Book review: Book Lovers

June 29, 2022 | piperreads

“That’s the thing about women. There’s no good way to be one. Wear your emotions on your sleeve and you’re hysterical. Keep them tucked away where your boyfriend doesn’t have to tend to them and you’re a heartless bitch.”

Nora Stephens has the best life ever and all of it involves books and while she doesn’t think of herself as a heroine like the ones in the books, her clients would beg to differ. When she’s not reading books, she’s scoring enormous deals for her literary clients including her sister, Libby. When her sister comes to her with an idea to head out of town for awhile, Nora takes it up without even a second chance and before long she finds herself in a different kind of adventure. Once established in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, she is ready to relax and unwind but life has other plans as she is finding herself thrown together with Charlie Lastra, a brooding book editor from back in the city and the two are less than happy about it. But, the more time the spend the more they begin to realize that they might not be so different at all.

This was a fun ride from beginning to end! I have been a fan of Emily Henry’s books for awhile now and although I still have issues with Beach Read but I won’t go into that. I did this reading with a friend and that was a lot of fun as I found it enjoyable reading this with someone else. Buddy reads don’t always go so well but this one did so I was glad that I was able to have that this time. I found the plot very interesting and Emily really does a good job with creating complicated and flawed characters that seem so real you feel like you know them. The tropes were brilliantly done and the dynamics between Nora and Charlie were fantastic! All in all, a very fun and entertaining read!

Book Review

June 25, 2022 | piperreads

So, you’re Cat’s new pet, huh?”

After a difficult year at NYU, aspiring writer Lora Ricci feels like things are starting to turn around when she lands an summer internship with Elle, a famous fashion magazine. Upon her arrival, she meets Cat Wolff, the contributing editor and soon Lora finds herself spending more and more time with Cat. Their friendship over the course of the internship leads to Lora dropping out of NYC to be Cat’s ghostwriter and Lora feels like all this is good to be true but at the same time she’s willing to make the move. But, Lora begins to wonder if she made the wrong choice as Cat’s perfect exterior begins to crack leaving Lora to question who she really is.

This was such a wild ride and I love how it unfolded from beginning to end. I found the way of using text messages, emails, phone calls transcripts as a way to tell the story was very interesting. It did take some time to get used to that because most books aren’t done that way but I did like it for the most part. The plot was super interesting and I did find it hard to put the book down because I had to find out what happened next. As for the characters, I found Lora and Cat very interesting and the dynamics between felt very real and although Cat did some very dumb things, I did feel for her at times. All in all, I enjoyed it and if you’re looking for a good mystery thriller, this is it!

BOOk Review

June 14, 2022 | piperreads

“It occurred to Delilah that this was probably the longest she’d ever really looked at her stepsister. She’d spent years perfecting the art of avoidance, of protection, of never letting Astrid see how much Delilah was hurting. If eyes were the window into the soul, Delilah’s had long been shuttered.”

If Delilah Greene had it her way, she would never go back to that dreadful city that is Bright Falls where her distant and cold step family are and memories of a childhood that she never had. Her life is in New York City where she is making herself out to be a skilled photographer and while she does want a relationship, being with a different girl each night is fine with her. Until the day she gets a phone call from her estranged sister, Astrid who ends up guilt tripping Deliliah into coming home for wedding and although she wants to say no, the five-figure check would be nice to have. Delilah ends up going but is not going to enjoy it. Or so she thinks.

This was an emotionally packed roller coaster from beginning to end and also hit me really hard as I related to Delilah’s heartache and pain from how her cold and distant family treated her. I really felt for her and found her to be a very real and relatable character and not just because of her trauma. In addition to that, I did enjoy seeing her relationship with her stepsister Astrid get better as things were discovered that the two girls didn’t know and ended up becoming closer because of it. Although, I wasn’t a fan of one of Astrid’s friends, Iris who was flat out a bully and treated Delilah like a child and I found myself speed reading whenever she was present. On the other hand, Delilah does become close with Clarie and I found their chemistry very real and loved the dynamics between them! Overall, an enjoyable book with a few bumps in the road but I highly recommend it.

Book Review

June 12, 2022 | piperreads

“Maybe the universe is filled with introverts?”

Shizuka has made a deal with the devil and she only needs one more soul so she can trade their souls for success and she doesn’t have to wait long to find her final victim, Katrina Ngyuen as she can almost feel the curse lifting. But when chance and fate decide to intervene when she meets Lan Tran in a donuts shop, her mission soon moves to the back of her mind as she finds Lan Tran’s smile and personality are making her wonder if success is what she really wants and if not, is this finally the right time for her to open her heart? Follow the lives of Lan Tran, Katrina, and Shizuka as they find themselves connected through a journey of identity, hope, curses, magic and most importantly love.

This was such a fantastic book!!! I loved every bit of it, I wish I’d read it sooner as I found the plot, characters, and how it progressed very engaging. Lan Tran, Katrina, and Shizuka were all unique in their own way while also feeling so real and their dynamics were well done and that’s always a plus. It’s such a drag when the characters are so underdeveloped and for me it makes me less interested in the story. How the characters fit in with the plot and how it developed until the end flowed very nicely and nothing really felt out of place and I have always loved the found family trope and I felt that it was really well done in the book. There are times where it can be overdone and under developed but it wasn’t here so I was very happy about that. While the book does have a lot of heart-warming and fun moments, it also shows the unpleasant horrible, and dark moments especially for these characters. Lastly, the LGBT representation was fantastic and not used as plot devices but actually human beings because sometimes it can be disappointing when the rep is there but they’re only there as a plot device. So, this book was fantastic all around so I highly recommend it.

Book review

June 10, 2022 | piperreads

“Maps are love letters written to times and places their makers had explored.”

For as long as Neil Young can remember cartography has long been her passion and it’s one she shared with her father, Dr. Daniel Young who is a legend in the field and Neil’s personal hero. But, the pair had a nasty falling out due to an old map that she had found and haven’t spoken since he fired her and destroyed her reputation. When Neil hears the tragic news that her father was murdered, she soon finds that out that map that drove them apart is incredibly rare and even if old wounds resurface, Neil knows it’s her duty to find out what happened to her father.

Finally got around to reading this and I’m glad that I did. While it did take sometime to get into story, I did enjoy the plot, characters, and how it developed until the end. I didn’t even really know what Cartography was in depth before this book and it actually made me more interested in it. The way that Shepard weaves into the writing added to the plot and it was very interesting to learn and read more about. What really made me invested into the book were the characters and the writing as I found it engaging and each character were well written with flaws, quirks, and I did enjoy the dynamics with each character. Overall, it was a very good read!