

Overall, this trilogy had a lot of ups and downs and I do think that Gods & Monsters left everything off on a good note!

Filed Under: Reviews

THE LAKE HOUSE By Sarah Beth Durst

April 7, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE LAKE HOUSE By Sarah Beth DurstThe Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst
Published by HarperTeen on 4/25/23
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Claire’s grown up triple-checking locks. Counting her steps. Second-guessing every decision. It’s just how she’s wired—her worst-case scenarios never actually come true.

Until she arrives at an off-the-grid summer camp to find a blackened, burned husk instead of a lodge—and no survivors, except her and two other late arrivals: Reyva and Mariana.

When the three girls find a dead body in the woods, they realize none of this is an accident. Someone, something, is hunting them. Something that hides in the shadows.

Something that refuses to let them leave.

Short and Sweet Review

Claire has a lot of fears and to deal with them she’ll go through a checklist in her head. Claire is sure her worst case scenario won’t come true but she’ll be ready in case it does. When Claire and two other girls, Mariana and Reyva arrive to the summer camp they’re supposed to be staying at and see the lake house burned to the ground and find the director dead, they know they’re in trouble. The girls are stuck on this island, where they have no contact with the outside world, a killer running loose, and even some mysterious force that doesn’t want them to leave.

The Lake House is a survival, horror, mystery and I’m glad that the way the book was described is actually what the book was like. Claire, Reyva, and Mariana are the last campers to arrive and what they end up seeing is not what they expect. The girls have no choice but to figure out how to survive on the island especially because they don’t know when or even if help is coming. All the girls know for sure is that there’s a murderer on the island and they have to stay vigilante. The first half of the book is mainly survival and trying to avoid who they think is the murderer and trying to get off the island. The second half deals with the same thing except now we have the supernatural element involved and the girls were trying to avoid the consequences of getting stuck on the island with (I’m not even sure what to call it. A ghost? A spirit?). Anyway the girls also see their boat driver, Jack come back, and he’s around their age and he seems shocked about the things going on but he knows more than he lets on. I did like the bond that the girls formed, they’ve only known each other for a few hours before they’re thrown into something they really weren’t prepared for. The girls were resourceful and put their heads together to make sure that they would at least be able to survive. I will say some parts of the books confused me, mainly with what ever weird force was at work. I wish that part was explained more. The ending was okay, I’m not sure why all three girls had a memory lapse.

This was a good book and I enjoyed seeing the girls form a bond and truly try to find a way to make it out alive. I would still want some explaination about the paranormal parts and the ending could have been better, but other than that if you’re looking for a creepy and suspenseful book check this one out.

Filed Under: Reviews

THE CHERISHED By Patricia Ward

April 5, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE CHERISHED By Patricia WardThe Cherished by Patricia Ward
Published by HarperTeen on 4/18/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Young Adult
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Jo never expected to be placed in her absent grandmother’s will—let alone be left her house, her land, and a letter with mysterious demands.

Upon arriving at the inherited property, things are even more strange.

The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd, just slightly…off. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house. And the things that her father used to talk about, his delusions… Why is Jo starting to believe they might be real?

But what Jo fears most is the letter from her grandmother. Because if it’s true, then Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay.

Short and Sweet Review

When Jo’s estranged grandmother dies and leave’s her property to her Jo doesn’t fully understand why and it doesn’t help that the letter her grandmother left for her doesn’t entirely make sense. Jo and her mom travel to the house and find that there are tenants who aren’t completely normal, and something feels off with the house. The longer Jo stays in the house the more she thinks the delusions her father used to talk about were true, and her grandmother’s letter was right and she belongs in this house.

The Cherished was a hot mess, it was offensive and the way the author tackled mental health and talking about how people looked was not okay. Jo and her mother don’t have the best relationship and so their conversations are mostly filled with snark and snappy comebacks. Abigail (Jo’s mom) was an insufferable character, she thought she was above everybody else and was constantly complaining. I didn’t like that Abigail already had it in her head that she was going to sell the house and tries to get rid of the tenants that Maureen (the grandma) wanted to stay there. Jo and Abigail come and start rocking the boat and were inconsiderate of the people around them. It wasn’t until 50% through the book when we realize what’s actually going on. There’s fairies and they like to kidnap children. Jo is responsible for keeping the fairies at bay which is why Maureen gave her the house.

I didn’t like the attitudes that Jo and Abigail came into town with, like they were better than everyone and that what they want to happen was going to happen. The book was slow and the ending was rushed. The whole thing about the fairies would have been better if they were introduced earlier. There are issues with this book and I don’t think the execution was great. The characters were entitled, the plot was slow and the ending was too easily fixed, especially when Jo really didn’t know what she was doing. I personally wouldn’t recommend this book.

Filed Under: Reviews

LOLA AT LAST By J.C. Peterson

February 18, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

LOLA AT LAST By J.C. PetersonLola at Last by J.C. Peterson
Published by HarperTeen on 2/28/23
Genres: Contemporary, Retellings, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 393
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Join Lola Barnes, a.k.a. a modern Lydia Bennet, at the beginning of a summer gone truly wrong: where a boat party-turned-fiery-fiasco ends with the ship, Lola’s summer plans, and her reputation truly sunk.

(The boat was barely on fire, for the record—and all the partygoers were just fine.)

Luckily, this disaster of a summer has another thing in store for her: a path of self-discovery she never saw coming.

Given an ultimatum—jail time, or spending the summer with the nonprofit Hike Like a Girl—she laces up her hiking boots and takes to the wilderness. Along the way, she’ll encounter unexpected friends, a sweet romance, strength she didn’t know she had—and herself, Lola, at last.

Short and Sweet Review

Lola’s summer is not off to a great start, the friends she thought she had want nothing to do with her and to make matters worse she ends up catching a boat on fire that belongs to her brother in law and sister. To pay for her mistakes Lola ends up having to join Hike Like a Girl, a nonprofit where she should rediscover herself and figure a lot of things out while out in the wilderness.

Lola at Last is the companion novel to Being Mary Bennet, in this book we meet the illustrious Lola who was shipped off to France but came back after that didn’t work for her. Anyway we see the aftermath of Lola being gone, her friends aren’t really her friends she’s like an outcast now trying to figure out how to fit in again. Lola uses humor as a coping mechanism but it comes off as if she really doesn’t care especially if she’s in the wrong. Lola has a way of making things about her and she needed a lot of character development. I think the Hike Like a Girl actually did Lola a lot of good, she needed to get away from the people she thought were her friends and just start fresh. Lola is not excited about joining HLAG at first she makes the experience pretty awful for the other girls with her temper tantrums and showing up late, but eventually she turns her attitude around and starts to make an effort. We also see Lola try to rekindle her relationship with her twin sister Kat which got strained when Lola went to France. There’s also a romance between Lola and Ezra and I thought this was a cute relationship. Ezra makes Lola want to try to be a better person but Ezra also has some doubts about if Lola can change from the reckless girl she used to be.

This was a pretty entertaining book, I liked reading about all of the hikes the girls are going on. I was worried that Lola wouldn’t have much character development, there was a lot of ups and downs with her behavior but eventually she figured out what kind of person she wanted to be and learned from her past mistakes. I liked the characters and the plot and Lola was a good character and I liked seeing her growth. Pick this book up, because it’s definitely a breath of fresh air, kind of makes me want to try hiking.


Filed Under: Reviews

SEVEN PERCENT OF RO DEVEREUX By Ellen O’Clover

January 11, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SEVEN PERCENT OF RO DEVEREUX By Ellen O’CloverSeven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O'Clover
Published by HarperTeen on 1/17/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 319
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

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 soulmates. 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 soulmate is Miller, her childhood best friend with whom she had a friendship-destroying fight three years ago.

Now thrust into a fake dating scenario, Ro and Miller must address the years of pain between them if either of them will have any chance of achieving their dreams. And as the app takes on a life of its own, Ro sees that it’s affecting people in ways she never expected—and if she can’t regain control, it might take her and everything she believes in down with it.

Short and Sweet Review

Ro Devereux made an app that can predict your future and its 93% accurate. The app is called MASH and it’s based on the childhood game (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House). The app was only supposed to be for a class project but soon it starts taking off in the App Store and Ro is eventually backed by a company. Ro just wants to prove herself so she becomes the main face of MASH and she uses the app to match with her soulmate which she thinks is wrong when the app tells her its Miller, a boy she used to be friends with until something went wrong. We see Ro and Miller try to make the best of their fake dating scenario, and we see how people are affected by the app and the choices Ro has to make about her future.

First of all, this book was amazing. I haven’t played MASH since I was in middle school so this book brought up some good memories. If I could I probably would download Ro’s version of MASH just to see what the future has in store. Ro is smart, I mean she made an app that has a 93% accuracy rate. Ro did have a lot of character development throughout this book, we see her trying to justify the decisions she makes, but in the end she does realize that other things are important and tries to right her wrongs. We also see Ro become obsessed with trying to make MASH work and trying to have everything go perfectly and this is why I appreciated her support system because they would bring her back to Earth and ground her.

Ro does get backed by a company who tries to get her noticed by a bigger software company, unfortunately Ro’s quest for success gives this company 50% ownership of the app and they start making questionable changes to the algorithm, but more on this later. Ro gets matched with Miller, who used to be her childhood best friend but since then they’ve gone their separate ways, now they have to fake their romance. This romance was cute, the slow burn and the eventually realization that they were meant to be was everything. At first these two didn’t even want to share a space together but by the end they stole my heart. After the company starts making changes to the algorithm we see people become affected by their MASH results and how their futures would change. Ro knows this isn’t what she intended when she first created the app and now she has to decide what to do with an app she thought would give her a chance in the tech world.

This is my first five star read of 2023 and for a lot of reasons. The amazing concept of having a childhood game become an app to predict your future, a smart tech driven main character, and one of the cutest romances I’ve read in a while. Definitely get your hands on this book and enjoy the the magic that O’Clover has created.

Filed Under: Reviews

BREAKUP FROM HELL By Ann Dávila Cardinal

December 27, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

BREAKUP FROM HELL By Ann Dávila CardinalBreakup from Hell by Ann Dávila Cardinal
Published by HarperTeen on 1/3/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 297
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Miguela Angeles is tired. Tired of her abuela keeping secrets, especially about her heritage. Tired of her small Vermont town and hanging out at the same places with the same friends she’s known forever. So when another boring Sunday trip to church turns into a run-in with Sam, a mysterious hottie in town on vacation, Mica seizes the opportunity to get closer to him.

It’s not long before she is under Sam’s spell and doing things she’s never done before, like winning all her martial arts sparring matches—and lying to her favorite people. The more time Mica spends with Sam, the more weird things start to happen, too. Like terrifying-visions-of-the-world-ending weird.

Mica’s gut instincts keep telling her something is off, yet Sam is the most exciting guy she’s ever met. But when Mica discovers his family’s roots, she realizes that instead of being in the typical high school relationship, she’s living in a horror novel.

She has to leave Sam, but will ending their relationship also bring an end to everything she knows and everyone she loves?

Short and Sweet Review

Miguela Angeles (Mica) lives with her grandma in a small town in Vermont, all Miguela wants is to break free of the small town life, her grandma keeping her on a tight leash, and just being with the same people and seeing the same things all the time. During a normal Sunday at Church Mica has a run in with a new guy Sam who isn’t so bad looking, Sam is on vacation and Mica gravitates towards him. After meeting Sam Mica realizes that weird things are starting to happen to her and her friends including new abilities and end of the world type dreams. Mica knows she has to stay away from Sam but for some reason it feels like ending it with him will be the end of the world as she knows it.

Mica starts a relationship with the new guy Sam and sees that things with him aren’t what they seem. After being with Mica starts getting Buffy the Vampire Slayer like powers and she knows that this isn’t normal. Come to find out Mica is a descendent of the Archangel Michael and Sam is unfortunately the son of Satan. Their relationship ends up turning them into enemies.

The plot was interesting I mean its not everyday you end up dating Satans son. I liked that Mica’s friends were also special and that she didn’t have to go through things alone. The dialogue was a bit cheesy and it felt juvenile like something from a bad superhero movie. I think one of my favorite things was that each of the chapters started with a verse from Revelation which only makes sense because this relationship may cause the end of the world. I didn’t connect with Mica but I did like the whole angel aspect of the book. The relationship between Mica and Sam wasn’t really anything to look forward to it’s instalove and very short lived.

If you want a short book that involves angels and demons then this book is a good way to start off your new year.

Filed Under: Reviews

A THOUSAND HEARTBEATS By Kiera Cass

November 22, 2022 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A THOUSAND HEARTBEATS By Kiera CassA Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass
Published by HarperTeen on 11/29/22
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 576
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain.

Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. He has devoted his life to the Dahrainian army, hoping to one day help them reclaim the throne that was stolen from them. For Lennox, the idea of love is merely a distraction—nothing will stand in the way of fighting for his people.

But when love, against all odds, finds them both, they are bound by its call. They can’t possibly be together—but the irresistible thrum of a thousand heartbeats won’t let them stay apart.

Short and Sweet Review

Annika is the princess of a nice kingdom where she lives comfortably and doesn’t have much to worry about except for keeping her people, and that involves arranged marriages to people she has no feelings for.

Miles away Lennox lives with the Dahrainian people and they’ve been struggling, but what they really want the the kingdom back. Lennox is tasked with going on a mission to find out more information about the kingdom and ends up taking Annika hostage. After this he finds that he has feelings for her and lets her go but they both know in the end one of them has to die.

This was an interesting book in that it was very predictable and because of the predictability this book could have been at least 100 pages shorter. Annika and Lennox fall for each other even though they basically need to kill each other and I wasn’t really feeling their romance or connection it kind of felt forced. The fact that she feel for him after being kidnapped was a bit like Stockholm syndrome. Anyway Annika only had her brother Escalus and her maid Noemi that were really in her corner the other characters seemed to think less of her even though she was the princess. Lennox on the other hand was more of a leader than the one they actually had in Dahrain but he was also looked down upon. They both had that in common they were looked down upon and people didn’t really believe them until they were put on the spot and could show what they could do. This book was okay it wasn’t the most original thing I think Annika was a bit similar to other female characters we see in Cass’s books. I will say I liked how we got a dual POV and Cass did a good job writing from both POVs. The ending was good again it was predictable. I will say if you like Cass’s other books then you’ll enjoy A Thousand Heartbeats.

Filed Under: Reviews