September has really been a month of highs and lows. I had my first five star read in a while but I also had two DNFs in a row and a highly anticipated read be less than average. Here’s to hoping October will be better!
I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers
Read: 31/8/24 – 1/9/24
It feels like I read this months ago, wow September has been long.
I Wish You Would was a very quick read that was fairly enjoyable. There’s quite a lot of back and forth between the characters and you do wish they’d just sort themselves out and admit their feelings. However, you do root for them and while it could have gotten repetitive, it didn’t.
Book Review: I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers
Synopsis: It’s Senior Sunrise, the epic overnight at the beach that kicks off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan, it’s the first time seeing each other after what happened at junior prom—when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. After ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn’t care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake.
When the senior class carries out their tradition of writing private letters to themselves—what they wish they would do this year if they were braver—Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does everyone in their entire class. But in Natalia’s panicked attempt to retrieve her heartfelt confession, the wind scatters seven of the notes across the beach. Now, Ethan and Natalia are forced to work together to find the lost letters before any secrets are revealed—especially their own.
Seven private confessions. Seven time bombs loose for anyone to find. And one last chance before the sun rises for these two to fall in love.
Circling Back To You by Julie Tieu
Read: 2/9/24 – 4/9/24
DNF
This wasn’t anything particularly wrong with this book, I was just extremely bored. I’ve really been needing fast paced books at the moment and the pacing was so slow.
Book Review: Circling Back To You by Julie Tieu
Synopsis: Cadence Lim has transformed from behind-the-scenes number cruncher to an integral part of the sales team at Prism Realty. But despite moving up the corporate ladder, her complicated relationship with her estranged elderly father weighs heavily and she can’t seem to shake the desire for a new beginning.
At least Cadence can always lean on her favorite co-worker and co-conspirator, Matt Escanilla. A top broker with an unsuccessful love life, the forever single Matt is constantly being nagged by his loving Filipino family to settle down.
Their relationship takes a turn when a business trip lands them both in their hometown and Matt enlists Cadence as a pretend girlfriend for a family gathering. The new after-hours setting forces the two friends to see each other in a new light, and their previously buried feelings rise quickly to the surface. When competing promotions threaten to separate Cadence and Matt, these office besties must work together to round up their ambitions and families to pursue their overdue romance.
Not in a Million Years by Sophie Ranald
Read: 5/9/24 – 8/9/24
DNF
I really tried to give this book a fair chance, but it is awful. It’s not a ‘feel-good romance’ as most of the book talks about drug addiction and the friendships are extremely toxic.
Book Review: Not in a Million Years by Sophie Ranald
Synopsis: Chronically single Kate is winning at life. She’s finally saved enough to live alone in her dream home, she has a great group of friends, and she has – at last – perfected the ultimate chocolate cake. So what if her love life is dead on arrival? Forget sex, she can make a sponge that would blow your socks off.
Aside from her romantic dry spell (is it still a ‘spell’ if it’s been years…?!), everything is going according to plan. But when she finds out one of her oldest friends Andy is travelling abroad and needs her help, she knows she’ll have to drop everything and fly out to him.
Only problem is, Daniel, the mutual friend she blames for Andy’s wild lifestyle, is coming with her. It’s the first holiday abroad she’s been able to afford in years, and she has to spend it with him?!
But when Daniel and Kate arrive, they soon find themselves having the unexpected romantic holiday of a lifetime. Swimming in crystal clear waters, sharing delicious meals and exploring beautiful local villages… It would all be perfect, if only they weren’t with each other.
And as the days pass, and more than one waiter mistakes her and Daniel for a honeymooning couple, Kate has to remind herself that there’s a reason she stayed single all these years. But as she sips her dry Martini and watches Daniel’s toned body dive into the pool, she wonders if it’s possible to have the perfect holiday with a man you hate… Or if maybe Daniel isn’t so bad after all?
I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
Read: 8/9/24
The palate cleanser I desperately needed. I Was Born for This reignited my love for reading. The plot was absolutely wild but I find all of Alice Oseman books so easy to read. They flow really well and I find myself getting completely lost in them (in a good way).
Book Review: I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
Synopsis: For Angel Rahimi, life is only about one thing: The Ark – a pop-rock trio of teenage boys who are currently taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark’s fandom has given her everything – her friendships, her dreams, her place in the world.
Jimmy Kaga-Ricci owes everything to The Ark too. He’s their frontman – and playing in a band is all he’s ever dreamed of doing. It’s just a shame that recently everything in his life seems to have turned into a bit of a nightmare.
Because that’s the problem with dreaming – eventually, inevitably, real life arrives with a wake-up call. And when Angel and Jimmy are unexpectedly thrust together, they will discover just how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be.
We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen & Stephanie Hans
Read: 14/9/24
*I was a copy of this in exchange for an honest review*
This graphic novel is absolutely stunning. The character designs are really cool and the story is very moving. My review is coming later this month!
Synopsis: We Called Them Giants is a story of communication across a chasm at the end of the world.
Lori wakes to find the streets empty. Everyone has gone. Or at least, nearly everyone. She’s thrown into a world where she has to scrape by in the ruins of civilization, nearly starving, hiding from gangs when …
They arrive.
Rabbit & Juliet by Rebecca Stafford
Read: 19/9/24 – 22/9/24
*I was a copy of this in exchange for an honest review*
I really wanted to love this book as it sounded really interesting but it fell incredibly flat. The characters weren’t great and the narrative tone felt a little all over the place.
ARC Review: Rabbit & Juliet by Rebecca Stafford
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Rabbit has been struggling to stay above water since her mom died. In the span of a year and half, her small Georgia town has become unbearably hellish: Her ex-boyfriend, resident golden boy Richard, turned into an unrelenting stalker; her friends are nonexistent; and her dad is campaigning hard for Functioning Alcoholic of the Year.
But all that changes when the sarcastic, gorgeous, and frustratingly impenetrable Juliet Bergman walks into Rabbit’s life. All hard angles and James Dean bravado, Juliet throws Rabbit a life preserver just before her depression threatened to sink her.
Then one morning, Rabbit’s ex-best-friend Sarah–Richard’s current girlfriend–shares a horrific discovery about Richard and his crew that pitches Rabbit back into darkness. The three girls vow to enact revenge on the boys for what they’ve been doing to unsuspecting girls at parties. With Juliet leading the charge and demanding blind loyalty from the girls, Rabbit falls harder for her than she thought possible. It isn’t until Rabbit is faced with a startling act of violence that she must decide how far she’s willing to go–for herself, for Juliet, and for justice–when love and grief threaten to topple everything.
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
Read: 9/9/24 – 25/9/24
This was such a great audiobook, which is rare for me to say. Tess Sharpe did such a good job at narrating and the story worked quite well in this format. I’ve got a full review of this coming in the next few days so keep an eye out for that.
Synopsis: Nora O’Malley is a lot of things. A sister. An ex. A secret girlfriend. Kind of crooked, but reformed… somewhat.
Nora O’Malley’s been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up her mother’s protege. But when mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con: escape.
For five years she’s been playing at normal. But she needs to dust off the skills she ditched because she has three problems:
#1: her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend. Even though they’ve all been inseparable for months, Wes didn’t know about her and Iris.
#2: The morning after, they all have to meet to deposit the fundraiser money they raised together. It’s a nightmare that goes from awkward to deadly.
Because #3: right after they get in the bank, two guys start robbing it.
But they have no idea who they’re really holding hostage.
The robbers are trouble. Nora’s something else entirely.
SubZero Vol. 1 by Junepurrr
Read: 28/9/24
*I was a copy of this in exchange for an honest review*
The illustrations in SubZero are gorgeous. It’s almost hard to believe that this is a debut graphic novel that came from Webtoon. I’m not completely sold on the story yet, but I think the second volume will start to pick up the pace.
ARC Review: SubZero Vol. 1 by Junepurrr
Synopsis: To save her people, Princess Clove will have to do the unthinkable—marry her greatest enemy!
Clove is the last remaining heir of her Cerulean Dragon clan, fighting in a seemingly endless 300-year-war against the vast Crimson Empire. With no end to the war in sight, Clove agrees to leave her sheltered homeland in favor of a political marriage with the heir to the enemy Crimson Dragon clan, Prince Kyro.
Raised on the battlefields and feared by his rivals, the cutthroat prince is first to notice that Clove is hiding a dangerous secret she’s been working tirelessly to protect.
As tensions rise between these unlikely allies, the fragile peace brokered by their marriage is threatened by those who wish to continue the war. Now fighting in the world of her enemies and fighting a surprising attraction to Kyro, Clove discovers that achieving peace is far more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.
Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter
Read: 22/9/24 – 30/9/24
*I was sent a copy of this in exchange for an honest review*
It saddens me to say this, but I didn’t love Nothing Like the Movies. Which is probably obvious based on the fact that I haven’t even taken a photo for it.
Better Than the Movies should have stayed a standalone and I could have lived in ignorant bliss that Lynn Painter hadn’t destroyed Liz as a character. By the time this is uploaded, my full review has been published so check that out if you want to see my more in depth thoughts. The review is a bit of a mess as I struggled to articulate what I really thought, but it’s quite an entertaining read if I say so myself.
Synopsis: For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.
Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.
Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.
Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.
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