

After finishing a Louise Penny I had to get back into my other favorite detective, Brunetti. Loving being back in Venice again. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
After finishing a Louise Penny I had to get back into my other favorite detective, Brunetti. Loving being back in Venice again. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Well this book took me about 2 years to read. I love Gamache and I can‘t really say what wasn‘t doing it for me to be honest, I just stalled part way through. However I got covid recently and returned to the last third of the book and really enjoyed it. Turns out detective fiction is just what you need when you feel like crap. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Book 2 in the prison healer series! I was excited to read this before book 3 comes out this month. Really enjoyed this story. I love the characters and the intrigue. I‘m glad I have the next one to read soon though because that ending. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finally photographed this after finishing it ages ago. Wow. SO good. After finishing this I jumped on WEBTOON and binged the entire rest of the series which I highly recommend. Trigger warnings for themes of sexual assault, rape, toxic relationships etc but in terms of that content, I think this is one of the best portrayals of the emotions behind it and the aftermath a person suffers. So well done. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Love love LOVED this audiobook. Set mostly in Scotland it‘s so atmospheric and just the right amount of spooky if you‘re a bit of a wimp. Looking forward to recommending this to my 14 year old too 😻 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Loved this book 🌼 The author perfectly encapsulates the loss of identity experienced in early motherhood and the bizarre often embarrassing ways it reasserts itself years later. In her case, with an obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch, which means this book isn‘t a depressing tome about Why Women Feel Sad but instead SO FUNNY. I loved the musings on how we feel about what we love. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(thank you to NetGalley for the digital review copy😻)
So exciting to have read such a new fantasy book! Josslyn Drake is living the best life she can as a popular society girl, bar the tragic loss of her father a year earlier, when she accidentally comes in contact with forbidden magic. She teams up with a gorgeous criminal in an attempt to get rid of the magic and chaos ensues. I listened and the narration was great. I enjoyed the pacing and couldn‘t predict the plot. Bring on book 2! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My first Garth Nix and I REALLY enjoyed it. The narration was fabulous. Sarah j Maas gives this book 5 stars and if you‘re a fan of her early work I highly recommend checking this out. I got like PG throne of glass vibes from parts of it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such a good graphic novel. I knew next to nothing about the world war 2 Japanese internment camps. This graphic novel was so informative and heartfelt. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Really enjoyed this book. Looking forward to gifting this to many friends. I listened in bites as I drove around and it was perfect. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Really enjoyed this book. Looking forward to gifting this to many friends. I listened in bites as I drove around and it was perfect. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love this series. This wasn‘t my favorite purely because I was so stressed and anxious throughout. It really needs to be read in one sitting preferably with the next book in the series (which isn‘t out yet😆) next to you. The author has a few things to put to rights in my mind and I need that book asap. Veronica and stoker still have my whole heart. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Really different than what I expected! I don‘t think the title conveys what this book is about. I wasn‘t expecting it to be like the goose girl but it was, and I loved that book. I listened to the audio, it has full cast narration which takes a bit of getting used to. But it made the scary parts REALLY scary. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I‘m enjoying reading some less hyped YA fantasy books lately, usually found through uppercase YA‘s Instagram account. This one was good… I listened on audio and I liked it enough to want to finish it, but it wasn‘t the most wonderful thing I‘ve read either? The plot was unpredictable, which was good… nice world building… I liked the characters but got annoyed at their choices 😅 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hmmmm. I think… that I don‘t like SJM in adult as much as I do in YA? The plot of this was excellent. But I found myself skipping past stuff that was just a bit… too much. For me. 🤷🏼♀️ I did appreciate that they‘d edited out some of the excessive f bombs which, IMO, were every second sentence at the end of the first book 😆 tiring. that ending though. 😵💀 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Greta and Valdin was SO GREAT. This book is FUNNY and full of so many delightful tidbits especially if you love our New Zealand cities. It‘s set in Auckland and as an ex-aucklander it was so cool to read about the city I was a teenager and young adult in, in the vein of so many books I love set in say NYC or LA eg permanent record. The ambling around through the city, the sense of place, the FOOD. The quirky cast. So good. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Crying, crying, crying so much. This book was gorgeous and just, lots of feels. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ehhh… I was really excited about this and I DID finish it, if I really don‘t like a book I just don‘t finish. I think I had really hoped to love it more, i‘d heard amazing reviews and I had really enjoyed the authors Star Wars books. I wonder if for once I may have enjoyed print rather than audio? Who knows! So that‘s unhelpful overall but maybe give this a try 🤷🏼♀️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
One of the most helpful books I‘ve come across on anxiety. It‘s given language to a lot of things I experience daily. I‘ll be buying the workbook and trying to implement and work on many of the things in this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love Becky chambers so much. The pace with her books is calm and this one particularly was slow (not necessarily in a bad way) for the first half. I was heavily invested in the second half though and the ending was incredible. I also find the ideas around how humans could be perceived by other life forms in space completely fascinating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hmmm. This one was way too steamy for me. I loved the female characters in this book. The men, particularly the lead 😬 I am not so sure about. Lots to like overall and some real irritations too. She set up the next stories really well though and I think I‘ll head back to see how Kareena‘s friends get on. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A gorgeous triumph of a book. An ode to found family and resilience, this story of 2 young people who meet while living in a homeless shelter in nyc gave me ALL the feels. I would expect nothing less from the author of the vanderbeekers books but this one was something incredibly special. I know nothing about homelessness and appreciated the education here. Also there is a scene involving a dog and a book that you don‘t want to miss. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was pretty cool. Again, points for it taking a while to read. Not my most favorite but not my least? I think I‘d love to see it in ink and colour actually. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I loved this graphic novel! I want a movie 😻 great art, gripping story, fascinating premise. And it takes a while to read, for a kids graphic novel, which was fun too. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such a beautiful story. These books get me right in the feels. As a parent though the kids had me cringing big time - their attempts to help! 🤦🏼♀️😅😳 not helpful 😐🤣 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
New. Favorite. Book. Oh my. I finished this in 2 sittings then went and ordered a copy for my daughter who is about to turn 14 (same age as the protagonist in the book). I adored Ursula Vernon‘s hamster princess books and was so glad to finally commit to this one (same author, different name). It‘s funny and exciting and just the right amount of scary. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was funny, easy to read, sweet and kept me interested. A perfect palate cleanser from the stuff I normally read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beautifully drawn and incredible world building. I loved how anxiety and panic attacks are woven in naturally as part of a character in a fantasy book. Really looking forward to book 2 which I think is coming out soon. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A really fantastic book for anyone wanting a book about faith and real life based in the here and now, not stuck in old ways of thinking. The audiobook is cool as it‘s narrated by both authors reading their own parts. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I. Finally. Finished. It. This was a bit of a struggle. I was really really sad to leave these characters behind and very attached to all of them. I found it hard to turn the pages because of that. I kept thinking something horrific was about to happen. I skim read parts just so I could make it. But then, close to the end- holy plot twist Batman! Stick it out kids 😅 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thoroughly enjoyed this book, as much as I did the first one. Brilliant narration and I was so invested. Such a pleasant surprise when I‘d not really seen any hype around these yet they‘ve been a favorite so far this year. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Argh, so fun. Back to the novella length and leaves you wanting more. I‘ve now finished all the published murderbots and have turned around to start right back at book one. These books are fabulous. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Here for it. On a murderbot rampage and cannot get enough. I think I prefer the novella length, maybe? Hard to say. This is a full length novel and I mean, when you love murderbot, you‘re fine with it right? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Really enjoyable audiobook. A gripping story, even though the world building was quite complex, it didn‘t detract from the plot or the characters for me. This definitely kept me hooked and I‘m looking forward to the next. I think audio is good because there‘s some unusual pronunciations and things which might get a bit much on the page.
Another book I wasn‘t really expecting to like much but oh boy! It was fabulous! The narrator is brilliant and brings the whole thing to life. Alosa is a fantastic protagonist and the story was really entertaining. I‘m onto the next book now, so cool. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oooo this was excellent. Having loved the boarding school setting of the 3 previous books, I wasn‘t as interested in this… plus, crimes in nature places are terrifying 😳 and oh boy this was definitely that. The audio was so awesome that I want to listen to the others now. Loved it so much and excited to see she‘s writing another. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was fine? I mean it was cool, the way it left off immediately from book one, and then took you forward after that to see what became of the original gang. However as usual it‘s crowded with references and stuff and that does get a little tiring for me. Cool plot, too much detail, hope it becomes a movie. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One of my favorite fairy tale retellings! A sleeping beauty story, I loved the narration and the story was so fun. I‘m excited for book 2 and sad there won‘t be more. This is novella length, nice and short. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Scariest book I‘ve read in ages. The narration is fabulous and I reckon she probably captures the language of that time period better than if I were reading it on the page. But at more than one point I cranked the speed up to 2.5 just to get through the terror. Very well done ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book 2, just as gripping. No spoilers here but safe to say I‘m soooo keen on book 3 but my library doesn‘t have it yet! Wahhhh!😩 I‘m so glad I gave these books a chance after staring at them on the shelves for years. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Listened on audio- w o w. Best fantasy series I‘ve read in a while! It‘s a glamorous setting, quirky cast of characters, found family AND heists. I loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I only read this because it was sitting in the kindle, and I was in the mood for more YA fantasy after reading vespertine. It was AMAZING. Loved it. The lives of the characters are pretty grim, it is a prison, and an awful one. It gave me Ember in the ashes vibes, in that regard. Can‘t wait to read book 2.
A really fun read for the summer holidays, with a great format, leaping back and forwards in time across annual vacations taken between best friends. Emily Henry‘s books aren‘t fluffy romance, they can be pretty angsty and definitely give you the feels. The contrasts between the 2 main characters gave this more interest too. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The final book in a series you‘re heavily invested in is always going to be tricky. I personally love these books and recommend them a lot. This final book was great for me because of the Ophelia and Thorne content, but was pretty darn confusing in most other ways. Maybe it‘s just a matter of things getting a little lost in translation (these books are originally French) but I still love love love them. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I think this book takes the award for all of the things. It‘s perplexing for about the first fifth you really do not know what you‘re reading or what is going on. Stay with it, because when things change they change quickly and it becomes something else entirely. I don‘t want to spoil anything but as soon as I‘d finished I started again and reread the entire thing with a whole new level of understanding. The less you know, the better. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ahhhhhhh I loved this. Listen, if you can, to the audiobook. So funny that you can‘t do it in a public place without embarrassing yourself. This book brightened up my end of year. It‘s an interesting take on what happens after death but it‘s really the interactions between the characters that make it such a delight. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So happy to receive Vespertine as a Christmas present this year. The perfect book to take on holiday and devour, then hand around to your friends and family. I have loved all of Margaret Rogerson‘s books and am happy I own this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was reading this on kindle, a little bit each night, but at about 20% or so I got so unnerved and stressed that I had to stop so that I could finish it in one sitting when I had time. Picked it back up on summer holiday and did just that - so fast paced and gripping, I really enjoyed this Truman-show-esque book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lauren child is maybe my favorite childrens book author, and may I beg you to get this book for your Christmas book collection. A chapter book with plenty of beautiful full color illustrations, the story is funny and meaningful and the art is stunning. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I REALLY like TJ Klune. I‘ve only experienced the audiobooks (which are incredible) so was intrigued how I‘d like this on paper. I laughed so hard that I almost could not breathe. Set in a world with superheroes, of a boy who wishes he was one (primarily because of a giant crush he has on one of them). His increasingly misguided attempts to gain powers are baffling and hilarious and his relationship with his dad got me in the feels. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️