[Review] King of Fools (The Shadow Game #2) by Amanda Foody

King of Fools by Amanda Foody

Series: The Shadow Game #2 

Rating: 3 stars 

Published: April 30th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

Indulge your vices in the City of Sin, where a sinister street war is brewing and fame is the deadliest killer of them all...
On the quest to find her missing mother, prim and proper Enne Salta became reluctant allies with Levi Glaisyer, the city’s most famous con man. Saving his life in the Shadow Game forced Enne to assume the identity of Seance, a mysterious underworld figure. Now, with the Chancellor of the Republic dead and bounties on both their heads, she and Levi must play a dangerous game of crime and politics…with the very fate of New Reynes at stake.
Thirsting for his freedom and the chance to build an empire, Levi enters an unlikely partnership with Vianca Augustine’s estranged son. Meanwhile, Enne remains trapped by the mafia donna’s binding oath, playing the roles of both darling lady and cunning street lord, unsure which side of herself reflects the truth.
As Enne and Levi walk a path of unimaginable wealth and opportunity, new relationships and deadly secrets could quickly lead them into ruin. And when unforeseen players enter the game, they must each make an impossible choice: To sacrifice everything they’ve earned in order to survive...
Or die as legends.

I said in my review of Ace of Shades that I would read the sequel for the sake of finding out what happens next. I still really have no idea what is happening, but it's become a semi-entertaining ride of trying to figure out.

[Review] Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

Series: Crown of Feathers #1

Rating: 3 stars

Published: February 12th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

I had a sister, once…
In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.
I promised her the throne would not come between us.
Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.
But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.
Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.
Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.
Crown of Feathers is an epic fantasy about love’s incredible power to save—or to destroy. Interspersed throughout is the story of Avalkyra Ashfire, the last Rider queen, who would rather see her empire burn than fall into her sister’s hands. 

Crown of Feathers is one massive undertaking of a fantasy. Veronyka and Val are two sisters who live in a world where the Phoenix Riders - animages who bonded with phoenixes, once ruled. Now, they are exiled and cast from society, with the remaining animages living in hiding. Veronyka and Val hope to find phoenix eggs in order to join the Phoenix Riders. This story is interspersed with the events of sixteen years prior, when the Feather-Crowned Queen and the Council's Queen - two sisters, fought on opposing sides of a war that drove their country apart.

[Review] The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

Series: The Merciful Crow #1

Rating: 3 stars

July 30th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

A future chieftain.
Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.
A fugitive prince.
When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.
A too-cunning bodyguard.
Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

This book was so hyped up on my TL, but then it ended up being rather disappointing.

Fie is part of the Crow caste, which has the ability to steal magic from other castes. It's the teeth of the dead that allow them to use such magic. The Crows are sent to collect the bodies of Crown Prince Jasimir and his bodyguard Tavin, but they may have gotten more than what they bargained for...

[Review] The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson

The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson

Rating: 3 stars

Published: July 9th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life...until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.
That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother's death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.
But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.

Anthia, or Thia, is Princess of Rhodaire, who is forced to marry the crown prince of Illucia, a country whose Queen attacked Rhodaire's capital city several months prior. This attack kills Thia's mother and her aunt Estrel, and it leaves Thia suffering from depression.

[Review] Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway

Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway

Series: Glass Alliance #1

Rating: 3 stars

Published: February 5th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

Aurelia Isendare is a princess of a small kingdom in the North, raised in privilege but shielded from politics as her brother prepares to step up to the throne. Halfway around the world, Athan Dakar, the youngest son of a ruthless general, is a fighter pilot longing for a life away from the front lines. When Athan’s mother is shot and killed, his father is convinced it’s the work of his old rival, the Queen of Etania—Aurelia’s mother. Determined to avenge his wife’s murder, he devises a plot to overthrow the Queen, a plot which sends Athan undercover to Etania to gain intel from her children.
Athan’s mission becomes complicated when he finds himself falling for the girl he’s been tasked with spying upon. Aurelia feels the same attraction, all the while desperately seeking to stop the war threatening to break between the Southern territory and the old Northern kingdoms that control it—a war in which Athan’s father is determined to play a role. As diplomatic ties manage to just barely hold, the two teens struggle to remain loyal to their families and each other as they learn that war is not as black and white as they’ve been raised to believe.

Dark of the West is a fantastical romance of epic proportions. It alternates between the POV of Aurelia, Princess of Etania, and Athan, son of the General of Savient. Etania and Savient are two Northern countries meant to be allied together in their fight against the South. However, that changes when Athan's mother is assassinated and his father, the General, blames Aurelia's mother, the Queen of Etania. Now Athan is tasked with spying for his father and for his country, but that becomes difficult when he falls for the enemy.

[Review] Maybe This Time by Kasie West

Maybe This Time by Kasie West 

Rating: 3 stars

Format: ARC

Published:July 9th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

One year. Nine events. Nine chances to . . . fall in love?
Weddings. Funerals. Barbecues. New Year's Eve parties. Name the occasion, and Sophie Evans will be there. Well, she has to be there. Sophie works for the local florist, so she can be found at every big event in her small hometown, arranging bouquets and managing family dramas.
Enter Andrew Hart. The son of the fancy new chef in town, Andrew is suddenly required to attend all the same events as Sophie. Entitled, arrogant, preppy Andrew. Sophie just wants to get her job done and finish up her sketches so she can apply to design school. But every time she turns around, there is Andrew, getting in her way and making her life more complicated. Until one day she wonders if maybe complicated isn't so bad after all . . .
Told over the course of one year and following Sophie from event to event, this delightful novel from master of romantic comedy Kasie West shows how love can blossom in unexpected places.

Sophie works at the local florist, when she'd rather be designing clothes, preparing for her dream to one day come true - to go to fashion design school in NYC. She meets Andrew Hart, whose father is a famous chef with a soured career. He now has a business that helps out up-and-coming new talent, such as Micah's dad, a caterer. Andrew Hart is his son, and has to follow his dad around for the whole year, meaning Sophie will be seeing a lot more of him at future events.

This story is told through the events in which Sophie and Andrew have to meet and work together. Sophie initially despises Andrew, and the feeling is seemingly mutual. Because the sections are set up in the form of months (as there's one event a month), the pacing of this story is rather fast-paced. There's a lot off-screen stuff that happens in between-these months, and occasionally, the characters have to fill in the gaps.

[Review] The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Braken

Series: The Darkest Minds #1

Rating: 3 stars

Published: December 8th 2012

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.
When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

It's another one of 'Raisa reads 2012 series', and it's been a hot minute since I've read a dystopian.

This is going to be one of those reviews that doesn't really have much to say. I thought this book was okay (nothing more, nothing less). It wasn't mind-blowing, but it did have a cool concept that was prevalent for 2012 dystopians. Teens and kids were mostly wiped out by a disease, but the ones who survived now have powers that terrify the American government, and they're forced into "rehabilitation camps" to attempt to exterminate their powers. Clearly, this is not the case.

[Review] Defy the Stars and Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray

Defy the Stars and Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray

Series: Constellations #1 and #2

Overall Rating: 3 stars 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Defy the Stars:

She's a soldier - Noemi Vidal is willing to risk anything to protect her planet, Genesis, including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she's a rebel.
He's a machine - Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel's advanced programming has begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he's an abomination.
Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they're not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they're forced to question everything they'd been taught was true.

Defy the Worlds: 

An outcast from her home -- Shunned after a trip through the galaxy with Abel, the most advanced cybernetic man ever created, Noemi Vidal dreams of traveling through the stars one more time. And when a deadly plague arrives on Genesis, Noemi gets her chance. As the only soldier to have ever left the planet, it will be up to her to save its people...if only she wasn't flying straight into a trap.
A fugitive from his fate -- On the run to avoid his depraved creator's clutches, Abel believes he's said good-bye to Noemi for the last time. After all, the entire universe stands between them...or so he thinks. When word reaches him of Noemi's capture by the very person he's trying to escape, Abel knows he must go to her, no matter the cost.
But capturing Noemi was only part of Burton Mansfield's master plan. In a race against time, Abel and Noemi will come together once more to discover a secret that could save the known worlds, or destroy them all.

I loved Claudia Gray's Firebird series and thought the romance and alternate dimensional travel was fantastic. However, moving on to her more speculative sci-fi series, Constellation, I was just... confused? I'm not sure how to describe how I feel because the two books, Defy the Stars and Defy the Worlds, tackle intergalactic space travel on a grand scale, as well as a human/robot romance.

[Review] Expelled by James Patterson and Emily Raymond

Expelled by James Patterson and Emily Raymond

Rating: 3 stars

Published Date: October 23rd 2017

Goodreads Synopsis:

One viral photo.Four expelled teens.Everyone's a suspect.
Theo Foster's Twitter account used to be anonymous--until someone posted a revealing photo that got him expelled. No final grade. No future. No fair.
Theo's resigned to a life of misery working at the local mini-mart when a miracle happens: Sasha Ellis speaks to him. Sasha Ellis knows his name. She was also expelled for a crime she didn't commit, and now he has the perfect way to get her attention: find out who set them up.
To uncover the truth, Theo has to get close to the suspects: the hacker, the quarterback, the mean girl, the vice principal, and his own best friend. What secrets are they hiding? And how can Theo catch their confessions on camera?

Expelled ended up being a darker, modern version of The Breakfast Club. And I loved The Breakfast Club, so I expected to enjoy this, too. It's got a very 80s vibe (with the resurgence of 80s everything in media these days!)

[Review] Internet Famous by Danika Stone

Internet Famous by Danika Stone

Rating: 3 stars

Published: June 26th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis: 

High school senior and internet sensation Madison Nakama seems to have it all: a happy family, good grades, and a massive online following for her pop-culture blog. But when her mother suddenly abandons the family, Madi finds herself struggling to keep up with all of her commitments.
Fandom to the rescue! As her online fans band together to help, an online/offline flirtation sparks with Laurent, a French exchange student. Their internet romance—played out in the comments section of her MadLibs blog—attracts the attention of an internet troll who threatens the separation of Madi’s real and online personas. With her carefully constructed life unraveling, Madi must uncover the hacker’s identity before he can do any more damage, or risk losing the people she loves the most… Laurent included.

Given the importance of modern technology on our lives, I'd say this book was pretty relevant. Ten, twenty years ago, I wonder if people thought online connections feasible. But with Tinder and all that extremely well known, it happens.

[Review] This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Series: This Mortal Coil #1

Rating: 3 stars

Published: November 7th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis:

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.
That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.
When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

I wanted to enjoy This Mortal Coil because I'm a chemistry major and STEM in YA is great - and for the most part, the book made all the science of coding and DNA really cool, but there were still a bunch of flaws in the book that I didn't like.

[Review] A Touch of Gold by Anne Sullivan

A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan

Series: A Touch of Gold #1

Rating: 3 stars 

Format: ARC

Published: August 14th 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

King Midas once had the ability to turn all he touched into gold. But after his gift—or curse—almost killed his daughter, Midas relinquished The Touch forever. Ten years later, Princess Kora still bears the consequences of her father’s wish: her skin shines golden, rumors follow her everywhere she goes, and she harbors secret powers that are getting harder to hide.
Kora spends her days locked in the palace, concealed behind gloves and veils, trying to ignore the stares and gossip of courtiers. It isn’t until a charming young duke arrives that Kora realizes there may be someone out there who doesn’t fear her or her curse. But their courtship is disrupted when a thief steals precious items from the kingdom, leaving the treasury depleted and King Midas vulnerable. Thanks to her unique ability to sense gold, Kora is the only one who can track the thief down. As she sails off on her quest, Kora learns that not everything is what it seems—not thieves, not pirates, and not even curses. She quickly discovers that gold—and the power it brings—is more dangerous than she’d ever believed.
Midas learned his lesson at a price. What will Kora’s journey cost?

The premise of A Touch of Gold sounds really cool - a retelling of King Midas? Never heard of that before.

Everyone knows the story of King Midas - well here, as he was turning everything he touched to gold, the first to fall victim to his powers was his daughter, Kora. He begged the god Dionysius to save her, but the gods have a way of convoluting their wishes. Now ten years later, Kora still has her gold skin and a secret.

[Review] Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith

Series: Bloodleaf #1

Rating: 3 stars

Format: ARC

Goodreads Synopsis:

Aurelia is the first princess born to the Renalten crown in two hundred years, destined to fulfill a treaty by journeying to marry Valentin, the prince of Achelva – Renalt’s greatest enemy. Rumors of an unwell, cruel prince abound, and the only thing that eclipses Aurelia’s apprehension of her impending marriage is her fear of those who’d kill her to prevent it.
When an assassination attempt forces Aurelia to use forbidden magic to save a stranger, she is driven from Renalt by the witch-hunting Tribunal and a mob out for blood. But before she can claim asylum in the court of her betrothed, her travel party turns on her, forcing her to trade places with her treacherous lady-in-waiting, Lisette.
Now penniless in Achleva and bereft of her identity, Aurelia must decide if she wants to surrender to her new life or fight for her old one, all while navigating the complicated ties binding her to the enigmatic prince, the unquiet ghost of an ancient queen, and a poisonous plant called bloodleaf.
Aurelia is a pawn in a centuries-long game of love, power, and war— and if she can’t extricate herself from it before Lisette marries Valentin in her stead, she may face losses far more devastating than her crown.

I decided to do a group read with my friends for this book. This was... an interesting read, to say the least.

Princess Aurelia is from Renalta, a land that hates blood magic. So to keep her safe, she's whisked away to a neighboring country, Achleva, to marry Prince Valentin. However, trouble and danger is at every corner, and she must disguise herself as a commoner in order to be safe. But once in Achleva, she uncovers a traitorous plot that would bring destruction on both countries. Aurelia and her newfound allies must work together to stop such a catastrophe from occurring.

[Review] Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Series: Renegades #1

Rating: 3 stars

Format: ARC Paperback

Release Date: November 7th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis:

Secret Identities. Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice.
The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone...except the villains they once overthrew.
Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

[Review] The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke

The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke

Series: The Balloonmakers #1

Rating: 3 stars

Format: ARC Paperback

Released: September 1st 2017

Goodreads Synopsis:

When sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she’s caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. When it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history, Ellie must risk everything—including her only way home—to stop the process.

If you give a girl a magic balloon, she will burn down the world. 

The Girl with the Red Balloon was described as one of my favorite genres - time travel! And historical fiction! Together!

Except, when I finished this book, I found myself surprisingly disappointed. I wasn't blown away or anything. There are three POVs - Ellie, Kai, and Benno (Ellie's grandfather), and the only one I found myself drawn to was Benno's. Ellie's and Kai's sounded too similar that it was difficult for me to distinguish between the two.

Ellie was sort of a bland protagonist, and her romance with Kai was too forced, too sudden, too insta-love for me. Their attraction is very... circumstantial.

"Sponge," Kai said and frowned. "It's not a German word. You soak up everything around you, don't you? You're quiet because you're always absorbing everything. Everything's personal to you. Everything is." He paused and turned away from me. "It's very real."
He shrugged and added after a beat, "But I don't know you yet."

A lot of the worldbuilding was lost to me because the reader is just supposed to accept that balloon magic works with a bunch of fancy equations and writings in blood. I mean, I don't need the whole breakdown of it, but I'm not necessarily a reader who will take everything at face value - but this is just what this book is doing! Here is information and this is how it's supposed to be. There are people who make the balloons with 'magic' and people who run the escapees - the runners. That's what I got out of it.

The characters are drawing conclusions the reader may not be following. I am that reader.

"I read the physics about time travel after Ellie came," Mitzi said lightly. "Time's as much of a dimension as space. Like Ashasher says, space-time is like a fabric. But you can only go forward in time."

What?

I will, however, say that this book did evoke some very moving lines in Benno's POV.

The balloon carried me free of Chelmno. Dayenu.The balloon carried me to a Polish resistance camp. Dayenu.They snuck me south across mountains and through the Nazis' backyard. Dayenu.They found me a boat to Palestine. Dayenu.They saved my life with a magic balloon. Dayenu.They saved me. Dayenu.And I never learned the girl with the red balloon's name. Dayenu. 

[Review] Flamecaster (Shattered Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Series: Shattered Realms #1

Rating: 3 stars

Format: ARC Paperback

Published: April 5th 2016

Goodreads Synopsis:

A burning vengeance.
Adrian sul’Han, known as Ash, is a trained healer with a powerful gift of magic—and a thirst for revenge. The son of the queen of the Fells, Ash is forced into hiding after a series of murders throws the queendom into chaos. Now Ash is closer than he’s ever been to killing the man responsible, the cruel king of Arden. As a healer, can Ash use his powers not to save a life but to take it?
A blood-based curse.
Abandoned at birth, Jenna Bandelow was told the mysterious magemark on the back of her neck would make her a target. But when the King’s Guard launches a relentless search for a girl with a mark like hers, Jenna assumes that it has more to do with her role as a saboteur than any birth-based curse. Though Jenna doesn’t know why she’s being hunted, she knows that she can’t get caught.
Destiny’s fiery hand.
Eventually, Ash’s and Jenna’s paths will collide in Arden. Thrown together by chance and joined by their hatred of the king, they will come to rescue each other in ways they cannot yet imagine.
Set in the world of the acclaimed Seven Realms series a generation later, this is a thrilling story of dark magic, chilling threats, and two unforgettable characters walking a knife-sharp line between life and death. 

I absolutely adored the Seven Realms series, which came before Flamecaster. Action, romance, and a main heroine who shared the same name as me? Sign me up.

Flamecaster follows the generation after - Ash, or Adrian sul'Han, is the son of Queen Raisa and High Wizard Han. We enter the book with the family mourning the loss of the princess heir Hana. Alternating POVs reveal our heroine Jenna Bandelow, a rogue spy with an unknown past and a magemark hidden under her hair. The two of them come together in Arden, both seeking revenge on the cruel king Montaigne. We also have Lila Barrowhill and Destin Karn, whose shifty allegiances to the king make us wonder whom they really are.

[Review] Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers

Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers

Rating: 3 stars

Format: ARC Paperback

Published: September 1st 2015

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Silas Hart has seriously shaken up Westlin Beck's small-town life. Brand new to town, Silas is different than the guys in Green Lake. He's curious, poetic, philosophical, maddening-- and really, really cute. But Silas has a sister-- and she has a secret. And West has a boyfriend. And life in Green Lake is about to change forever.
Truest is a stunning, addictive debut. Romantic, fun, tender, and satisfying, it asks as many questions as it answers.

6th read for #ARCAugust

I have a lot of thoughts here, so bare with me.

I enjoyed how Truest touched down on a disorder that isn't really well-known, depersonalization disorder, or the feeling of living in a dream. It's part of the dissociative disorders in the DSM-5 (abnormal psychology was one of my favorite classes so recalling this is fun). This brought something different to the whole summer romance table.

[Review] Breaking by Danielle Rollins

Breaking by Danielle Rollins

Series: Burning companion novel

Rating: 3 stars

Format: ARC Paperback

Published: June 6th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis:

Monsters lurk where you least expect…
Charlotte has always felt ordinary compared to her two best friends at the prestigious Weston Preparatory Institute. Not enigmatic and daring like Ariel or beautiful and brilliant like Devon, Charlotte has never quite met the standards of the school—or those of her demanding mother. But with Ariel and Devon by her side, none of that mattered. They became the family she never had.
Until the unthinkable happens—Ariel commits suicide. And less than a month later, so does Devon.
Everyone accepts the suicides as tragic coincidences, but Charlotte refuses to believe that. And when she finds mysterious clues left behind by Ariel, Charlotte is thrust down a path that leads to a dangerous secret about Weston Prep. There’s a reason Weston students are so exceptional, and the people responsible are willing to kill to protect the truth… 

Third #ARCAugust read.

I keep on reading suspenseful books.

Breaking was alright. Its supposed to be a companion novel to Burning, but you don't really need to read the first one to read this one. Except I think the ending of this book would make a whole lot more sense with it.

[Review] Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu

Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu

Version: ARC Paperback

Rating: 3 stars

Release Date: May 2nd 2017

Goodreads Synopsis:

They're more than their problems
Obsessive-compulsive teen Clarissa wants to get better, if only so her mother will stop asking her if she's okay.
Andrew wants to overcome his eating disorder so he can get back to his band and their dreams of becoming famous.
Film aficionado Ben would rather live in the movies than in reality.
Gorgeous and overly confident Mason thinks everyone is an idiot.
And Stella just doesn't want to be back for her second summer of wilderness therapy.
As the five teens get to know one another and work to overcome the various disorders that have affected their lives, they find themselves forming bonds they never thought they would, discovering new truths about themselves and actually looking forward to the future.

I received this ARC from Miss Print's (Emma) ARC Adoption over here! Thank you Emma!

This will be a hard review to tackle, so please bear with me.

Four Weeks, Five People is told in alternating 5-POVs from the characters attending a wilderness therapy camp for the summer for their respective disorders. Stella has an anger-based depression and it's her second time coming to the camp. Clarisa has OCD and has a mother who is never satisfied with anything she does. Ben has a dissociative disorder and makes everything in his life into a movie. Mason has narcissist personality disorder and he thinks everyone at the camp is below him. Andrew has an eating disorder and he yearns to return back to his band and make them famous. 

The five of them are stuck together for four weeks and learn much about themselves and the people surrounding them.

[Review] Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Format: Paperback

Rating: 3 stars

 Published: 1987

Goodreads Synopsis:

Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.
A poignant story of one college student's romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.

This is a hard book for me to review.

I say this with the knowledge that my friend recommended me this book many years ago and I finally picked it up and finished it for #asianlitbingo not quite understanding what I had read. It is clear that Murakami writing style is artistic, even poetic at times. It even bares likeness to Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which our narrator Toru mentions reading - this likeness I will explain shortly.

I was really unsure as to why my friend has recommended this book, beyond the fact of reading literature outside of YA; Norwegian Wood is depressing and dark, written by Murakami during a period of depression. This review mostly stems from my discussion with her after I read the book. There are deep meanings behind it - of loss, of sexuality, of youth, especially in one's college years (in a way, a coming of age novel), and of importance (what we find important now vs. later).