The Mall by Megan McCafferty

I received a free e-arc of this from Netgalley for review purposes. 

The Mall by Megan McCafferty  takes place in 1991 at the height of a girl's transition from high school to university. Cassie (recently recovered from mono), has a plan. A great plan to spend the summer working with her boyfriend at World's Best Cookie but as we readers know, plans in books never work out. After a few changes to Cassie's plan she ends up on a mall treasure hunt. She meets tons of new people and grows a lot before her great escape to university.

This book was very cute, I was born in '91 so I definitely did not get all the references but I got enough of them that the ones I didn't get did not affect my reading experience. Sorry my grammar is all wrong on this but it's been two very VERY long weeks, and this book really helped me relax. I loved Cassie, she was sassy and fierce and really grew on me, even though I myself am completely different from this character. I really enjoyed Cassie's romps through the mall, each clue was fun and unique. It felt very real, and I loved every single character, both good and bad, they felt very real. The descriptions of the mall made it easy to imagine and I really hope they put a map in the beginning of the mall, I think that'd be so cute in the final version. The story lost my interest  a bit in the middle but after another chapter or two it picked up again. 

Overall this story is a solid 3/5 stars for me. 

May TBR down the drain (already?!) Rambles

TBR's (to be read) can be really important to people and honestly I like it a lot when I can follow my tbr. So far this month (even though it's only been 5 days), is kind of a let down for my tbr. I read one book, which I didn't like that I got courtesy of NetGalley, and honestly I'm taking part of 2 group reads, 2 reading challenges, and 1 buddy read(which I'm going to start today). Now normally I can read a book that would help me in these, but honestly I already feel behind. It's probably just my personal life getting in the way and I'm feeling kind of book slumpy so I'm going to post a few tricks and talk to you guys about my reading.

First I can say that I'm going to start House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas today, I've been putting it off because Maas is kind of a hit or miss author for me. I do think this book will be different and enjoyable though and so I hope it helps gets me out of slump mode. I'm also reading Nimona, and graphic novels also help me get out of slumps. Finally, applying for books on NetGalley and getting approved will help my motivation to read more. I was accepted for an E-ARC of Dark Skies so I'm powering through Dark Shores right now, I generally really enjoy Danielle Jensen's books.

It's also middle-grade May so I'm supposed to be reading middle grade books this month, which I have yet to start but I think that will both improve my mood and make things easier on me to read. I have a huge stack set aside for the challenge, so I feel like I've never wanted to read more than I do this month!

I was trying my best to read Ninth House but it's a bit slow going so I'm at a stand still, I think picking up something a little more action packed will help me out.

Any advice for book slumps?! What helps you?

My Dad Reads

I got my book habits from my parents, both of them. My tastes coincide with my mom's taste perfectly while I get my actual habits from my father, he got me into reading in the bath tub. He'll use a bath bomb at super heat and sit there, read and relax. Heavenly. 

My dad has a special place in his heart for Dean Koontz and murder mystery thrillers. He does enjoy horror but prefers thrillers. He also dabbles in reading true crime which are things I also enjoy but my big genre is fantasy. I did get both my mom and dad to read Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames though and he said it was a fun read. My mom loved it as well and if you like fun, D&D romps than you'll love this author's work.

He's a man of few words but I give him books to read all the time and boy does he read. Recently he's read

The Distant Dead by Heather Young

Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert

And I honestly can't remember what he said about them, so honestly they must've been pretty whatever to him.


His short review for Find You in the Dark by Nathan Ripley was 3.5 or 4 out of 5 stars. He said he liked the mystery and the writing. He recommended I read it so it must've been better than some of the other books he's read. So I guess I read it.

#dadreads #nathanripley #findyouinthedark #inheritedreading

From mean and nasty reviews to socially not hurtful reviews

Last night I read a book, it was fairly short and it was an e-arc given to me by Netgalley. I was definitely declined a lot of the bigger, more popular titles which I had really, really, really wanted to read. When I first made an account I requested things I didn't actually want to read I just wanted arcs and free books, that was 2-3 years ago and I hadn't really requested anything since. So my reviewer score is a measly 65% so I'm trying to increase that number by reading the things I want to read and actually getting my score up. I want to do better, but as I realized that I also realized I had to make my way through a few books that aren't necessarily brilliant.... Which is why I think this blog post is important. The book I read last night, was in reality a 0 stars, I hated it. There was nothing good about it, and I felt bad... very bad... I started to type out my review for netgalley and kept thinking how I wouldn't post it on social media or goodreads because it was too mean. I also didn't want to author to read it because I have nothing but respect for her, it takes a lot of guts to write and publish a novel, guts which I'm severely lacking.

So here is my first version of the review, I changed the names because I don't want to diss the author, so this book will be a mystery for you guys so please respect that it's probably not a book you know.


I read this book in one sitting and wasn't very impressed to be honest. It was sort of worth reading but it felt very religious, focusing on Christianity with a smattering of beauty and the beast retelling. I loved John as a character but I don't why he fell in love with Jane? Jane, the main character is horrible, she's judgmental and brash and she doesn't get better. She didn't even feel bad for shooting John twice?! There was no character growth in her character throughout the book, she's treated as perfect  even though she really doesn't care for logic. She had many opportunities to learn and grow and she ignores them all but people still love her? Overall, all the characters are stereotypical and I don't think I could suffer through what everyone is wearing everyday for clothes. Especially when the author felt the need to make a character description list in the beginning of the book(which I skipped reading because I felt it unnecessarily boring). I didn't like the chapter headings because I didn't understand the need to over complicate the simplest story I've read. Were the meanings of the chapter headings in that over complicated beginning that we're expected to remember? Also what time period is this in? I'm confused, they don't seem to have modern conveniences she uses words like tunic and tavern but also guns, and hospitals? The world building wasn't fleshed out enough for me to understand. I don't even know. The author killed my favorite character but I think I only liked him because he didn't love Jane blindly like the rest of the characters. Also what was the curse? Was that the story? Was it the main plot because I'm not convinced there even needed to be a curse it was that unimportant.  There really was no plot for this book. Any plot introduced in this book, is obviously getting saved for another book which I won't be reading. 

Obviously I had some pretty strong feelings that weren't constructive to the author but flat out mean. So I reworked it to sound more professional, and I got rid of all the information that was actually unnecessary. Here's the second draft:

I read this book in one sitting and wasn't very impressed to be honest. It was sort of worth reading but it felt very religious, focusing on Christianity with a smattering of beauty and the beast retelling. I loved John as a character but I don't why he fell in love with Jane? Jane, the main character is horrible, she's judgmental and brash and she doesn't get better. None of the characters had any character growth, they stayed 1 dimensional throughout the entire book. I didn't feel like the character descriptions and glossary in the beginning of the book was necessary, it was overly complicated and boring.  The world building wasn't fleshed out enough for me to understand it. There really was no plot for this book. Any plot introduced in this book, is obviously getting saved for another book which I won't be reading. 

And because I still felt like it was overly harsh and my spouse thought it was important to mention the lack of character growth, I added that part back in but I also tried my best to add in some positive. And after reflecting on this whole process, I realized I would be willing to give this author another shot in the sequel even I only gave their book a 1/5 stars. I did mange to have two nice things to say and I feel like even though my review still isn't nice, per se.... it's better than it was. And I don't feel like a shit human for this last one.

I read this book in one sitting and wasn't very impressed to be honest. It was sort of worth reading but it felt very religious, focusing on Christianity with a smattering of beauty and the beast retelling. I loved John as a character but I don't why he fell in love with Jane? Jane, the main character is horrible, she's judgmental and brash and she doesn't get better. None of the characters had any character growth, they stayed 1 dimensional throughout the entire book. I didn't feel like the character descriptions and glossary in the beginning of the book was necessary, it was overly complicated and boring.  The world building wasn't fleshed out enough for me to understand it. There really was no plot for this book. Any plot introduced in this book, is obviously getting saved for another book which I would consider reading to give this author another chance to grow. This author's style obviously just wasn't for me but maybe read this if you want to support debut authors and enjoy Beauty and the Beast retellings where women can be badass.

#review #reviewer #bookreview #bookreviewing

The Shadows of What was Lost Review

This book... Wow, the Shadows of What was Lost by James Islington was so good. It was pretty much 700 pages which I devoured in 3 days! 3 days! Most people who read this book seem to love it (myself included) but there are a few bad reviews because it's marketed for fans of Robert Jordan and Sanderson. I think it's pretty unfair to compare books especially if someone writes that they're inspired by those authors. I don't think there's anything wrong with being inspired by authors but please stop comparing authors to the point where you ruin a perfectly good book for yourself. Especially one that is as digestible as this one.

There are 4 main point of views that get switched up throughout the story, and some chapters were better than others but overall each character offered something unique to the plot and each felt quite organic. (and for those of you who think Wir is too perfect, he most definitely is but I love him the best anyways) I do think Asha's chapters were the most interesting and plot driven than the others but I'm very excited and curious to see where the story goes. Shit be happening hard.

I recommend this book if you're maybe just starting out in the high epic fantasy genre or if you just want to read something that you'll actually understand with all your favorite fantasy shit.

#theshadowsofwhatwaslost #bookreview #jamesislington

Laurie Forest Books

I love the Black Witch Chronicles, like love them. There are the first two books out now and 2 novellas bound into one copy called Rebel Mages. I know the author plans to make the series 5 books right now and they have been coming out fairly slowly but omgoodness has it been worth it.

I have now read the first book twice and it was better the second time around. I know it has gotten lots of controversy over the years for it's blatant racist main character named Elloren. However that is the charm of this series, this book puts Elloren through trials and you can literally read her character growth, she goes from ignorant about other cultures and thinking she's better to thinking that she's still got a lot to learn and that other cultures aren't bad at all, they're just people trying to live and survive exactly like her. I'm not a great writer, so I hope I get the point across, there is one scene that really shook me, where Elloren learns from Professor Kristian that 'history is written by the victors.' So Elloren literally realizes that to piece together a correct history she needs to critically think and read sources from all peoples not just her own. Elloren grows into the role of heroine, she doesn't start in it. And I think this book is very important, it really teaches you that racism is inherited/learned behavior, and you can change and help many other types of people.

I'll probably talk about this series many times over as it progresses and I get the opportunity to read more of it. The newest book the Shadow Wand releases in June and I've already pre-ordered it.

In a nutshell, this series is high epic fantasy for young adults with slow burn romance, potential for enemies to lovers, witches, selkies, powerful women, fae, dragons and a resistance to totalitarian rule.

#theblackwitchchronicles #laurieforest #theblackwitch #theironflower

April 2020 Wrap Up

I did lot's of reading this month, more than normal because I've been at home because of Covid. This blog has kind of taken an extra long hiatus because I just had a crazy year and I work two jobs. However I decided that I'm going to be doing a lot more work now to read and review because it truly makes me happy to promote books I love!

Without further ado in order of reading...

The Black Witch by Laurie Forest 4.5/5 stars

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout 3/5 stars

Storm & Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout 4/5 stars

Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill 4/5 stars

The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest 5/5 stars

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire 4/5 stars

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine 5/5 stars (I always reread this book when I get stressed)

Finally I ended the month with this big bad boi

The Shadows of What was Lost by James Islington 4/5 stars

It was a really, really, good reading month for me. I usually only read 2-5 books but here I have read 8 books.