Review: First Lie Wins

First Lie Wins
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

this was fast-paced, twisty, fun and a solid thriller.

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Review: The Live Your Values Deck: Sort Out, Honor, and Practice What Matters Most to You

The Live Your Values Deck: Sort Out, Honor, and Practice What Matters Most to You
The Live Your Values Deck: Sort Out, Honor, and Practice What Matters Most to You by Lisa Congdon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love Lisa Congdon, love this set, love her artwork. love love love.

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Review: Heartstopper: Volume Five

Heartstopper: Volume Five
Heartstopper: Volume Five by Alice Oseman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

it looks like this series will end with the next book. I love these books and how sweet they are, i am looking forward to what Oseman creates next too!

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Review: Going Zero

Going Zero
Going Zero by Anthony McCarten
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars I read this one cause my friend Lauren wrote about it and said it was fun and fast and I’ve been having a lot of trouble focusing lately. It didn’t disappoint. It was fun and fast 🙂

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Review: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I will never ever get tired of these books. I look forward to each and every one of them and I hope she keeps writing them forever and ever. This one is a sequel to Antoinette’s story and I loved it so very much.

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Review: Disappointing Affirmations

Disappointing Affirmations
Disappointing Affirmations by Dave Tarnowski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If I could give this book ten stars, I totally would. My daughter and I read these in one sitting and laughed so much that we were crying. I then read them all again. I follow this account on instagram, too, and I cannot recommend it enough. I normally don’t enjoy humor that puts others down but this is written in such a way that it is clear it’s humor and not personal. I just love it and will read it again and again any time i need a good, honest laugh.

with gratitude to netgalley and Chronicle Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Until I Love Myself, Vol. 2: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist

Until I Love Myself, Vol. 2: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist
Until I Love Myself, Vol. 2: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist by Poppy Pesuyama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I took a break between the two volumes because this material is tough to read and a lot to digest but I knew I wanted to read it anyway and I am glad I did. I am glad that they are on a journey to self-healing and I am glad they are documenting this horrible journey. Stories like this need to be told and I am grateful for folks who are brave enough to tell them.

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Review: The Road To Dalton

The Road To Dalton
The Road To Dalton by Shannon Bowring
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars rounded up

I took forever to read this book and I am not sure why. It’s exactly the kind of story that I like. It’s a quiet story that’s mostly a character study of folks living in a small town. Once I started reading it, I loved it and wanted to keep reading it.

If you enjoy action action action, this will not be the book for you. It’s quiet. It’s slow paced. It’s intricate, slow and also about things that haunt you from your past/memories. I enjoyed it and look forward to more from this author.

With gratitude to edelweiss and Europa Editions for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Review: The Five Year Lie

The Five Year Lie
The Five Year Lie by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book has the most intriguing premise: woman receives text from her dead ex that he needs to talk to her and she should meet him under this one tree. When I read that, I knew I would be interested in reading the story and understanding how the author navigated this plot.

And it didn’t disappoint.

The story is twisty and turny and I really couldn’t stop reading it once I started. I really enjoyed that it wasn’t trying to be too clever and that it didn’t have a conniving unreliable narrator. It was just a great mystery!

with gratitude to netgalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Review: The Adults

The Adults
The Adults by Alison Espach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book about two weeks ago and I will be honest that I have forgotten most of it. I picked it up because Espach has a new book coming out this year which I loved so I wanted to go back and read her earlier work. Even though I don’t remember much of this novel, I remember thinking that I really liked it and thought it covered similar topics to the new one and with similar wisdom but it wasn’t as good. I will go back and read more of her work. I’ve liked each of her books that I’ve read so far and this was no exception.

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Review: Until I Love Myself: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist, Vol. 1

Until I Love Myself: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist, Vol. 1
Until I Love Myself: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist, Vol. 1 by Poppy Pesuyama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the story of the author bravely telling the story of sexual harassment they have had to endure while they were a manga artist working for a famous artist. The story is told unflinchingly and it’s not possible to read it without feeling the tense and horrific experiences they have had to endure and the ways in which these experiences can last a lifetime and impact so much more than the moments in which they happened.

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Review: The Eternal Return of Clara Hart

The Eternal Return of Clara Hart
The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am not picky about which genres I read but the amount of YA I’ve been reading has declined quite a lot in the last few years. I think it’s mostly that when you read a lot of them, they start blending into each other, and you are not engrossed or surprised easily after a while. But when I saw this book in emily’s review I wanted to read it. I am a fan of the groundhog day trope, and one of my favorite YA books of all time also had a similar plot so I wanted to see if I would like this one as much.

And I did.

This is a thoughtful story as the main character is trying to figure out why his day keeps repeating. He is dealing with the grief of his own mother’s death and as the day keeps repeating he opens up to see more, understand better, and drop into his own feelings more as well.

There are many trigger warnings in this story so please proceed with caution but, for me, it was a thoughtful read.

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