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!