January 2024 – Page 2 – Jill's Book Blog

Review: Woke Up Like This

Title: Woke Up Like This
Author: Amy Lea
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Mindy’s Book Studio
Source: Firefly Books Distributed Lines
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: October 1, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Planning the perfect prom is one last “to do” on ultra-organized Charlotte Wu’s high school bucket list. So far, so good, if not for a decorating accident that sends Charlotte crash-landing off a ladder, face-first into her obnoxiously ripped archnemesis J. T. Renner. Worse? When Charlotte wakes up, she finds herself in an unfamiliar bed at thirty years old, with her bearded fiancé, Renner, by her side.

Either they’ve lost their minds or they’ve been drop-kicked into adulthood, forever trapped in the thirty-year-old bodies of their future selves. With each other as their only constant, Charlotte and Renner discover all that’s changed in the time they’ve missed. Charlotte also learns there’s more to Renner than irritating-jock charm, and that reaching the next milestone isn’t as important as what happens in between.

Navigating a series of adventures and a confounding new normal, Charlotte and Renner will do whatever it takes to find a way back to seventeen. But when―and if―they do, what then?

Review:

Charlotte Wu is a super organized high school senior who is preparing for prom. She’s the vice-president of student council, and she has to work with her archenemy, J.T. Renner, who is president. While setting up the decorations for prom, Charlotte falls off a ladder and onto Renner. She opens her eyes in an unfamiliar bed, as a thirty-year-old, with Renner sleeping beside her. Neither of them know how they’ve jumped thirty years into the future. A lot has changed in the past thirteen years, starting with their upcoming wedding. Charlotte has no idea why she would be marrying her enemy, who she’s hated since he stood her up for homecoming in their freshman year. If they want to return to their senior year, they have to figure out why they were sent into the future, and maybe they were meant to be together all along.

13 Going on 30 is one of my favourite rom coms, so I was excited to read this similar story! The movie is mentioned in the book, but to Charlotte, it’s considered a movie from her mom’s generation. Charlotte had such strong feelings of hatred towards Renner, it wasn’t hard for those feelings to be flipped to love. Though there was a misunderstanding that caused their rivalry throughout high school, it made sense that it happened the way it did.

Woke Up Like This is a fun time travel rom com!

Thank you Firefly Distributed Lines for sending me a copy of this book!

Content warnings: death of parent, divorce

Have you read Woke Up Like This? What did you think of it?

Review: Patience, Princess Catherine (Young Royals #4)

Title: Patience, Princess Catherine (Young Royals #4)
Author: Carolyn Meyer
Genre: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Clarion Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: May 1, 2004
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

England anxiously awaits Prince Arthur’s betrothed—the Spanish princess who will be its future queen. But when Arthur dies not long after the wedding, Catherine of Aragon’s fate becomes uncertain. Will the king and Catherine’s parents arrange a marriage with Arthur’s brother, Henry, or will she return to Spain a widow? Through all this turmoil, the young princess’s resolve remains unshaken. She will one day be England’s queen . . . no matter how long it takes.

Review:

Spanish Princess Catherine was sent to England to marry Princess Arthur Tudor, the future King. A few months after their wedding, Arthur died, but Catherine stayed in England. For many years, her future remained uncertain. Will she go home to Spain or marry Arthur’s younger brother Henry? Catherine must be patient while she waits, determined to one day be Queen of England.

This is a great middle grade adaptation of Catherine of Aragon’s life. It told her story leading up to her marriage to Henry VIII. Each chapter began with a passage about what Henry was doing at the time and what his feelings were towards Catherine. The story focused on the big events that happened over the eight years that Catherine was left waiting to be Queen.

Patience, Princess Catherine is a great middle grade story for readers interested in history.

Other books in the series:

Mary, Bloody Mary (Young Royals #1)
Beware, Princess Elizabeth (Young Royals #2)
Doomed Queen Anne (Young Royals #3)
Duchessina: A Novel of Catherine De Medici (Young Royals #5)
The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie Antoinette (Young Royals #6)
The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary Queen of Scots (Young Royals #7)

Have you read Patience, Princess Catherine? What did you think of it?

Review: Sinner’s Isle

Title: Sinner’s Isle
Author: Angela Montoya
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Joy Revolution
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: October 31, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A spellbinding romantic fantasy about a powerful witch who will do anything to escape the remote island she’s being held captive on, including blackmail a notorious, charming pirate who washes up on shore, from debut author Angela Montoya.

Rosalinda is trapped on Sinner’s Isle, an island filled with young women like her—Majestics, beautiful witches loathed by society for their dangerous magic yet revered by powerful men who want to use them.

For years, she has been kept under the watchful, calculating eye of Doña Lucia. Now eighteen, Rosa will be the prized commodity at this year’s Offering, a fiesta for the wealthy to engage in drink, damsels, and debauchery. That is why she must flee—before someone forces the vicious phantoms within her to destroy everything she touches.

Handsome, swashbuckling Mariano has long sailed the high seas as the Prince of Pirates. Then the king’s fleet attacks his father’s infamous ship, leaving him marooned on Sinner’s Isle with only an enchanted chain meant to lead him to his heart’s desire. Instead, he falls into the hands of a brazen (although) bewitching headache—Rosa.

Together they must outwit each other and their enemies before the Offering ends and it’s too late to escape the perils of Sinner’s Isle.

Review:

Rosalinda lives on Sinner’s Isle, where she’s been kept for most of her life along with other Majestics, who are witches. Rosa is a powerful Majestic, with shadows that can do her bidding. Every year the Majestics are offered up to powerful men in the world, so they can be bonded for life and use their powers to help the men. It’s Rosa’s year to be offered, and she’s the most powerful girl of the year. Mariano is the son of infamous pirates. When his father dies suddenly, he must escape their ship before his uncles kill him to take his place. Mariano washes up on Sinner’s Isle, where he encounters Rosa. They make a deal for Mariano to help Rosa and her best friend escape their fate as Majestics, but it isn’t easy to escape their destiny.

This was an exciting and original story! It was interesting how the Majestics were both revered and ostracized from society. They had magic powers, so they were used to be bonded with powerful men, but they were also sent to an isolated island away from the rest of society. There were some surprising twists that I didn’t see coming. The story had a great, complete ending, but there is also the possibility for another book in this world in the future.

Sinner’s Isle is a great debut novel!

Thank you Penguin Teen Canada for providing a copy of this book!

Content warnings: death of parents, death, blood, violence

Have you read Sinner’s Isle? What did you think of it?

Review: Histories of the Unexpected: The Tudors

Title: Histories of the Unexpected: The Tudors
Author: Sam Willis, James Daybell
Genre: Nonfiction
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: November 7, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Histories of the Unexpected not only presents a new way of thinking about the past, but also reveals the world around us as never before.

Traditionally, the Tudors have been understood in a straightforward way but the period really comes alive if you take an unexpected approach to its history. Yes, Tudor monarchs, exploration and religion have a fascinating history… but so too does cannibalism, shrinking, bells, hats, mirrors, monsters, faces, letter-writing and accidents!

Each of these subjects is equally fascinating in its own right, and each sheds new light on the traditional subjects and themes that we think we know so well.

Review:

The Histories of the Unexpected: The Tudors gives a history of the Tudors that isn’t traditionally written about. Often history books are about the art, religion, and monarchy of the Tudor era. This book has chapters on monsters, toilets, rings, bells, and even cannibalism. It was definitely unexpected and entertaining!

If you want to learn some fun facts about the Tudor era, I recommend this quick read!

Have you read Histories of the Unexpected: The Tudors? What did you think of it?