Book review: The Sentence

July 19, 2022 | piperreads

“I’d taken a pink eraser to my childhood and blurred the pain.”

As this tale of loss, grief, shame, and hope unfolds, the main character Tookie finds herself in the middle of a mystery that she didn’t sign up for. Working in a bookstore as a seller, she must try to solve the haunting of the bookstore from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store’s most annoying customer, Flora who won’t leave the store. While trying to sort out this mystery, she also has to come to terms with the mistakes that she’s made in the past in order to move on to a life full of content, happiness, and peace.

This book was so good. I was hooked from the beginning to the end, the plot was super interesting and how the author developed the story along way made me glued to the page. Just when I thought I knew what was happening, it went in a completely different direction. Tookie was an interesting character and one that I didn’t like right away but as the story developed, I started to warm up to her after reading her backstory and seeing her development through the book. It has to be very challenging to navigate life after being incarcerated for such a long time, there’s so much that changed while being locked up and it can be overwhelming for people being released and trying to form a new life. While confronting Fiona on why she refuses to leave, Tookie has to face her past memories that are filled with grief, shame, sorrow, and anger and begins to realize that maybe there’s a reason why she’s the one who is trying to solve the mystery. I enjoyed how the story progressed and nothing rushed and the writing was beautifully written and it made me feel like I was in the bookstore. This is a really interesting and unique tale that will make you glued to the page and wanting more. Oh before I end this, the story does intertwine with real life events going on at this time with the pandemic and the George Floyd protests so please keep that in mind if you plan to read it since that was a difficult time for many people.

Book Review: The Magic of Found Objects

July 18, 2022 | piperreads

“Just take your place in the world with as much grace and gratitude as you can muster and try to see the best in us.”

Conceived at Woodstock in a serendipitous liaison between a free-spirited hippie and farmer’s son, Phronsie Linnelle was born with magical wonder flicking in her DNA and rationally knit into her bones. Torn between the two for most of her life and now that she’s been betrayed by both love and the the mother she once idolized, her rational is winning out. So when her childhood best friend proposes that they give up on romance and marry each other, she couldn’t think of a better idea. What’s better than spending the rest of your life with your best friend who you know won’t hurt you? But as fate has it, right when she’s about to embark on this journey, someone from her past makes a very convincing argument for revisiting romance, Phronsie must look at her own heart to find that the answers that have been there all along.

What a delightful and fun read from beginning to end! I was so invested in the story and had to force myself to sleep or I would’ve stayed up way too late to read more. This book was so wild and entertaining and that’s really what I loved the most because just when I thought I knew what was happening, it would go in the different direction. I really loved how well written the characters were even the secondary characters were fleshed out and felt so human. They were all so deeply flawed and complicated which is so nice to have in books. Phronsie was such a likable protagonist and I really felt for her while she was trying to sort out the events that transpired in her life and I really liked her growth. The plot and how everything tied up nicely in the end was so well done, I really enjoyed this one and I’m going to check out more of Dawson’s work. Highly recommend this!!

Book Review: FLOAT PLAN

July 18, 2022 | piperreads

“I’m starting to understand that some people come into your life when you need them, and go when it’s time.”

Float Plan follows Anna as she navigates through the loss of her fiance to suicide, she is grief stricken at the loss and unable to integrate back into her normal routine. Her life kicks back up when she gets a reminder about a trip that the two were supposed to take together but now she is alone and on a impulse she decides to go on the trip alone. But, it turns out to be too overwhelming for her and she realizes she needs an extra hand, someone who is good with sailing and she finds that Keane, a professional sailor to help. Much like Anna, his life has been thrown into a tailspin and he is trying to make his way through and soon a budding friendship starts to form with the two realizing that their might be more than friendship in their future.

This was such a great book! I binged it in one day as I was glued to my book to find out what was going to happen next and I found Anna so relatable and easy to like. I really felt for her while she was working through her own grief and how she went about it felt very real. Losing a loved one is never easy to deal especially with suicide as that brings out a lot of guilt and shame with thinking about what you could’ve done to help that person. It’s so difficult to process especially with by yourself and i thought the way the author developed the friendship and eventually romance between Anna and Keane was really well done, it didn’t feel so forced especially with the other issues that both characters are dealing with. Overall, I really enjoyed the book so defintely check it out if it sounds like something you’d enjoy!

JULY TBR

July 3, 2022 | piperreads

Hey everyone! I’m excited to share all my choices with you! This is gonna be a good month!

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality by Julia Shaw
Genre: Adult, LGBT, Non-Fiction

The Donut Enemy by Sarah Adams
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Float Plan by Trish Coller
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction

The Magic of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey
Genre: Adult, LGBT, Romance

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Mythology

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The Wedding Game by Meghan Quinn
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

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 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!