Author: piperreads

August Wrap Up

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Wow, I can’t believe August is over! This has been a very good reading month as I had a lot more time than I anticipated and enjoyed it. I’m excited to share with you the books that I read for the month! So let’s get started.

A Court of Honey & Ash by Shannon Mayer & Kelly St. Clare
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 3/5

A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson
Genre: Mystery, Thriller Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher
Genre: Fiction, Romance, YA
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

Catch and Cradle by Katia Rose
Genre: LGBT, Romance, Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

Darling by K. Ancrum
Genre: Fiction, LGBT, YA
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction
Review: Here

Rating; 3.5/5

Forget This Ever Happened by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Genre: Young Adult, LGBT, Sci-Fi
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
Genre: Mystery, Contemporary, YA
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

Into The Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Review: Here

Rating: 3/5

The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, YA
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

Lyrics and Curses by Candace Robinson
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 5/5

Outrun The Wind by Elizabeth Tammi
Genre: LGBT, Romance, Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 3/5

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, YA
Review: Here

Rating: 3.5/5

Some Girls Do By Jennifer Dugan
Genre: LGBT, Romance, YA
Review: Here

Rating: 3/5

The Girl The Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young
Genre: Fantasy, Historical-Fiction, Young Adult
Review: Here


Rating: 3/5

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Genre: Mystery, YA, Contemporary
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

The Vanishing Star by Maureen Johnson
Genre: Mystery, Contemporary, Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

We Regret To Inform You by Ariel Kaplan
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Mystery
Review: Here

Rating: 2.5/5

What I Carry by Jennifer Longo
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult
Review: Here

Rating: 4/5

Book Of The Week: Lyrics and Curses

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Curses and Lyrics follows two young people, Lark and Auden who are both coming to terms with their painful pasts. Lark lives with her trendy, party-loving, twin sister and her mother come lately, Beth who has sworn off men and thrown herself into homemaking who don’t understand her love of cassette tapes, distaste of the pop scene, or her standoffish personality. For Lark, she feels like she has no place of belonging except one place, Bubbles Odities, where she finds herself a kindred spirit in Auden Ellis. But, Auden keeps her at arms length because of his fear of exposing her to dangers that lurk in the shadows. But, when two strangers come to town, carrying a dark and mysterious object and errie flute music, the two find that their painful pasts are more in sync than they believe. Now the two have to come to terms with their budding attraction while also keeping their loved ones safe with the dangers that are about to be exposed.

The two main characters are what stood out to me. They were very real, fleshed out, and easy to relate to and have empathy for the with their struggles. Lark has two sisters and a mother doesn’t give Lark what she really needs which makes it easy to connect with her. Auden lost both of his parents and has a loving-psuedo parent and two younger brothers so it’s very easy to feel for them and want them to find the happiness that they need. I was impressed with how well Robinson writes the typical teenager, in some books it can be very cheesy and overdone but in this book, it was very real so that helped. You really do find yourself rooting for Lark and Auden as they’ve gone through so much and do have a bright future ahead of them.

What an absolute delight this book! I was hooked from the beginning and enjoyed every second of it and can’t wait to read book two for my september tbr. I had heard a lot of hype for this book and it certainly lived up to it as I loved everything about especially that it was in the mid 80’s. I was born in 1986 so this was so much fun to read about as I’m a huge 80’s buff and felt the setting was perfect. The writing was so captivating and had me turning the page in anticipation of what would happen next. Of course this book would end in a cliffhanging but it was still super fun!

The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson

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I’m a SURVIVOR. I’m the leftover. The lucky one. The only one in that room who lived.

The Lucky Ones is a gut wrenching and heartwarming story about coming to terms with grief, pain, and love relating to trauma. It follows May and Zach, who have both gone through so much and trying to work their trauma in their own way. A tragic school shooting changed their lives in ways no one could even expect as May lost her twin brother that day, and Zach’s life flipped upside down when his mother came to the shooter’s defense which made him lose all his friends, girlfriend, and ripped his family apart. But fateful night, the two cross paths and realize just so similar they are and maybe they both need one another to help come to terms with that tragic event.

It took me awhile to get through this book because of the material was very heavy as expected with topics like school shootings, violence, and how to process traumatic events. But, as difficult as it was, I felt the way it was written and how it was expressed was very well done. It was impossible not to feel for May, Zach, and everyone involved. This book felt very real and that was also why it was hard to get through but even with that said, I enjoyed this book and think others will enjoy it just as much. It is very important to cover topics like these and when it’s done well, I think people can gain a better understanding, compassion, and empathy for those who are impacted by the distressing events.

Forget This Ever Happened by Cassandra Rose Clarke

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All the things in the world create music, and as we move through the universe, that music runs into other music and overlaps.

Dumped in the rural Indianola, Texas in the summer of 1993, to take care of her sickly and mean grandmother, Clarie couldn’t think of a worse summer vacation than this. While all her friends are going on adventures and doing things they want to do, Claire is stuck being bored while also dealing with grandmother. But, all is not as it seems as in the dreary and hot town, something interesting has taken shape and once you leave Indianola, you’ll forget it. Claire is desperate to figure what is beyond this mysterious energies taken place where there is a fissure of time and space leaving their a gap in reality. But, Claire also knows that once you leave you may never come back.

Well this was a fun and interesting book as I didn’t expect it to be so dark and creepy. The story follows Claire making it to her grandmother’s place, trying to adjust and then discovering the mysteries of the town while meeting various people who have a much bigger part to play especially, Julie, the cute girl who befriends Clarie shortly after her arrival. The story was unique and the writing helped a lot especially with flow and pacing and I felt engaged throughout the book. The only thing that I wish is that it would’ve been a little longer but I can’t really complain since it was a fun and easy read so I think many people will enjoy this book!

The Girl The Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

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Rating: 3/5

They weren’t afraid of battle. They were afraid of losing what they loved. And that’s what made them brave in battle.

The Girl The Sea Gave Back follows Tova, a young warrior who has always lived among the Svell, the people who found her when she washed ashore. Although the memories of her home and clan have faded away, the sacred symbols and stavs inked all over her body mark as her the one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. But before, she knows it the two clans among Svell are at odds with each other for the first time in history and Tova is pulled between the two.

Having read previous books by Adrienne Young, I was looking forward to reading this and I feel a bit let down. I have always enjoyed how her world-building is shown in her books and I didn’t feel that way with this book. But, I’ll get to that in a bit. First, the cover is what reeled me in as it’s beautiful and I was very interested to read about vikings and I found Tova an interesting protagonist. She had moments of vulnerability and toughness and it was handled really well which makes it easier to relate. One of the biggest blocks for me to fall completely in love with it was the ending, it felt very rushed to me and I was a bit disappointed. I felt like the book could’ve been a bit longer and spread out but it just felt like she was trying to cram everything in and I lost interest. But, it will be a hit for others and that’s wonderful so if this sounds up your ally, then check it out!

A Court of Honey and Ash by Shannon Mayer

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Rating: 3/5

Sometimes the world pushes us in a direction we think is wrong, because it is not of our choosing. That does not mean it is taking us to the wrong destination, just that the path is one we didn’t foresee.

Billed as a must read for fans of Sarah J. Mass and Holly Black, A Court of Honey and Ash follows Alli, a half human, half orphan fae who knows the secret behind the shattering of underhill, the ancestral home of the fae thus making it possible for any fae to enter. A secret that will be the end of Alli if anyone finds out that she knows especially the person who did it. With the shattering of underhill, a brutal madness takes place and Alli wants to be the one who can not only save her people but find meaning, belonging, and prove that she’s more than what she appears to be.

I had high hopes for this but it fell flat towards the end. I was enjoying it and I felt invested in the characters, the story, and how it flowed up until the later chapters and it just felt rushed to me. There were also parts where it felt very predictable and I was hoping for a little more but sadly, I didn’t get it. The characters especially Alli, are very interesting and complex as she pulled off tough and vulnerable very well. It wasn’t overdone and I did enjoy her moments of vulnerability. There was a lot that I liked but with other stuff I didn’t like, I feel like my feelings at the end of it weren’t as I fulfilling as I wanted them to be. I was kind of bummed with how the last half of the book went but that’s just how it goes. I’m sure many other people will enjoy this and that’s absolutely fine!

Outrun The Wind by Elizabeth Tammi

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Rating: 3/5

“Glancing between the four of us, I realize just how many types of love we share. And how much it hurts to lose them all.”

Goddess of the hunt, Artemis has two rules. Never disobey her and never fall in love. Feeling relieved after escaping her life as the oracle of delphi, Kahina finds home as one of the female warriors guided So what happens when Kahina breaks both rules by not only saving legendary huntress, Atalanna out of trouble but while trying to prove herself to Artemis again, she finds herself developing feelings for the huntress and struggling to make a choice between the life that she wants and how others percieve her to be?

I had high hopes for this book as I love greek mythology and Artemis is one of my favorite goddesses and while I did love that aspect, the rest was very lacking which led me to give it a three star rating. I felt like the characters and romance was underwhelming and the ending felt a little rushed. I did like the characters and felt if given a bit more development in the romance then I would’ve given it a higher rating. I think I also had problems with the plot as I felt bored by the middle to ending but of course I wanted to see what happened. So, this book wasn’t what I hoped it to be but I think others will enjoy for different reasons than what I was looking for.

Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter

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Rating: 4/5


I’ve been trying to get into romance more as I have been feeling bored with my other reads. I’ve found some romance that are hits and misses and this one was definetly a hit. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed it even though I felt like it was short but I loved everything about it especially the characters. It was a rom-com about a rom-com and it was very well done as it follows a young woman, Liz who finds out that her crush, Michael has been hanging around with her best friend, Wes. What originally started as a plan to get her with Michael turns out to be something diffently entirely as she starts to realize that Michael isn’t the boy she thought he was which causes her rethink her plan of being with Michael.

Honestly, the characters and dynamics between them is what made this novel so enjoyable. They were fun, unique, interesting, and well developed. The dyanmics between Michael and Liz felt very real and I really enjoyed seeing how the relationship progressed throughout the book. Painter does a really good at showing their relationship from the time they were kids to being adults and how they had changed during that time. The romance was really light-hearted and funny so I defintely recommend this book!

Into The Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth-Meyers

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Rating: 3/5

We named ourselves not very cleverly, but the names belong to us not to her. That gives us power for ourselves, do you see?

Into The Heartless Wood is a tale that mixes witches, fairies, monsters into one for a captivating folklore that will have you wanting more. The story follows Owen Merrick who is lured into the woods held by the witches, and when he thought that his life was going to end, one of the daughters, Seren saves him from that terrible fate. From that point on, the two were bonded as she longed to be a human and free to roam and he would climb the garden wall to see. The longing that Seren has to become human would prove to be a daunting mission as dangers lurk in the darkness and an anicent war will be revealed between the witch and the king trying to stop her.

The premise of the book itself is interesting but I feel like there was something lacking with hwo it developed and the romance between the characters. What I really loved about the book was the writing as it was incredibly captivating, moving, and easy to follow and I felt like I was in the world that Meyers created. She creates a world that feels so real and the world-building stood out the most me and it’s such a shame that the rest of the book didn’t match that expectation. While I liked the characters, I felt like the romance was a little rushed and I don’t believe it felt right. I liked both of their journeys on their own and I felt like I needed a little more for it to be believable. There were times where the writing didn’t match up with what was happening and I feel like the ending was a bit rushed. But aside from all this, if you love witches, fairies, and all things folklore then you will probably enjoy this just as much.