Year: 2020

Review: We Were All Someone Else Yesterday

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A hybrid text that deals most urgently in the articulation of growth and grief. After the loss of his mother, Omar Holmon re-learns how to live by immersing himself in popular culture, becoming well-versed in using the many modes of pop culture to spell out his emotions. This book is made up of both poems and essays, drenched in both sadness and unmistakable humor. Teeming with references that are touchable, no matter what you do or don’t know, this book feels warm and inviting.

This poetry collection hit me super hard. As someone who lost a parent to cancer some of the poems were truly heartbreaking. Each one was a vignette into another facet of experiences the author had, whether it be the loss of his mother, things that happened in his family, relationships or other important events.

The writing was beautiful, even when there were changing tones and themes. It’s very much a collection about human experience, grief and more. I would definitely recommend it, but take note that there is definitely a trigger warning for death of a parent.

Happy reading!

Flashback Friday Challenge: Update 1

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So it’s been a little over a month since I concocted this challenge. I was hoping to finish four a month, but that didn’t quite happen. So I’m going to update you on what I was able to read, which was two of the four books I picked.

First I read The Forever House, which I hadn’t read since I was a teenager. It definitely isn’t as teenage me remembered it, but still entertaining. I didn’t remember it taking so long to really get to the action. Now would this stand up today? Maybe. It’s definitely white washed, which was usual for the 90s in a lot of ways. Plus, some of the descriptions of characters probably would be frowned upon. My nostalgia definitely made it a fun book but my perception of it has definitely changed.

Next I picked up The Clue of the Broken Locket. I always love Nancy Drew books. To me they are classic and timeless and I know that part of that is because I’ve read and re-read them multiple times. Nancy Drew books are always great when I’m in a reading slump or just need something to cleanse my palette.

So that’s the update for now, I still have two more books left from the original pick, and I’ll pick more after that. It’s fun to revisit these and see how my feelings change towards these books.

Happy reading!

Behind the Blogger Tag

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I was looking for something to post today and found this Tag over at Love for Words and thought it looked fun, so here we go!

The Rules

  • Thank the person who nominated you
  • Answer all the questions down below
  • Pingback to the creator: Ellyn @ Allonsythornraxx
  • Nominate 5+ bloggers you’d like to know more about, to do this tag

Why did you start blogging and why have you kept blogging?

I really wanted to carve out a place for myself in the book community and not only talk about books but my writing. Booktube was a little too anxiety inducing to me, so I decided a blog would be the way to go.

What is your favorite type of blog post to write?

Probably reviews or blog tours. I do really enjoy interacting with publishers or the authors themselves. Having said that I really do enjoy writing about my writing journey, even if it’s to admit temporary failure.

What are your top 3 favorite posts?

My Review of Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith

The start of my Flashback Friday challenge (update coming soon, I swear).

All my wrap ups where I get to talk about my stats.

What are some of your favorite things to do to relax?

Well, definitely reading haha. If I had to pick things other than reading I would say writing, gaming and watching something mindless.

What are three of your favorite things?

My floofy baby – Calypso, have you met Calypso? You probably have, she likes to show up in my book hauls and wrap ups. My Nancy Drew collection and my boyfriend. 😛

What are your proudest blogging moments?

Getting contacted by authors and publishers and just getting to interact with people in general. It’s a very validating feeling and also makes this introvert feel accepted and seen. ❤

What are your hobbies outside of blogging?

We’ve already covered writing – I also like to make jewelry in my spare time, though I haven’t in a while. Also there’s music which is my other love.

Describe your personality in three words.

Loyal, Shy, Honest

What are your top 3 pet peeves?

People interrupting – I’m not talking about the accidental merging of voices, I’m talking about intentional talking over.

People answering a question with a question, such as me asking where someone wants to go and they respond asking me where I want to go. I know they are being courteous, or think they are, but it’s just a trigger.

Negativity/Poor attitudes – I know we can all get down, I suffer from anxiety and depression myself, but when someone is negative about something every single day for the sake of being nasty? Yeah, not ok. I’m extremely empathic and that stuff affects me horribly.

What’s something your followers don’t know about you?

Hmm. There’s a ton as I haven’t talked about a lot of personal stuff on here, so there’s so many things I could go with.

Ok, here goes, come closer, closer *whispers* I have an insane amount of penguins in my house. I love penguins. I have penguin plushies, art, figurines, socks, slippers, etc. My boyfriend feeds this addiction as he often contributes to said collection.

So that’s it! I’m not tagging anyone specific, so if anyone decides to do it from my post please just link back so I can take a look!

Happy reading!

Review: Rescuing the Ranger

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Gabe Preston’s been sent on a mission: clean out his beloved grandmother’s house in Havenport and help move her into senior living—or so he thinks. Havenport had always been a special place to visit while growing up, but during this ride into town he finds more than he bargained for. Surviving multiple deployments as an Army Ranger hadn’t ever proved this type of challenging. All Gabe desires is to ride his motorcycle, enjoy his time out of the Army, and figure out his next stop in life. The best laid plans don’t necessarily work out when you’ve got a meddling, matchmaking grandmother.

Francesca Montefiore loves Havenport, and her recently acquired florist shop. She’s finally made a fresh start in her life, one stem at a time. When she’s “adopted” by the local Garden Club members she treasures the ladies as family, something she’d been sorely lacking. When her past comes back to threaten her contentment, she’ll need the help of one hunky, visiting Army Ranger, the Garden Club President’s grandson to come to her rescue. But will she be the one doing the rescuing instead?

This was such a fun story. We’re introduced to Francesca and Gabe through their letters when he’s in the service, then pick up again when he goes to Havenport to see his grandmother. The story progresses very quickly and there’s definitely action mixed in.

I do feel like it would have been even better if it had been a little longer since there were some things that felt like they were glossed over or just got resolved really quickly. Still the story and characters were really fun and fast paced, so I really enjoyed it.

Happy reading!

Review: RWBY: The Official Manga Vol. 1

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Experience the introductory arc of the international smash hit series RWBY in a whole new way—manga!

In the world of Remnant, monsters known as Grimm wreak havoc. They’re kept in check by Huntsmen and Huntresses, highly skilled warriors experienced in monster extermination who utilize their special abilities on the field of battle. Ruby is a ferociously talented young girl who comes to Beacon Academy to hone her skills and serve as a Huntress herself. Alongside her sister Yang Xiao Long, rival Weiss Schnee and newfound friend Blake Belladonna, Ruby leads Team RWBY, the coolest new group at Beacon!

Ruby takes her first step on the road to becoming a Huntress by enrolling at Beacon Academy, eager to take on the battery of tests, challenges and difficulties that follow. Ruby knows her talents will take her to her goal, but is she ready to clash with Weiss Schnee, haughty scion of the Schnee Dust Company?

I was super excited to see a new manga version of RWBY coming out, especially since it’s starting out where the show started. Fans of the show RWBY will recognize this story arc as it starts off at the same point, with a robbery being committed and foiled by Ruby.

This is a great introduction to the main set of characters as well as the setting and world. That being said, a lot of the action sequences were a little hard to follow in the manga format. It’s understandable as action can be hard to portray, but if I hadn’t watched this part of the show already I may not have been able to follow the action sequences and what was happening.

Still, if you’re a lover of the series, this will definitely be something to add to your collection.

Happy reading!

Camp NaNoWriMo: April

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Though I’ve participated in NaNoWrimo the last three years, I’ve never taken on Camp NaNoWriMo. To be honest, April tends to be a busy month for me and I usually don’t remember it until it’s too late. Since one of my goals for this year is to get my writing back on track I want to take every opportunity I can.

Now today’s post isn’t just about me saying I’m going to do it, but I’ve officially committed myself and signed up on the site to actually do Camp NaNoWriMo – no going back now!

I’m returning to the project that I did my first year of NaNoWriMo. While I did succeed in writing 50k words that year, the story was far from over. To tell the truth I haven’t written much more in it since then, so I thought this was a great chance to go back to it. For Camp NaNoWriMo I’ve made a goal of 30k words in the month of April.

I’m sure it will be a struggle since I not only read a lot but I also have to juggle my day job and other things that I do on a daily basis. Still, I think it’s totally achievable and have my fingers crossed.

Happy writing!

Review: The Daughters of Ys

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An Atlantis-like city from Celtic legend is the setting of this mythical graphic novel fantasy from National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson and artist Jo Rioux.

Ys, city of wealth and wonder, has a history of dark secrets. Queen Malgven used magic to raise the great walls that keep Ys safe from the tumultuous sea. But after the queen’s inexplicable death, her daughters drift apart. Rozenn, the heir to the throne, spends her time on the moors communing with wild animals, while Dahut, the youngest, enjoys the splendors of royal life and is eager to take part in palace intrigue.

When Rozenn and Dahut’s bond is irrevocably changed, the fate of Ys is sealed, exposing the monsters that lurk in plain view. M. T. Anderson and Jo Rioux reimagine this classic Breton folktale of love, loss, and rebirth, revealing the secrets that lie beneath the surface.

I had never heard of or read the folktale this graphic novel was based on, but I was instantly intrigued when I read the description of the story. It’s a tale of how people can change depending on what they consider important. It also examines themes such as power, good and evil and family connections.

The art style was simple and more rustic, but it fit the theme and setting of the story perfectly. It definitely gave it the feel of the time period and the seaside setting. You could definitely see the influence of the original folktale and the time period that it came from.

All in all this is an enchanting tale that provides more than one good morality lesson woven into it.

Happy reading!

Review: Blue Flag Vol. 1

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An unexpected love quadrangle with a dash of unrequited love as two classmates, a boy and a girl, begin to fall for each other when each of their best friends have already fallen for them.

It’s the last year of high school, and love is in the air. Romantic feelings that have been building up over years of friendship come to light. When Taichi’s classmate Futaba asks him to help her confess to his best friend, Toma, it sparks the catalyst that begins the sweet and heart-wrenching journey of their third and final year of high school.

For some reason, Taichi Ichinose just can’t tolerate Futaba Kuze. But at the start of his third year in high school, he finds himself in the same homeroom as her, along with his childhood friend and school sports star Toma Mita. But one day Futaba opens up to Taichi, admitting she has a crush on Toma and asking for his help in confessing to him! There’s just one problem—Toma seems to already have a secret crush on someone else…

I really felt that this one was a great first volume to a series. It sets up the characters well as well as establishing their existing relationships, or lack thereof. It immediately starts discussing typical status’ that happen in high school, how people end up in different cliques and how those cliques may be treated by others. While this isn’t a focus of the story, it’s important that it’s set up in the beginning to differentiate the roles.

Taichi is portrayed in a very raw way, perfectly displaying his conflicting emotions as we progress through the story. You really get to see his internal struggle as well as his growing emotions for those he’s spending time with and helping.

When you reach the end of this first volume, there’s definitely quite a lot hanging in the air that you have to wonder how all these things will resolve. It will be interesting to see where this series goes.

Happy reading!

Clearing the Hoard: Update and Month 3

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This challenge was created by Caffeinated Fae in an effort to reduce the number of physically owned but unread books in her collection. Make sure to head over to her post (linked above) to check it out.

Another month has already gone by! In total this past month I read six physical books, though one of them wasn’t on my TBR shelf (The Forever House) as it was a re-read. I did finally get to The Cheerleaders, but alas I didn’t love it so it will be going to my local bookstore so someone else can love it. The rest of them have been moved to my read shelves.

As for this coming month, I do have a couple physical ARCs to get to, but I’ll also be trying to tackle a few more physical books on my TBR shelf. I am still making my way through Robots vs. Fairies one story at a time, and currently have the audiobooks for the following books:

-The Devouring Grey
-Trail of Lightning
-When the Moon Was Ours
-Night Music

Fingers crossed that I get to them this month, if not I’ll probably keep moving them forward until I do!

What are you hoping to get off your TBR shelves?

Happy reading!

Blog Tour: Before He Vanished

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Today’s post is another blog tour for a book in Harlequin’s Intrigue line. I’ve really been enjoying this line and the mystery/suspense storylines they feature. Thank you again to Harlequin for inviting me to participate in their blog tours!

Twenty-five years ago, Halle Lane’s best friend vanished from their Tennessee town. When a childhood photo brings Liam Hart to Winchester, Halle is certain the man is the same child who vanished. Now Liam seeks out Halle to help him investigate the circumstances of his mysterious past. Can Liam and Halle uncover the truth before a killer buries all traces of the boy Halle loved—and the man he may have become—forever?

This was only my second title from Debra Webb and I’m swiftly discovering that I really enjoy her writing in general. I was sucked in from the beginning of the story and there weren’t any points where I felt the story dragged.

The characters were very compelling and it really felt like their emotions and feelings were really well fleshed out. Plus the suspense and mystery was definitely not an afterthought and was full of so many surprises and twists. The romance didn’t overshadow it and was balanced really well.

I really applaud Debra Webb on creating mysteries that are full of heart and keep you on your toes. I will be picking up more of her books in the future!

DEBRA WEBB is the award winning, USA Today bestselling author of more than 150 novels, including reader favorites the Faces of Evil, the Colby Agency, and the Shades of Death series. With more than four million books sold in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood on a farm in Alabama. Visit Debra at http://www.DebraWebb.com or write to her at PO Box 176, Madison, AL 35758.

Harlequin Series celebrates 70 years of feel-good entertainment! Founded in May 1949 and a pioneer of the category Series romance model, Harlequin is a globally recognized brand with offices all over the world.

Unique to Harlequin are the category romance novels, which are short romance novels, usually no more than 200 pages, and about 55,000 words. That means you can finish a book in 2-4 hours, making them perfect binge-reading! Plus, they’re great for the budget-conscious reader, with print prices starting at $4.99 and ebook prices starting at $1.99.

Before He Vanished is out now, so be sure to pick up a copy if it interests you – happy reading!