Hello, bookish friends! I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate my 21st birthday than with you all, talking about books, so I did some digging and found the Birthday Book Tag — YAYY! The creator of this tag is Antonia over at Always Books. Big shout out to her and her awesome creativity! Y’all ready to talk all things books and birthdays? Me too, so let’s get to it!
Girl and boy live next door to each other, are basically complete opposites, and fall in love in the summertime? Yeah, the overall concept of this book is totally cliche, but I can’t help but love it anyway! The characters are oh so lovable, the writing is absolutely beautiful, and this book perfectly describes the ups, downs, and awkwardness of first love. Every time I pick it up (even if I just pick it up to clean off my bookshelf), I can’t help but smile because My Life Next Door is just that sweet!
If you’ve been hanging around my blog for awhile, you already know that my love for the Montague Siblings series by Mackenzi Lee knows no bounds, so when I saw that there was ANOTHER book, I could hardly contain my excitement! I’ve been longing for Lee’s hilariously relatable characters and quirky writing style since I finished the last book in the series. Not to wish my life away or anything, but can it be December already so I can go buy The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks, please?
When I picked up this book, I was a little bit unsure as to how I would feel about it, as usually Sarah Dessen books are either a hit or a miss for me. The fact that this book will go down in history as one of my favorite contemporaries I’ve read in my life shocks me to say, but it’s true, folks! I loved that even though there were some very light romantic undertones, the main focus remained on Saylor getting to know her mother’s side of the family and filling in the blanks surrounding her mother’s past, which ended up helping Saylor find a new part of herself she didn’t realize was there before. The Rest of the Story was funny, heartwarming, emotional, and just so much fun to read from beginning to end.
I’m totally not going to lie to you guys: Whenever I hear a whole lot about an upcoming release months before it actually hits shelves, I do sort of avoid said very hyped book for at least a few months to see what readers really think about it. With A Curse So Dark and Lonely, I waited a few months per my usual system, but when I finally finished reading it, I wanted to kick myself for waiting so long! I absolutely loved the characters, the world-building, and all the fairytale tie-ins. Don’t let the hype scare you like it did me — this book is totally deserving of all the attention it got!
You guys already know that I love this book for so many reasons: it’s action-packed, the characters are total smart alecks but have so many layers, and the world-building is seriously incredible. Something you all may not know is that there were numerous points in this book that I literally got teary-eyed at because the writing was just that beautiful. There were quotes from character that made me laugh so dang hard that I cried as well, so this book definitely has a good balance of emotional and humorous elements. I don’t think I will be forgetting this read for a long time. If you haven’t read House of Earth and Blood yet, just do it! You won’t be disappointed!
Don’t get me wrong: I LOVED this book when I read it the first (and second) time! However, I think I was just enjoying the story and beautiful writing and not actually taking in the true meaning the author was trying to convey through the main characters. If I were to pick this up and read it now that I have some true life experience under my belt, I think I would be able to relate more to Camryn and her journey. Guess that means it’s time for a re-read to see if my theory holds true, huh?
This is kind of a crazy choice because this fantasy is about as dark as it can get, but hear me out! I read this duology a couple of months before I started my first year of college. As someone who wasn’t a huge fan of change at the time, I found the transition to this new phase of life a little overwhelming (I’m sure some of you can relate to this!). I loved this series because I was so invested in these characters and the super dope plot that it gave my brain something to do other than stress about what was coming next for me. And dang did it keep me on my toes because THOSE PLOT TWISTS, MAN!
bookspirationbysarah.com 