This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
I received a book from Simon and Schuster Canada:
Tidelands by Philippa Gregory
I received two books from Pajama Press:
The Skeleton Coast (Quest of the Sunfish #3) by Mardi McConnochie
Harvey Comes Home by Colleen Nelson
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Random House Publishing Group:
Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
I was approved for four books on NetGalley from Simon and Schuster Canada:
The Very, Very Far North by Dan Bar-El
The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett
Slay by Brittney Morris
Cursed by Thomas Wheeler, Frank Miller
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada, Pajama Press, and Random House Publishing Group for these books!
Title: Riverdale Student Handbook Author: Jenne Simon Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Scholastic Source: Purchased Format: Paperback Release Date: August 28, 2018 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Riverdale High student handbook looks like an ordinary introduction to the high school. There’s class photos and a campus map and student guidelines from Principal Weatherbee. But what you really need to know about Riverdale, can’t be found in an official handbook.
Luckily, Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and other classmates have gotten hold of the guide. They’ve slipped in classified student records, private notes, and secret photos and scribbled their own notes with tips on surviving Riverdale High.
Review:
I just finished catching up with the latest season of Riverdale! This book was released last year, so it’s a little dated now. I still loved reading about this crazy school!
This student handbook contains information about academics and extracurricular activities. It also has editorial notes from the students, mostly Veronica and Cheryl, though some others comment at times. It was funny to read their opinions and edits of the handbooks, especially when they inserted their own documents, like autopsy reports and arrest documents.
This was a really fun book! It’s a must read for fans of Riverdale.
What to read next:
The Day Before (Riverdale #1) by Micol Ostow
Have you read Riverdale Student Handbook? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“Riding a bike in the rain with a broken arm is never a good idea, but I’m the kind of guy who likes to make life more difficult, so that’s exactly what I do. The rain makes the rubbery brown handles slippery, and it’s hard to hold on one-handed, so I end up slowly weaving down the road, wheels jerking back and forth, stopping whenever a car splashes by.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Karen Callender.
Goodreads synopsis:
7 Hours and 57 Minutes
A fresh, charming romantic comedy perfect for fans of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Boy Meets Boy about Nathan Bird, who has sworn off happy endings but is sorely tested when his former best friend, Ollie, moves back to town.
Nathan Bird doesn’t believe in happy endings. Although he’s the ultimate film buff and an aspiring screenwriter, Nate’s seen the demise of too many relationships to believe that happy endings exist in real life.
Playing it safe to avoid a broken heart has been his MO ever since his father died and left his mom to unravel – but this strategy is not without fault. His best-friend-turned-girlfriend-turned-best-friend-again, Florence, is set on making sure Nate finds someone else. And in a twist that is rom-com-worthy, someone does come along: Oliver James Hernández, his childhood best friend.
After a painful mix-up when they were little, Nate finally has the chance to tell Ollie the truth about his feelings. But can Nate find the courage to pursue his own happily ever after?
Have you read This is Kind of an Epic Love Story? What did you think of it?
Title: The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation (The Princess in Black #4) Author: Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, LeUyen Pham Genre: Children’s Publisher: Candlewick Press Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: November 8, 2016 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Even monster-battling princesses get tired sometimes! But a peaceful time away is hard to find as the humorous New York Times best-selling series continues.
After battling monsters all night, a sleepy Princess in Black decides that she needs a vacation. After all, the Goat Avenger, a new hero who looks oddly familiar, has offered to protect the goats while she takes a much needed break. The very next day Princess Magnolia rides her bicycle to the seaside, where the air is salty, the sun is shiny, and the sea is as blue as monster fur. But just as Princess Magnolia is about to take a nap on her hammock, she hears a “ROAR!” Seriously? A monster? On the perfect beach? Impossible! Could a sea monster really ruin this vacation for the Princess in Black?
Review:
I love this series! The Princess in Black is an adorable character.
Princess Magnolia is exhausted at the beginning of this story, so she decides to take a vacation. However, she still couldn’t escape the monsters. She met her friend Princess Sneezewort just before a sea monster came up onto shore and attacked. Meanwhile, the Goat Avenger was defeating monsters who tried to attack his goats.
I didn’t really like the dual stories in this book. The Princess in Black and the Goat Avenger had to fight the monsters separately, instead of together. I like it much better when the Princess can fight the monsters with her friends.
I still really enjoyed this book!
What to read next:
The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate (The Princess in Black #5) by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, LeUyen Pham
Have you read The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation? What did you think of it?
TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.
My pick this week is Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Goodreads Synopsis:
From the show’s creators comes the groundbreaking novel inspired by the Broadway smash hit Dear Evan Hansen.
Dear Evan Hansen,
Today’s going to be an amazing day and here’s why…
When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family’s grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend.
Suddenly, Evan isn’t invisible anymore–even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy’s parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend. As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he’s doing can’t be right, but if he’s helping people, how wrong can it be?
No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He’s confident. He’s a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself.
A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: The Wise and the Wicked Author: Rebecca Podos Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Publisher: Balzer + Bray Source: Publisher Format: Paperback Release Date: May 28, 2019 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Ruby Chernyavsky has been told the stories since she was a child: The women in her family, once possessed of great magical abilities to remake lives and stave off death itself, were forced to flee their Russian home for America in order to escape the fearful men who sought to destroy them. Such has it always been, Ruby’s been told, for powerful women. Today, these stories seem no more real to Ruby than folktales, except for the smallest bit of power left in their blood: when each of them comes of age, she will have a vision of who she will be when she dies—a destiny as inescapable as it is inevitable. Ruby is no exception, and neither is her mother, although she ran from her fate years ago, abandoning Ruby and her sisters. It’s a fool’s errand, because they all know the truth: there is no escaping one’s Time.
Until Ruby’s great-aunt Polina passes away, and, for the first time, a Chernyavsky’s death does not match her vision. Suddenly, things Ruby never thought she’d be allowed to hope for—life, love, time—seem possible. But as she and her cousin Cece begin to dig into the family’s history to find out whether they, too, can change their fates, they learn that nothing comes without a cost. Especially not hope.
Review:
This story reminded me of The Raven Cycle. Ruby’s family is a little like Blue’s family in that series. They both have some mystical powers. The women in Ruby’s family see their death when they get to a certain age. It’s called their Time. They had to flee their original home in Russia generations before because their family was being hunted by a man. This old battle was reopened in this story.
I liked this story but I found some parts confusing and unclear. There are some queer characters, which was great representation. One character was transgender. I thought that the character magically changed gender in some way, so it was only later that I realized they were living as a transgender person.
I also found the multiple generations of the family confusing. There hadn’t been that much time since the family moved from Russia, but they made it sound like it was many generations ago rather than two. A family tree could have helped me keep everything straight.
This is a good story.
Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
Love and Other Curses by Michael Thomas Ford
Have you read The Wise and the Wicked? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.
The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry. The expected publication date is August 6, 2019.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Best friends are forged by fire. For Winona Olsen and Lucille Pryce, that fire happened the night they met outside the police station—both deciding whether to turn their families in.
Winona has been starving for life in the seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. No one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them.
Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there’s more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and generations of barely getting by.
One harrowing night, Winona and Lucille realize they can’t wait until graduation to start their new lives. They need out. Now. All they need is three grand, fast. And really, a stolen convertible to take them from Michigan to Las Vegas can’t hurt.
Title: Sugar and Spice (Whatever After #10) Author: Sarah Mlynowski Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy Publisher: Scholastic Press Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: November 29, 2016 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
That’s the way the cookie crumbles!
Yum! Our magic mirror has dropped me and my brother, Jonah, into the story of Hansel and Gretel. If we’re lucky, we may even get to taste the cake-house…
But we didn’t count on accidentally getting trapped. The real Hansel and Gretel are on the run, and Jonah and I have taken their place. And the witch is making a kid casserole for dinner…
Now we have to:
– Avoid being eaten
– Pretend our dog is a cat
– Learn to make kale smoothies
– Befriend a talking duck
Or we may never make it back to our home sweet home!
Review:
This story had different twists from the other books in the series. When Abby and Jonah arrive in the fairytale of Hansel and Gretel, they discover that they look exactly like them! That becomes a problem when Hansel and Gretel use the portal to get back home, leaving Abby and Jonah in the fairytale.
I loved these twists! They made the story exciting and fresh. It can get boring if every book in a series follows the same plot. I love how every book in the Whatever After series is completely different!
This is a great book and a great series!
What to read next:
Abby in Wonderland (Whatever After #10.5) by Sarah Mlynowski
Have you read Sugar and Spice? What did you think of it?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Settings I’d Like to See More Of. Some of these are popular settings, but I love them so much that I’d like to see even more. Here’s my list:
1. Boarding Schools
2. The Beach
3. Castles
4. Tudor England
5. The Forest
6. Small Towns
7. England
8. Ancient Greece
9. Trains
10. Space
Did you write a Top Ten Tuesday list? What is your list of Settings You’d Like to See More Of?
When it’s your word against everyone else’s–what do you do?
Bree Finch has fallen on some troubled times: her marriage has ended, she’s separated from her young daughter, Charlotte, and she’s haunted by a past she can’t escape. Routine helps, and every afternoon, during her lunch break, Bree goes for a jog in the park near her office. It’s the same every day: the same route, the same mothers with their children, the same people walking their dogs.
One day, during her jog, she spots a young boy a bit older than Charlotte, a boy she saw just the day before with his mother. But his mother is nowhere to be seen now. Nervous, Bree watches the boy as he wanders into the parking lot. And then she watches as a man grabs the boy, forcing him into an SVU. She watches as the boy cries and screams for his mother. She watches as the man slams the door shut, revs the engine and takes off.
She runs after them into traffic, and tries to take a photo, but can’t. The SVU is gone.
Bree can’t deny what she’s seen, and she can’t get the little boy or his screams out of her head. But, she’s the only one who believes that she witnessed the kidnapping of a child. No one else at the park saw the boy or someone snatching him, and she can’t give a detailed description of the child. The police don’t believe her, nor does her estranged husband, with whom she has a tense and complicated relationship. Instead, they begin asking Bree the questions: Why is she always alone in the park? Why does she spend so much time there? Does she realize that she makes the other mothers nervous, with the way she watches them and their children?
Then, days later, a woman is murdered–and Bree is the first person the police talk to.
Not because they think she may have witnessed something.
Not because they believe her about the kidnapped boy.
Because she’s their main suspect.
Review:
This was an amazing new thriller!
I was glued to this book. I read it in one day because I couldn’t put it down. It was fast-paced and unpredictable.
Bree was an unreliable narrator, which added to the plot. Even when she would talk about seeing things, I couldn’t really trust her. I was still unsure about some things she said right until the end.
I usually don’t like books that don’t give you enough clues to solve the mystery. I don’t think there was a way to figure out this mystery before the end, but I loved it. It was an exciting story because I was so surprised at the ending.
I highly recommend this gripping thriller.
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
Have you read Wherever She Goes? What did you think of it?
Jill's Book Blog 