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Can’t Take That Away

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Rating: 4/5

“It’s a song about rising above people’s expectations, because in order to become your best self, you have to stay true to yourself and choose love.”

The story starts with Carey, who dreams of being famous and being able to bring the house down. But, underneath all the talent are emotional scars from events that have occurred in their that is making harder to focus not only finding their voice but being to feel good with themselves. But things start to change when they meets Cris, a singer/songwriter who makes Carey feel seen for the first time in their life. When Cris’s help, Carey starts to accept who they are and embrace their identity. What follows is a tale of expression, acceptance, and most importantly love.

Wow, what a beautiful written emotional debut by Steven Salvatore. From the first to the last page, I went to laughing, crying, and feeling overwhelmed by the story. Salvatore brings so much life and complexity to the characters and made them very real and relatable. I found myself enjoying reading the different perspectives and thought they were all fleshed out well written character. What I really loved about this book is that Salvatore, titles the chapter in accordance with the individual’s pronouns. I found that very endearing and wonderful it was a way of letting the reader know what pronouns that individual wants to be referred by. I really liked that because I know that misgendering can be very upsetting so I thought that was sweet touch.

All in all a really great debut and I will looking out for more from Salvatore because I really enjoyed his writing style and how they craft their characters.

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The Beautiful Ones

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Rating: 4/5

“It was not effortlessly. It tore me apart, but the poison has bled out.”

Well, this was a nice surprise as Historical Fiction and I don’t really get along but the story, characters, writing made me fall in love with it. This is the second book that I’ve read by Garcia and I did enjoy Mexican Gothic and I’d heard good things about this book, so I figured why not?

The story follows Hector, Valarie, and Nina as they try to avoid scandal while trying to win what they desire. Hector and Valarie were lovers but Valarie ended the engagement so she could marry into the wealthy Beaulieu family. To be closer to Valarie and attempt to win her back, he decides to court Nina Beaulieu and what follows is a story of love, betrayal, and a struggle between conforming and passion.

First off, I absolutely loved the romance, it was subtle very intriguing and kept me interested. I found the character quirky and interesting, they all had different aspects to them and were well written. Nina was probably my favorite character, I found her fun, honest, and had youthful wild side to her that was entertaining. The other characters were just as entertaining and complex but I found myself feeling happy reading about her. Finally, I loved the antagonists because I hated yet loved them at the same time, they were unique and interesting and found myself invested in their stories.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I’m not to read books that heavily focus on “scandal” and “gossip” so this was a very nice surprise.

Divine Blood (Guardians of the Maiden #1)

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Rating: 4/5

“He was starlight, and wonder, and questions without answers.” 

Going into this book, I didn’t have a lot of expectations as I hadn’t heard of it until browsing through goodreads and it came up. Seeing that people were saying how similar it was to Lord of the Rings, The Cruel Prince, and Throne of Glass and they weren’t wrong.

Divine Blood follows Dyna, who had everything taken from her by the shadow demon and only when she discovers, she can fight back does she find her way to Cassiel, a celestial prince who wants nothing to do with her. That is until, he finds that she can lead him to the life that he always wanted. But, they must work together to seek what they desire as they aren’t the only ones who are looking.

Oh man, this book had everything that I love. Dyna, Cassiel, and Zev were the main highlights especially the dynamics between Dyna and Cassiel, they hate each other and it’s so good. There is a lot of character development on the way which is what I was hoping to see cause I lose interest in the characters if there is zero development or it’s written poorly.

Other than the characters, I loved the magical aspect as it had every magical creature you could think of and I found that very enjoyable. It really did feel like LOTR and Throne of Glass and those are two of my favorite series. I love how Beck went into detail of how these different magical creatures interact with each other because that something that I was hoping to see.

There really isn’t much to complain about except maybe there wasn’t a lot of progress in the characters journey but there were other things that made it worth while and I can’t wait for the second book! I would highly recommend if you’re looking for something similar to The Cruel Prince, Throne of Glass and LOTR.

Champion (Legend #3)

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Rating: 5/5

I scream for everything that has gone wrong. I scream for everything broken in our lives.

Well, this was extremely satisying yet made me an emotional wreck as this wraps up the series and while I didn’t want it to end, I was very satisfied with how it played out. I was a little worried going into that it wouldn’t live up to the expectations I had and boy did it deliver.

Champion follows June and Day as they have not only sacrificed so much for each other but for their people. The time for peace is short lived as they are thrown into a new conflict, one that could test the bond that they have for each other. This heart-pounding and suspenseful last installment of the Legend series will reach a stunning conclusion.

I don’t know Marie Lu does but she’s such an amazing writer especially when it comes to plots as I have always enjoyed the plot of her books regardless of everything else. Champion was thrilling, gut-wreching, beautiful, and filled with so much action that I literally couldn’t put the book down and I have her to thank for that. I have really enjoyed following the adventures of June and Day and I do love their relationship as it’s very well written and there has been so much growth between the two throughout the series. That’s part of the reason why I was so emotional while reading this book because there are some beautiful yet heart breaking moments between the two.

I don’t want to go into too much further without spoiling it but this was such a satisfying conclusion to the series and I highly recommend it.

Prodigy (Legend #2)

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Rating: 5/5

Love is illogical, love had consequences–I did this to myself, and I should be able to take it.

Ahhhh! Marie Lu is one of my favorite writers and it’s hard to pick a favorite of hers that I love but this one pretty close. I had read Legend awhile back and thoroughly enjoyed it so I was glad that I was finally able to catch up with the series. But there is so much about this book that I loved.

Prodigy is an action packed adventure that leaves you wanting more and I turned the page in excitement and anxiety. The beginning was a little slow but it picks up towards the middle and becomes very fast paced with tons of action, emotions, feelings, and secret being uncovered that change the game. One thing that I love about her writing is that she has well written developed characters that make you feel like you know them personally.

It follows the first book with Day & June trying to save Eden, I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m trying my hardest be selective with what I write for the review. But, the ending did hit me pretty hard and I had to get through Champion which is coming up next for review! Overall, this book was rather enjoyable and Marie Lu is such a fantastic story teller to I high recommend checking out any of her books.

From Blood and Ash (#1)

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Rating: 5/5

“Bravery and strength do not equal goodness.”

Well, this was worth the hype for me. I had been hearing about this series for months but hadn’t really looked into it until I started getting more into book blogging. I was hoping it would be worth the hype because sometimes they aren’t and it’s utterly disappointing. But, this was a delight and I was enthralled throughout the book. The writing and characters are what stood out to me the most. Poppy is such a fierce and strong heroine and I love her romance with personal guard, it felt real and the more I read about them the more I loved it. Romance isn’t the only thing in this series as it’s packed with bravery, loyalty, suspense, rage, and friendship.

Some plot points were predictable but I felt like they weren’t done in a disappointing way as with other fantasy novels. The story really has everything that fits my requirement for a five star review and I was really glad that I took the time to read it. I already finished book 2 so be on the lookout for that soon!!

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

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Rating: 4/5

TW: Depression, Suicide

“They say that a person’s personality is the sum of their experiences. But that isn’t true, at least not entirely, because if our past was all that defined us, we’d never be able to put up with ourselves. We need to be allowed to convince ourselves that we’re more than the mistakes we made yesterday. That we are all of our next choices, too, all of our tomorrow.”

Looking at the title of the book, you probably think it will an educational book how anxiety and how it packs people but this book is so much more than that. I literally couldn’t put it down once I started. If books where an unlikely group of characters come together and bond, then this book is right up your alley. The majority of the takes place in a bank robbery gone wrong and the underlying plot revolves around the hostage negotiation. I know that this plot sounds familiar but the way that Backman distracts you from what is really is incredibly good.

From the witty and blunt dialogue, well written and fleshed out characters, and a plot that seems overdone but the spin that he put it on made me laugh and cry at the same time. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone!