What I Read This Week

I had another good reading week. I read five audiobooks and 1 physical book. Let’s talk about them…

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano

Disclaimer: I work for Minotaur Books the publisher of this book. My opinions about this book are mine and have no representation of the company. 

This book rocked! I am excited that the story ARC of the last books has kind of finished up. This book had me giggling uncontrollably while I listened at work. It was so funny, just like her other books. I love this series and cannot wait to find out what happens next.

Add this to your Goodreads!

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

I thought this book was really fun, and I liked the premise. I have not read a YA romance that I enjoyed as much as this in a little bit. It was fun because it takes place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and I currently am living in the city. So I recognized some street names. I just think the whole situation was cute. I am hoping to get my hands on some more of her books shortly.

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Witch King by Martha Wells

This book was a shocker to me. I really love fantasy, but only fantasy that is uncomplex. I know that makes me simple, but I simply want to read a lot of books, and anything I have to spend a long time disgusting and understanding, I just lose interest. This book would have shaped up to be that if I had not listened to the audiobook. I read the physical book mostly at the same time I read the audiobook. I finished this book in a week. I loved it a lot. It was one of those stories that I will think about for years to come. It was excellent writing and lyrical prose. I loved all of the characters. It had Martha’s signature humor that I enjoyed when I read a couple of the Murderbot series.

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The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

I read it. It was an experience. Here’s the backstory. I am working at a mystery imprint at Macmillan. I am hoping that I can hone my mystery skills to continue in this genre. Therefore I have to read the most prolific mystery writer. I love starting with a writer’s first book. So I read The Mysterious Affair at Styles. And it was good. But it was not my favorite. Reading this book on audiobook is what made this not the best. I missed clues and I kept forgetting who was who. I know what to do better next time I read one of her novels.

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Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book from an industry connection. I was so excited to read this since Aimee is one of my favorite authors. I once had to read her poetry for class back in college, and she spoke at a visiting writers series. The love grew from there This book was honestly the best thing ever! I loved getting to experience this book early. Her writing is superb. She had me crying on the subway with how her writing impacted me. She talks about her family, and it was cool to see the evolution of her stories since World of Wonders, her other book I loved.

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A Rogue’s Company by Allison Montclair

Disclaimer: I work for Minotaur Books the publisher of this book. My opinions about this book are mine and have no representation of the company. 

This is the third in the series and I am still happy to continue reading the series. It is witty and a fun romp through the wartime UK. This one was especially fun because we got to see a bit more personal sides of both the main characters, and one was put directly in danger. Still a fantastic series and am currently starting the next one.

Add this to your Goodreads!

Thanks for reading!

A 5-Star Book Debut from Mateo Askaripour

Do you want a book that absolutely wrecks your brain? Read Black Buck.

Book Review:

The entire time my mind kept screaming “What the fuck?!”

I am not lying. This book was seriously insane. I have not read a book that has taken me through such a crazy mind tunnel. Black Buck was a phenomenal book.

Book Plot:

Everything was a twist and a turn. We went through this absolutely insane racist workplace and this guy absolutely fucking up his life. Speaking too much about the plot can lead to huge spoilers so I am just going to say this book is seriously insane, and you should read it.

Book Characters:

Darren is the most unlikeable character I have ever met. Throughout the story, he becomes this absolutely tortuous character. I hated him for hundreds of pages. Yes, In the beginning, and the end he is a better person, but this man goes into the craziest head spaces. Did I hate him? So much so. Do I love him? YES

I don’t have much to say about the other characters. Soraya was great and seeing her life through little moments was upper interesting. Everyone else was good, bad, and ugly.

There were huge character-driven twists at the end of this. My friend, who read this book with me, and I were absolutely blown away by the character’s development.

Quality of Writing:

During my summer program, Mateo Askaripour, the author, came and spoke at our class. While speaking, he told us about how it took him three books to finally get Black Buck published. He sounded exactly like his book read. His writing was provocative, stunning, and addictive. I cannot wait for Mateo’s next book just so I can read his writing again.

What I Liked:

  • The absolute crazy shit that happened
  • Speaking about the themes of racism in the sales world
  • Beautiful writing
  • The author
  • The shock factors

What I Didn’t:

  • It was a bit much, but I think that is the point. The point was to be a lot.

Read This Book If You Love:

  • Diverse books
  • Starbucks
  • Death of a Salesman
  • Literary fiction

Star Rating: 5

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Book:

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Black Buck book cover, pulled from Goodreads.com, Black hand holding a coffee cup, in a cartoon style
Black Buck cover pulled from Goodreads

Title: Black Buck

Author: Mateo Askaripour

Published January 5th, 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Race

Pages: 388

There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission.

An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.

After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.

Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.” –Goodreads

Read This Book Series: The Plated Prisoner

I didn’t have high hopes for this book series. Boy oh boy was I surprised.

The Book(s):

Gild Book cover by Raven Kennedy

Title(s): Gild, Glint, Gleam

Author: Raven Kennedy

Series: Plated Prisoner Series 1-3

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fae, New Adult

Glint Book cover by Raven Kennedy

Pages: 402, 441, 613

Gild Synopsis-“

The fae abandoned this world to us. And the ones with power rule.

Gold.

Gleam Book cover by Raven Kennedy

Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold.

Even me.

King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I’m called his precious. His favored. I’m the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don’t leave the confines of the palace, I’m safe.

Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck.

Suddenly, my trust is broken. My love is challenged. And I realize that everything I thought I knew about Midas might be wrong.

Because these bars I’m kept in, no matter how gilded, are still just a cage. But the monsters on the other side might make me wish I’d never left.”-Goodreads

My Review:

Why was this series so good?

I got this recommendation from a friend in my summer program. They begged me to read this series, so I gave it a shot.

And OMG I loved this series.

I am combining these three books into one review because, honestly, I cannot differentiate them because I read these three a month before writing this.

Book Plot:

The plot is sometimes iffy, but also sometimes epic. There are crazy cool things that happen.

We go from trapped prisoners in a gilded cage to– Oh well I probably cannot say much because you should learn for yourself.  

Characters:

Auren is splendid. She is literally gold. She has crazy character development throughout the series. Learning more and more about her character and seeing her growth is beautiful.

The main love interest (which I won’t spoil who it is) is startling. The love interest honestly has to be in one of my top ten fantasy men. He wows me.

Book Setting:

This new world that Kennedy built impresses. The names like “Sixth Kingdom” aren’t super impressive. But the magic system, cities, and territories that Kennedy describes are pretty awesome.

Romance:

AGHHHH

Sadly, That is all I have to say without spoiling anything!

Quality of Writing:

I have a major complaint with a lot of writing in fantasy books. Most of the time their writing is lackluster. It doesn’t have a poetic quality to it. It is purely to entertain. But this book had a really good writing style.

What I Liked:

  • ROMANCE
  • Writing style
  • Completely engulfed me in the story
  • Characters that kept giving
  • Fae
  • New stuff around every turn

What I Didn’t:

  • Slow start
  • First book was not as good as the others

Read This If You Love:

  • Fantasy
  • Fae
  • Magic
  • Spicy books

Star: 4.8

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Books that Have Been on my TBR Since 2016

“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” -That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s theme:  

Books that You Still Haven’t Got to that Have Been on Past TBR Lists

  1. Rebel of the Sand by Alwyn Hamilton
  2. Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
  3. Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill
  4. Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige
  5. Cinder by Marissa Meyers
  6. Zenith by Sasha Alsberg & Lindsey Cummings
  7. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
  8. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
  9. Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
  10. Fated by Alyson Noel

I had to go way way back for these, but I still havent read any of these. I have most of them on my shelf.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Is Wings of Olympus Book 1 Worth the Read?

Wings of Olympus would be a great read if I were in middle school. This had everything I would have wanted: Greek mythology, horses, and bits of adventure.

The Book:

Cover of Wings of Olympus, forest background and a girl in white dress petting a white pegasus with black tipped wings, White scripty font saying Wings of Olympus
Wings of Olympus cover pulled from Goodreads.com

Title: Wings of Olympus

Author: Kallie George

Series: Wings of Olympus #1

Genre: Middle-grade, Fantasy, Mythology

Pages: 240

“High on the slopes of mighty Mount Olympus, among the sun-splashed meadows and sparkling waters, glide the winged horses of the ancient gods. Here up high is normally no place for a lost, parentless girl like Pippa. But once every hundred years, the gods and goddesses descend to the mortal realm to choose jockeys for their winged horse race—and Pippa is one of the lucky children chosen to ride.

With her undersized, impetuous winged steed, Zephyr, by her side, Pippa has to confront the greatest challenge of her life: achieving victory in a race across the sky.

No one expects Pippa and Zephyr to win, or even finish, this death-defying race. A poor orphan who’s spent her life working in stables, Pippa doesn’t seem to belong in the world of the gods. And while she loves Zephyr with all her heart, he’s smaller than the other winged horses racing. But if Pippa and Zephyr don’t find a way to win, the gods will separate them—forever.

To stay with Zephyr, Pippa will have to work harder, train longer, and dare more bravely than her competition. In a race filled with petty, jealous gods and goddesses and a host of ruthless riders, Pippa must prove that love is greater than might.” –Goodreads

My Review:

I wish this book had just a bit more stuff to it. It was a bit underwhelming. A common wish in this review is that I wish there had been more stuff. I wish I had had more plot, more character building, more worldbuilding, etc.

Plot:

The plot for Wings of Olympus was neither exciting nor boring. It was so-so. I didn’t have anything super crazy that I liked about it. It was a good premise. I think there could have been more “challenges” but from a 240-page book what more could I ask for?

The fates made an appearance, but they didn’t really aid to the story. I thought that there would be more about them since they were like the introduction to the story, but they existed in a half a chapter.

Characters:

The main character, Pippa, was so sweet. She, like me, has a love for horses. Pippa seems to have a strong sense of not feeling like she belongs, and I feel as though many middle-grade readers can find themselves in this character.

The side characters were unmemorable, except for one boy character (who I do not remember the name of and don’t really want to search to find) who helps Pippa out.

I love how all the Gods came off exactly how I expected them too. Ares was arrogant and Aphrodite didn’t really seem to care about her competitor. Hades attempted to cheat. It all worked.

Setting:

This takes place in Olympus and honestly, I wish there was more worldbuilding. The whole thing is a mountain (duh), but what kind of mountain was it? I don’t know. Was it rocky? Was it snowy? Was it full of luscious green grass? I have no clue.

Quality of Writing:

The quality was middle grade. I do think the audiobook made the story more fun. Middle grade books sound less middle grade when they are read aloud, in my opinion.

What I Liked:

  • Horses!
  • Winged horse races!
  • Lovable child character

What I Didn’t:

  • Needed more worldbuilding
  • Short
  • I wish I could have gotten to know the characters better

For a middle-grade book, it was great. As someone who reads more complex novels daily, it was so-so. I wish we had gotten more, but there is a second book. I am just waiting for it to get to my online library.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Read This If You Love:

  • Horses
  • Greek mythology
  • Middle-grade
  • Non-romance books
  • Pet bonding

Books That Were 5 Stars

“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” -That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s theme:  

Freebie: So I Chose My 5-Star Reviews

  1. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
  2. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
  3. Soulless by Gail Carriger
  4. The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher
  5. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
  6. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
  7. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
  8. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
  9. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
  10. Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

This one is short and sweet, but I loved all of these books. go check them out!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

A Not-so Interesting Book called I Wish You All the Best

The Book:

I Wish You All the Best cover pulled from Goodreads.com, light blue background, purple writing of the author's name Mason Deaver, and a review, two people are standing showing us their side profile, one person stands behind someone taller resting their heads on the person infront's back, the person infront has their eyes closed, while the person leaning has their eyes open looking at the reader, I Wish You All The Best is written on the short sleeve yellow shirt of the person standing in the front,
I Wish You All the Best cover pulled from Goodreads.com

Title: I Wish You All the Best

Author: Mason Deaver

Published May 14th, 2019 by Push

Genre: LGBTQIA+, YA, Romance, Contemporary

Pages: 329

“When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they’re thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents’ rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.

But Ben’s attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan’s friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.” –Goodreads

My Review:

Eh…

I don’t have much about this book to say.

There was LGBTQIA+ representation, and I love to read books by LGBTQIA+ authors. This was the first book written in the POV of a non-binary person. I loved that aspect of the book. I just wish it had been executed better.

Nothing happened. Literally, nothing happened. There was no conflict, no plot, no development. I was utterly bored.

The romance was eh. I thought that would be the entire story but it was barely enough of the book to even call this book a romance.

The writing wasn’t spectacular. I have this new hatred for YA writing because it seems like they want to over-explain everything. Middle schoolers and high schooler’s-the target audience-are not stupid. I am sure they can understand the most basic sentence. You don’t have to repeat things over multiple sentences.

I attended a talk with Deaver for this book. They explained how they have gotten comments like that and said it is an invalid argument because that is YA. I have to disagree because books that shaped the YA genre like Hunger Games, Twilight, The Mortal Instruments, and The Fault in Our Stars don’t read like this. They read so well, albeit a little cringy (but it was early 2010’s).

I read this book for class, so I had to finish by a certain time. But the book felt like I was swimming in a vat of caramel to finish. There was really no growth and no anything to make this story astounding. I don’t know, I hate to not give anything positive about a book, but I honestly cannot think of anything.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 1

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Books On My Summer TBR 2022

I love doing Top Ten posts so here it goes:

“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” -That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s theme:  

Books On My Summer 2022 To-Read List

  1. Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
  2. My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey
  3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
  4. Fable by Adrienne Young
  5. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
  6. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
  7. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
  8. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
  9. Timeless by Gail Carriger
  10. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Will I actually get around to reading all of these? Probably not, but I am hoping to get as much as I can.

I have a goal to finish all the books I have boughten before this year. So I could get at least half of these books done.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Clap When You Land: A Book Review

The Book:

Title: Clap When You Land

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

Published May 5th 2020 by HarperTeen

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Poetry

Pages: 432

In a novel-in-verse, that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.” -Goodreads

My Review:

This book was good! I thought the two characters were pleasant. I thought their situations and duality were interesting.

Like with my last review, The Black Kids, I said I don’t like character-driven stories. I still don’t, but why do I keep reading them? I have no idea.

But, I did like that one just like I liked this one. Again, more plot would have made the story amazing, but I think there is a big place for character-driven stories (otherwise they wouldn’t do so well in the market).

This book had such a unique premise. I instantly was thrown into the heartbreak of these two girls after they both lost a father in a plane crash.

That was kind of the only real plot point that I can talk about without it being a spoiler. The book was also very predictable, except the ending was interesting and a little unexpected.

The two main characters had a lot of focus (obviously) but the side characters we did not see very much. I did not like that. The side characters made decisions or said things that I did not fully understand because I didn’t get enough focus on them to feel like they were authentic. They just were there.

The writing was amazing. This book was literally poetry. The words wove this world for me so well. I felt like I was literally there with the main characters experiencing their pain. I love poetry and this book blends both, poetry and narrative, together really well.

This book was so well written and I loved it. I don’t like character-driven stories, but this one was pretty good!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.8

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Quotes

“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” -That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s theme:  

Book Quote Freebie – choose the theme with which you want the quote to be around

I am choosing self-love/empowerment quotes!

  1. “Carry yourself with the confidence of a mediocre white man.” – The Love Hypothesis
  2. “There is a time for stillness, but who hasn’t also wanted to scream with delight at being outdoors? To simply announce themselves and say, I’m here, I exist?” -World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks and Other Astonishments
  3. “You do not yield” -Kingdom of Ash
  4. “Roses have both petals and thorns, my dark flower. You needn’t believe something weak because it appears delicate. Show the world your bravery.” -Stalking Jack the Ripper
  5. “Come at me, world. You can’t damage the impermeable.” -Heart Bones
  6. “Feelings were not stagnant. Neither were opinions or beliefs and if we stopped believing people were capable of change, then the world might as well be left to burn.” -A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
  7. “There is always more than one way to see the world. Those who claim otherwise would have you dwell forever in the dark.” -Sorcery of Thorns
  8. “Happiness isn’t some permanent thing we’re all trying to achieve in life, it’s merely a thing that shows up every now and then, sometimes in tiny doses that are just substantial enough to keep us going.” -Reminders of Him
  9. “There was nothing more dangerous than a woman who knew her own worth.” -The Atlas Six
  10. “You aren’t a flower, you’re every blossom in the wood blooming at once. You are a tidal wave. You’re a stampede. You are overwhelming.” -Crooked Kingdom

Dont forget to link your posts down below!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie